| 1. |
- Boyle, Tess, et al.
(författare)
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Acknowledging, negotiating, and reporting ‘uncomfortable truths’ in action research
- 2023
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Ingår i: Educational Action Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0965-0792 .- 1747-5074. ; 31:5, s. 909-919
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Critical action research is a praxis-oriented professional learning practice. Such practice requires a move beyond viewing action research as simply a technical or practical method for teacher development; instead, it strives for critical and participatory research. When action research is reduced to a technicist process for professional learning, there is a tendency for valorising reported findings, so seemingly ‘celebratory’ stories emerge. Yet, the process of changing practices is complex and challenging. By sharing some of our own’ uncomfortable truths,’ we reveal the often-hidden realities of action research as spaces of contestation and negotiation, where uncomfortable truths are shared, examined, and sometimes silenced. This engagement in the form of ‘reflexivity of discomfort’ helps shed light on the need for Action Research to be (re)considered as more than a project and instead as a praxis-orientated approach that requires balanced reporting.
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| 2. |
- Boyle, Tess, et al.
(författare)
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An interactive symposium: rethinking practice arrangements for establishing or inhibiting dialogue
- 2020
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Ingår i: CARN Bulletin Collaborative Action Research Network 23. - Split, Croatia : Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. - 9781910029640
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This contribution is our collective reflection of the taken-for-grantedness of ways physical arrangements in conferences promote or inhibit interactive dialogue. We draw from our symposium presentation entitled Uncovering the hidden imperative of communicative spaces: Negotiating uncomfortable truths through action research as the basis for this piece.
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| 3. |
- Dohlsten, John, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Swedish elite athletics coaches’ professional development in practices of organized coaches’ meetings
- 2021
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Ingår i: Education Inquiry. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 2000-4508.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we investigate how elite coaches reflect on their practice and interact with each other, as part of their informal professional development. We use observations of 14 coach meetings, over a period of two years, where coaches came together to share their experiences of coaching elite athletics, and to discuss ways for continuous professional development. Through an action research approach, data collected included notes and audiorecorded conversations. The theory of practice architectures was employed as a theoretical tool to frame the analysis of the data inorder to understand the meeting practices and how these practices were enabled and constrained. The research revealed how conversations led to awareness, which became turning points for new practices. Specifically, the coaches became aware of the importance of belonging to a community, their lack of knowledge and understanding of inequality, and the complexity of coaching.The meetings, as forums for dialogic practice, were enabled by open-minded collaboration, a willingness to share experiences, and a mutual understanding of the coaching context, but they were also constrained by the structures of coaches’ athletics clubs and federations, that do not fully support coaches’ meetings as an informal educational practice for professional development. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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| 4. |
- Edwards-Groves, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Action Research conceptualised in seven cornerstones as conditions for transforming education
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Action Research. - : Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH. - 1861-1303 .- 1861-9916. ; 18:2, s. 116-133
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article traces the philosophical and theoretical roots of Action Research to rescript its promise for site-based educational formation, reformation and transformation. The process of historicising Action Research through an extensive review of the extant literature, enabled us to establish seven cornerstones that captured the essence of the critical conditions: the practices and practice architectures, that give coherence and comprehensibility to Action Research as necessary for sustained and sustainable change in education. Framing these practices and practice architectures as cornerstones sets down important benefits for contemporary education requiring critical inquiry, rethought purposeful action and systematic responsive development. The cornerstones: contextuality, commitment, communication, collaboration, criticality, collegiality and community, were derived from viewing Action Research from its historical principle committed to democratic way of working. It is our position that the cornerstones account for, acknowledge and extend traditional perspectives and descriptions; and assist practitioners deepen understandings about the conditions necessary for opening up generative possibilities of Action Research in ways that do not neglect or lose sight of its core historical connections and democratic virtues.
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| 5. |
- Edwards-Groves, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Generative Leadership Rescripting the Promise of Action Research
- 2021
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This book is about the generative nature of leading practices when teachers, as learners, participate in long term action research projects for the purpose of professional development. In this book we will show how practices of professional learning and practices of leading can be understood as related (and developed) in ecologies of practices; we will show how these are explicitly connected. Our findings direct us to the connectivity between professional learning and leading practices that over time - after participating in long term action research programs - emerged as ‘significant’ yet ‘unexpected’ outcomes. We will present work from international empirical research which has been conducted in Australia and Sweden since 2000. This extensive research has primarily involved studying the effects of programs of long term action research on education practices in schools in Australia and Sweden. As researchers, we were involved in both the implementation and the study of action research projects in our own countries which uniquely positioned us as participants, participant observers and researchers. Our data firstly tracks participants and the changing or transformative nature of their practices since the early 2000s with accounts of how their participation in their respective professional learning programs influenced their learning and leading practices after they completed the year long action research course, and specifically reflected how they perceived the conditions which enabled and constrained practices. Common among our participants was that they had participated in a 12 month action research project and continued on after their initial teacher learning project in roles as teacher leaders facilitating teacher learning in their own sites (in schools, municipalities or district). They had become ‘drivers’ of system change and continued to lead teacher learning in local contexts often in preference to taking on more formal leadership positions (e.g. principal or other specific leadership roles) even if sought after. Participants drew directly upon their own experiences both in the program as a learner, and since the program completion as a teacher leader facilitating professional learning in their own contexts (schools, municipalities or districts). There was widespread agreement among participants about the conditions which enabled and constrained the conduct of their practices and practice development - in both learning and leading- and what constitutes ‘sustainability’ in professional learning programs. Secondly, and distinctively, it will present a more fine-grained analysis of these action research sessions as they unfold as action and interaction. The research draws on a range of qualitative methods including taped observations of implementation sessions, field notes, interviews, participant mind maps and conversation analysis. Expectedly, results build on established literature describing professional learning which customarily describes the characteristics, conditions and outcomes of effective professional development programs. While this literature typically identifies professional learning as a means of stimulating change in classroom practice and pedagogy, improvement in student learning outcomes and sometimes connected to the benefits of teacher’s collective learning, it is rare for it to be attributed to the development of teacher leading. This is the distinctive focus of the book we are proposing. It centres not on ‘leadership’, in and of itself, but rather how teacher learning is ecologically connected to teacher leading. Our research has shown how this emerges when teachers are involved in programs of professional learning over time when both external and internal conditions are supportive and nourished in practice sites. Broadly, we will show readers how practices (like professional learning) which exist in real situations shape other practices (like teaching and leading) when each creates enabling and constraining conditions for the others; they are mutually sustaining when together they form an ecology of practices existing in a dynamic ecological balance. Specifically, our findings add a new dimension to the descriptions of the influences and accomplishments of professional learning, that being the development of teacher leading capacities.
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| 6. |
- Edwards-Groves, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Middle leaders' identity–practice framings: A site-ontological view of identity in and as practice
- 2024
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Ingår i: British Educational Research Journal (BERJ). - 0141-1926 .- 1469-3518. ; 50:2, s. 694-712
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents an examination of identity in and as practice as it relates to a group of educational practitioners known as middle leaders. Drawing on the theory of practice architectures as a site-ontological approach for conceptualising educational leading, the paper considers an individual's identity as being informed by, and accomplished amidst, the sayings, doings and relatings of practice. Although theorising the connections between identity and practice is not new, a central argument presented is that identity occurs at the nexus of the individual and social practices. Data are drawn from an empirical study of the practices of nine middle leaders responsible for facilitating a district-wide initiative aiming to improve literacy pedagogy in their particular primary schools. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the middle leaders revealed 11 identity–practice framings which evolve over time and space, negotiated in response to site-based conditions. Findings contribute to understandings about the dynamic multifaceted nature of middle leaders' identities.
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| 7. |
- Engqvist, Hanna, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Integrative genomics approach identifies molecular features associated with early-stage ovarian carcinoma histotypes.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ovarian cancer comprises multiple subtypes (clear-cell (CCC), endometrioid (EC), high-grade serous (HGSC), low-grade serous (LGSC), and mucinous carcinomas (MC)) with differing molecular and clinical behavior. However, robust histotype-specific biomarkers for clinical use have yet to be identified. Here, we utilized a multi-omics approach to identify novel histotype-specific genetic markers associated with ovarian carcinoma histotypes (CCC, EC, HGSC, and MC) using DNA methylation, DNA copy number alteration and RNA sequencing data for 96 primary invasive early-stage (stage I and II) ovarian carcinomas. More specifically, the DNA methylation analysis revealed hypermethylation for CCC in comparison with the other histotypes. Moreover, copy number imbalances and novel chromothripsis-like rearrangements (n = 64) were identified in ovarian carcinoma, with the highest number of chromothripsis-like patterns in HGSC. For the 1000 most variable transcripts, underexpression was most prominent for all histotypes in comparison with normal ovarian samples. Overall, the integrative approach identified 46 putative oncogenes (overexpressed, hypomethylated and DNA gain) and three putative tumor suppressor genes (underexpressed, hypermethylated and DNA loss) when comparing the different histotypes. In conclusion, the current study provides novel insights into molecular features associated with early-stage ovarian carcinoma that may improve patient stratification and subclassification of the histotypes.
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| 8. |
- Engqvist, Hanna, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Validation of Novel Prognostic Biomarkers for Early-Stage Clear-Cell, Endometrioid and Mucinous Ovarian Carcinomas Using Immunohistochemistry
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Oncology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2234-943X. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early-stage (I and II) ovarian carcinoma patients generally have good prognosis. Yet, some patients die earlier than expected. Thus, it is important to stratify early-stage patients into risk groups to identify those in need of more aggressive treatment regimens. The prognostic value of 29 histotype-specific biomarkers identified using RNA sequencing was evaluated for early-stage clear-cell (CCC), endometrioid (EC) and mucinous (MC) ovarian carcinomas (n = 112) using immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays. Biomarkers with prognostic significance were further evaluated in an external ovarian carcinoma data set using the web-based Kaplan-Meier plotter tool. Here, we provide evidence of aberrant protein expression patterns and prognostic significance of 17 novel histotype-specific prognostic biomarkers [10 for CCC (ARPC2, CCT5, GNB1, KCTD10, NUP155, RPL13A, RPL37, SETD3, SMYD2, TRIO), three for EC (CECR1, KIF26B, PIK3CA), and four for MC (CHEK1, FOXM1, KIF23, PARPBP)], suggesting biological heterogeneity within the histotypes. Combined predictive models comprising the protein expression status of the validated CCC, EC and MC biomarkers together with established clinical markers (age, stage, CA125, ploidy) improved the predictive power in comparison with models containing established clinical markers alone, further strengthening the importance of the biomarkers in ovarian carcinoma. Further, even improved predictive powers were demonstrated when combining these models with our previously identified prognostic biomarkers PITHD1 (CCC) and GPR158 (MC). Moreover, the proteins demonstrated improved risk prediction of CCC-, EC-, and MC-associated ovarian carcinoma survival. The novel histotype-specific prognostic biomarkers may not only improve prognostication and patient stratification of early-stage ovarian carcinomas, but may also guide future clinical therapy decisions.
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| 9. |
- Grootenboer, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Middle Leadership in Schools: A practical Guide for Leading Learning
- 2020
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Leadership matters in education, and it matters at all levels and in all domains of education. We have known for a long time that leadership is important in education, and that good leadership is a critical factor in successful schooling. This assertion is grounded in over 40 years of research into educational leadership from across a range of countries and continents across the world. However, while there is a plethora of literature on educational leadership, almost all of it is about principals and positional heads. But we know that in schools, and other educational institutions, leadership is not just the prerogative of the principal – there are many others who are leading the education in a school site. It is these leaders that we want to address in this book, and to think about how their leading practices can be understood and developed. We describe these leaders as “middle leaders” In the past middle leaders have not received much attention, but their work in schools, with teachers, with students and with principals are critical to the provision and development of education in schools, early childhood centres, vocational training colleges, and other educational institutions. It seems to us that middle leaders are generally offered little professional development, training, or support for their roles, and so here we want to provide some ideas that can fill that gap.
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| 10. |
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