ABSTRACT

This article examines the possibilities and challenges in turning a top-down action research project led by high-level public authorities into a shared and collaborative, multi-site and multi-professional bottom-up action research project. For this purpose, the article explores the initial stages of a European level action research project called ‘Linguistically Sensitive Teaching in All Classrooms’ that aimed to help teacher education systems better acknowledge linguistically diverse student populations in seven European countries. The analysis of the data sought to identify how to promote linguistically sensitive initial teacher education by incorporating reflection tasks into existing courses, and how to transform a top-down research project into a shared and collaborative bottom-up action project. The primary data consisted of 19 video-recorded online research meetings. Qualitative analysis was used to identify ‘critical moments’ in the data; these included a moment of major insight where transformation of project related ideas took place. The findings showed that linguistically sensitive teaching as a phenomenon is complex and the related terminology challenging to translate between languages and contexts. Furthermore, a European level action research requires negotiating a joint understanding of the roles of the participants and the individual perceptions of project ownership in each context. This suggests that a deeper understanding of the processes of participation and the partnerships involved in the action research may be as valuable as the actual reflection tools developed in the project in securing a systematic change towards linguistically sensitive teacher education.

摘要

本文探讨了将高层公共机构领导的自上而下的行动研究项目转变为共享协作、多站点和多专业的自下而上行动研究项目的可能性和挑战。为此，本文探讨了名为“所有教室的语言敏感教学”的欧洲级行动研究项目的初始阶段，该项目旨在帮助教师教育系统更好地承认七个欧洲国家的语言多样化的学生群体。对数据的分析试图确定如何通过将反思任务纳入现有课程来促进语言敏感的初级教师教育，以及如何将自上而下的研究项目转变为共享和协作的自下而上的行动项目。主要数据包括 19 个视频录制的在线研究会议。定性分析用于识别数据中的“关键时刻”；其中包括一个重要的洞察力时刻，在这个时刻发生了与项目相关的想法的转变。研究结果表明，语言敏感教学作为一种现象是复杂的，相关术语在语言和语境之间的翻译具有挑战性。此外，欧洲层面的行动研究需要协商共同理解参与者的角色以及在每种情况下对项目所有权的个人看法。