The research question that forms the body of this thesis is: ‘What methods, skills and processes does the participatory development practitioner require for effective practice?’The intention behind this research topic has been to identify how to create socially relevant spaces within todays contemporary conditions of society. This is a reflection of an understanding of myself as someone within the ‘idealist’ stream of endeavour as defined by Charles Jencks in ‘Modern Movements in Architecture.’As I have a design background, I chose a design methodology to undertake the study. The methodology is documented by Donald Schön in the book ‘The Reflective Practitioner’ and is, in a general sense, also the methodology David Kolb documented in ‘Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development’. An element of this learning approach is for a designer to create a useful artefact that can be considered and evaluated, thus the thesis also comprises the DVD: ‘Outside the Gates, Development Processes for the Real World’.In writing the thesis I became aware that this learning process has been, and still is, central to development itself within our culture of generative change. I first arrived at this intuitively while building the DVD, but it became more explicit during the DVD evaluation. The thesis thus commences with a description and rationale for the methodology.After describing the methodology I devote three chapters to providing the background to both the form and content of the DVD. This draws almost exclusively from personal experience, though with references to architectural history, theory and practice. This includes observations on the theme of technological development, generative change and one of the real needs for our physical and psychological well being - shelter. Thus the DVD sits at a mid point in the thesis. Following the creation of the DVD, I have in accordance with the methodology evaluated its content. To do this I used a literature review generally based on Grounded Theory practice. There are four sections in the DVD, with a chapter dedicated to each of these sections.The thesis concludes with a chapter that fits in the final part of Kolb’s learning cycle, abstract conceptualisation, that considers the meaning of the findings. Ultimately there is an epilogue that outlines the next ‘concrete output’, a recently completed project based on the learnings from the thesis. This is a community engagement training course for project managers.[To view the content of the DVD: Outside the gates go to http://www.martinbutcher.com/Site/OtG.html]

The professional practice of educational design normally involves collaborating with a subject matter expert on a one-to-one basis and is only occasionally undertaken in teams. This thesis argues that a team-based approach to educational design is powerful and particularly so when transdisciplinary collaborations are facilitated. Transdisciplinary educational design is the process of standing outside one’s discipline to collaborate with colleagues from the technical sphere, the library and other disciplines. The common ground shared by the transdisciplinary teams in this research was student assessment.The core data collection for this research was completed between July 2002 and June 2005. Using an overarching action research methodology, three cycles of data collection were completed by action learning sets. Suitable members of the sets were identified through a series of online staff development workshops that were designed and facilitated by the researcher. Two supplementary data collection activities were also undertaken. The first of these was a Web survey that broadly mapped design practices for online assessment in four Australian regional universities. Three rounds of telephone interviews then followed up on survey responses. The second supplementary data collection was undertaken between the second and third action learning cycles to contextualise the online assessment design activities at Southern Cross University within the broader framework provided by the other three regional universities in the original sample. It included focus groups with educational designers and face-to-face interviews with three academics at each of these universities. The entire series of data collection activities was reflectively managed to heighten its effectiveness. This management included screening of suitable participants, negotiation of manageable session times and duration, and establishment of ground rules for attendance and interactions, as well as drawing out a commitment to observe silences as creative spaces in the design process.In keeping with the action research paradigm, an extensive examination of the literature not only provides a background for the research questions but also continues to be threaded throughout the thesis as data collection cycles directed further literature review. The thesis narrative is given an original form through the use of a gardening metaphor that serves to highlight the rewarding, delicate and transitional nature of this kind of educational design. Such transitional aspects of educational design allow for innovation and creativity not evident in the systems-based approaches to designing instruction. This research also supports current initiatives in Australian higher education concerning the first year experience, embedding graduate attributes in the curriculum, and blending on-campus and off-campus learners into one class. The transdisciplinary approach to educational design explored through this research responds effectively to the varied issues in designing online assessment and developing innovative approaches by academic staff

The dissertation contends that an instrument developed through using a model of complex adaptive systems as a generative metaphor will assist members of an organisation to better understand their organisation. Using an action research methodology, six Air Force Management Services Teams were exposed to six overlapping attributes of complex adaptive systems through focus group workshops with an aim to determine whether they, as experienced management consulting practitioners, saw value to themselves and their Air Force clients of using aspects of complex adaptive systems for organisational understanding. The overlapping attributes of complex adaptive systems were distilled from the literature reviewed. Whereas the focus group workshop participants found the attributes valuable in understanding the dynamics of organisational behaviour, they found the new way of thinking challenging on a number of different perspectives. Some aspects of the Air Force organisation, like its high levels of organisational experience, will make the introduction to and use of complex adaptive systems thinking simpler, while other aspects of the Air Force organisation, like its sensitivity to complex adaptive systems terminology, will make the introduction and use of complex adaptive systems more challenging. Notwithstanding the challenges, both the complex adaptive systems model, and the use of action research were found to be useful ways of introducing organisations to complex adaptive systems thinking.

This project's purpose is to relocate traditional paper-based library content about typographic history to a website, curated as a digital museum. The project process is defined as three distinct parts: 1. Scholarship and research. 2. Model-building and website creation. 3. Deployment, testing and evaluation. To support this, the project included the following sub stages: An informal needs analysis generated by reflection on practice. A survey of contemporary typeface classification systems, type education literature and online resources for typographic study. The building of animated and three-dimensional prototype models. The creation of a database of 100 historically significant typeface designs. The sourcing of samples, references, images and the gathering of reproduction permissions from designers, institutions and foundries whose work features in the database. The writing, editing, design and launch of the website at http://www.100types.com Peer feedback and review. An evaluation study of the website with students at AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand. A series of revisions to the website structure and presentation. The writing up of the research process and findings. I chose this topic as the direct result of my experiences teaching typography at AUT University and other tertiary institutions. The need for graphic design students to demonstrate competencies in typography (as a sub-discipline of graphic design) has always been present, but has been fore grounded over the last two decades; however, a recent PhD thesis on the subject has argued that traditional delivery of print-based typographic knowledge no longer serves undergraduate requirements for today's divergent screen-based media (Yee, 2006, p.11). This has been accompanied by a significant rise in the number of available typefaces (Cahalan, 2004, p.62). Unfortunately the means with which to study them has not kept pace with these developments (Dixon, 2002, p.4).Changes occurring within the type manufacturing industry and the wider field of creative industries during the last two decades have made the historical, background context of typography harder to comprehend from an undergraduate point of view. Students complain that they are under-resourced for information (in their preferred research medium) about the typefaces they must demonstrate care and deliberation in choosing. From experience gained in observing an online-learning pilot scheme in 2005, I elected to develop an online reference resource designed for self-directed research of typographic history as a complement to the existing tuition of typographic applications face-to-face in the classroom. While the project offers a useful example of how practice-led research can augment a teaching situation, and is concerned with the promotion of student-centred and self-directed learning at AUT University, this is not its only objective as a public-access location on the internet. In keeping with the rising philosophy of open content for web-based education resources, a conscious decision was made at the project's inception to host and present the website independently of AUT University and its online learning environment.

The need to raise the skills and knowledge of both managers and staff in small business through improvement to education and training is the underpinning thematic concern of this research. Another concern is the appropriateness of action research as a process for research and development in education and training for small business. The independent supermarket industry in Australia provided the case study for this action research. The study sought to identify the barriers to participation in education and training programs and to develop strategies to overcome these barriers. Participation in education and training programs in the independent supermarket industry in Australia was found to be constrained by working conditions at store level, geographic location, negative attitudes of owners or principal managers towards education and formalised training and economic pressures on the industry. In this study the action research methodology provided the means to incrementally achieve a rich contextual understanding, to build researcher-client relationships, client receptivity to the research findings and credibility for both the researcher and the study. However, a key constraint to action research was the difficulty of gaining active participation from the client system. Another contribution of this is the documentation of the key issues and characteristics of independent supermarkets which have been poorly reported. The issues and characteristics identified for independent supermarkets, such as those arising from future uncertainity, family ownership, management style and attitude are compatible with those reported for small business generally. This research was guided by, and the results support, the proposition put forward by Gummesson that action research in a business environment is enhanced by the combining of the consultant and researcher roles. This role duality and the cyclic processes of action research provided the opportunity for incremental benefits to the clients which gave incentive for the clients to provide access and support for research in their enviro / Master of Science (Hons)

The development policy and plans of the Thai government have emphasized economic growth aimed at 'modernising' the country, enacted through agricultural modernisation and industrialisation under the name 'rural development'. Women In Development (WID) approaches based on the modernisation model have been added to 'development' plans more recently. Examination of the effects of these WID programmes upon rural women demonstrates that poor women are disempowered by the 'top-down' rural development programmes. This study is an attempt to test collaborative action research (CAR) as a methodology to empower rural women to become the decision makers in the rural development process. CAR was carried out in Sandee Village, northern Thailand. This suggests that rural women can be empowered through continuous cycles of the collaborative learning process of planning, acting, observing and critical reflection with the researcher acting as a facilitator. Through this learning process, rural women have increased their capacity to make choices, to deal with existing constraints and to create changes. In this respect 'development' can be initiated from within. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The study investigated the creation of a community of learners to integrate environmental education into early childhood curriculum. Two centres were used for the study (one kindergarten, one childcare centre). The participants were four kindergarten teachers, eight childcare staff, along with five focus group parents and six focus children from each centre. The qualitative research was conducted in two phases over one year. In phase one a case study approach was employed to allow teachers to gain confidence in the research process. During this time a two week environmental education integrated curriculum was implemented at both centres. At the conclusion of phase one a nascent community of learners was emerging. After a transition stage when the research was shared with the researcher, the teachers at both centres made the decision to lead the research in phase two using a participatory action research approach. This resulted in a growth in professional knowledge of research processes. The teachers aimed to collaboratively create a community of learners with the parents by valuing their involvement, social capital and funds of knowledge. A project approach to environmental education based on children’s environmental interests, the emergent curriculum, and the use of documentation was implemented at both centres. A conceptual artefact in the form of a community of learners was created. Bereiter’s knowledge creation metaphor and the sociological concepts of parental social capital and funds of knowledge guided the data analysis. Environmental knowledge creation by all participants in the community of learners was a significant finding. The research process resulted in all the participants (teachers, children and parents) creating their own environmental knowledge and gaining a heightened awareness of environmental education in early childhood curriculum.

A growing body of international research has indicated that teacher effectiveness is the most important factor affecting student achievement. At the heart of effective teaching and learning are learning conversations, in which teachers play a pivotal role in mediating learning by orchestrating discussion with students. This action research study had a dual purpose, firstly to investigate the effects of teachers’ knowledge and thinking on their ability to mediate students’ learning in classroom learning conversations, and secondly to provide the participating teachers with opportunities to investigate and develop their professional knowledge and practice. The action research approach allowed the collection of substantive information about teachers’ thinking and practice, while at the same informing and developing that practice through cycles of data collection, analysis, and reflection. The study involved two New Zealand primary school teachers in four cycles of action research. Information was gathered about the teachers’ knowledge, thinking, and practice through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and reflective journals. Observation transcripts were analysed, coded, discussed, and reflected upon during reflection days at the end of each cycle. The initial findings of the study revealed that although the two teachers were very different in their teaching styles, there were strong similarities in the fragmented nature of their knowledge of learning and assessment theory. Discrepancies were found between the teachers’ espoused theories and their theories-in-use. In addition, the teachers’ practice was strongly influenced by implicit beliefs and routinised behaviours, which had a powerful and often detrimental effect on the quality of their interactions with students. However, the process of examining the evidence in their own lesson transcripts enabled the teachers to develop awareness of weaknesses in their practice. This was a catalyst for reflection that resulted in change and improvement. After an initial regression both teachers made small but incremental changes in their interactions with students. By the end of the final cycle both teachers had appreciably improved the quality of their classroom learning conversations. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of classroom-based action research as a model for reflective professional development.

This thesis examines the historical relationship between government and self-government, and the contemporary role that Action Research (AR) occupies as a liberal technology of government. It draws upon the Teaching for Effective Learning in Senior Schooling (TELSS) project as the example. This project, which was based on a 'collaborative' AR methodology, was just one of the many national post-compulsory schooling reform initiatives that emerged during the late 1980s and 1990s. At that time, AR and Participatory Action Research (PAR) were preferred methodologies by education faculty personnel, and some teachers, as practical alternatives to 'positivist' social science approaches. This is still the case, both locally and internationally. The initial focus of the thesis is to trace the role of the school and the family in the government of populations, and show how AR is currently positioned as a mechanism for establishing and installing new forms of self-management within these historical institutional arrangements. This includes enticements and inducements to participate in one's own self-management. The AR perspective seeks to make a practical intervention in the re-organization and management of schools, as well as other workplaces and organizations, as a means to promote and develop ongoing professional learning within these organizations. The thesis highlights some confusing issues surrounding contemporary attempts by schools to open themselves to the community, however. AR has achieved considerable success to the extent that expert AR consultants have been commonly employed by Education Departments in many countries to foster new ways of attaining educational goals. Drawing upon other examples, as well as this case study, the contrast between the high expectations of project participants, and their limited outcomes, suggests the need to query AR's representations of participation. This includes some contemporary conceptions of how 'the school community' operates. Is there another way that we can understand this particular territory, and parent involvement in schools more generally, other than in political terms such as the need to 'democratize the community'? The AR commentary focuses on the 'egalitarian' ideal of emancipation and empowerment via participation. AR's preference for participation through human self-determination over that of statist instrumental rationality is questioned, however, by drawing upon empirical evidence generated by the case study, as well as other theoretically informed material. The thesis moves to an account of the role of different forms of government which enable self-management, particularly the role of the school community within the field of education and its administration. By situating the TELSS case study and its limits in what Michel Foucault (1991) terms the history of 'governmentality', AR is described as part of government and an aid to social reform programmes. Inside this discussion, some of AR's self promotions and understandings will re re-defined. These include an anti-bureaucratic rhetoric, concerns about hierarchical power relations, and aspirations of self-autonomy, emancipation and social justice. How is it that educational bureaucracies are so amenable to taking on board goals for educational reform expressed in the form of frequently anti-bureaucratic radical critique? The thesis undertakes the task of investigating this peculiarity, as well as some of the negative outcomes of such liberal governmental undertakings.

An Action Research approach to supporting change management and associated governance strategies in a community services organisation. Following a report on the Civil Society in the New Millennium Project, which was based upon the responses of citizens from forty-seven Commonwealth countries, a Compact Approach involving the state, intermediary organisations and citizens was developed in 1999, as a framework to enhance civil society. A literature review indicated that there was no research in Australia, as well as internationally, that had investigated the efficacy of this formalised agreement or Compact, particularly in a practical setting. The researcher had been working in the community services sector and had an interest in supporting community services organisations to meet the impact of change, particularly in response to government policy reform agendas. The Compact Approach was identified as a model to navigate change and develop partnerships with a civil society organisation operating in environments characterised by certainty as well as uncertainty. The researcher made himself available to a case study organisation to support change and to investigate the Compact Approach by undertaking Action Research as a participant observer. This exploratory research involved two main reference groups, board and staff, in planning, acting, observing and reflecting. A large amount of data was generated and a need was identified for it to be collated and simplified for further analysis. A new methodology was developed drawing upon the traditions of case study method and story-telling to represent the research themes of: the Compact Approach; change management; and, governance. With the Compact Approach what was found was evidence of some degree of civil society enhancement, particularly at the individual organisation level. As the study was undertaken from an organisation’s perspective the other dimensions of civil society and government had been underrepresented. It was found that government policy of promoting the market meant that competition was overshadowing co2 operation in the case study organisation. For community services organisations the main partner is government and policy frameworks need to support partnerships and civil society beyond current contractual agreements. Carver’s (1997) Policy Governance framework was partially implemented to assist with infrastructure development. However there was a lack of time and a commitment from the board and senior staff. Not all governance responsibilities can be met through such a framework and community organisations need to be mindful of its limitations, particularly for those connected to civil society. There were mixed results with Action Research being used as a change management tool. The dominance of power by those in ‘control’ highlighted management styles, but they also overshadowed group processes. Action Research methodology was also complemented by Stacey’s (1996) ordinary and extraordinary management framework. It was found that when applied to the Action Research cycle of planning, acting, observing and reflecting; that the process of reflecting was particularly supported by such conceptual mapping. What was also highlighted was the need for professionals to undertake ����in the field���� Action Research but also to draw upon their professional or technical expertise, using participant-observer-consultant modes. The capacity for a small community services organisation to change can be based upon levels of infrastructure, governance skills, available resources and level of development to operate at an associative level with other stakeholders. The viability of these smaller organisations is being challenged by the ‘managerialist’ business paradigms of government policy where the fabric of civil society has not been incorporated within accountability frameworks. Here there is a challenge for new frameworks such as the Compact Approach, to lead the way as formalised agreements with government, to enhance the role of civil society in the delivery of community services in countries such as Australia. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)