PhD Courses in Denmark

Welcome to Action Research and participatory research as engaging in sustainable change.
 

Today, action research encompasses a diversity of projects across various fields such as education, social work, healthcare, the caregiving sector, and many others. It is conducted in both public and private organizations. Action research is associated with a wide array of concepts such as innovation, co-creation, capacity building, co-production, co-evaluation, learning, leadership, and organization, to name a few. However, what does the significant growth in the number of action research projects imply, what dilemmas rise, and what consequences has it had - and might it have - now that action research has become so widespread? For "the young action researcher," this can be experienced as both conflicting and problematic, particularly concerning the relationship between knowledge, theory, method, and action.

Three researchers, well-experienced with action research, will be present throughout the course, each providing their perspective on action research. This ensures coherence in the course content, both during presentations and group work. Internationally recognized action researcher Miren Larrea will deliver a keynote address at the course and participate in paper workshops with the Ph.D. students.

Purpose: to share knowledge about and experience with action research with Ph.D. students engaging in action research or similar change-oriented research approaches in their Ph.D. projects. Additionally, it aims to create a forum where research supporting desired change processes in the Ph.D. students' projects can be presented and discussed.

Learning objectives:

• Acquiring knowledge and understanding of action research in a modern and historical perspective.
• Expanding methodological creativity and argumentation in their own Ph.D. project.
• Gaining inspiration and perspectives in relation to their own Ph.D. project.

Teaching methods:

Lectures, parallel paper presentation workshops, plenary discussions. Lectures:

The history of action research and its different approaches by Søren Frimann

Action research today includes a diversity that may be called the “action family”, which are change and action-oriented approaches used in different contexts, such as private and public organizations, education, health care and local communities. Action research is often associated with concepts such as co-creation, capacity building, empowerment, and organizational learning. Many organizations have discovered that action research is an approach that can be rewarding for solving organizational problems and creating a space for learning, reflexivity, and development in practice, while also creating research through the action research process.

This presentation provides an overview of the history of action research as well as its scientific paradigms and approaches. Based on concrete examples of action research, the various scientific positions, roles, and approaches in action research are unfolded and discussed.

Learning Processes, Collective Craftsmanship, and Art in Action Research Practice by Julie Borup Jensen

In recent years, within action research, there has been a movement towards new approaches to knowledge production, involving socio-material and art-based investigation methods. Current calls in international journals and conferences address the question of action research as a craft, or even as practices resembling art. For instance, the Action Research Journal issued a call for papers in 2020 titled "Artfulness in the Organizational Playground." Global climate change, green transition, and sustainability also play a role in this discussion. The assumption is that art can inspire the thematic exploration of the (co)creative aspects of action research concerning inclusive and engaging ways of conducting research that contribute to tangible learning and change.

This lecture provides insight into perspectives on creative and artistic approaches to action research, inviting participants to reflect on the artistic aspects of their own investigative practices.

‘Withness-thinking’, ‘relational responsiveness’ and ‘social poetics’ in action research by Lone Hersted

This part of the PhD course contributes to a methodological discussion on action research and draws on the intellectual work of the now deceased British professor in communication, John Shotter. The lecture is inspired by a social constructionist and process-oriented approach to action research. Shotter has launched the term ‘withness-thinking’, which puts the relational in the foreground of all our inquiries. ‘Withness-thinking’ requires a special way of engaging oneself in the process together with the participants (often also called co-researchers). In this lecture we’ll explore how we can understand the thinking of John Shotter and which kind of implications this way of thinking may lead to in our action research practice. Special attention will be paid to concepts such as ’withness-thinking’, ’withness-writing’, ’relational responsiveness’, ’social poetics’, ’polyphony’, and ’joint action’ and how these concepts are related to each other and can inspire us in our living dialogues and interplay with the action research participants.  

The role as an action researcher - guest lecture by Miren Larrea

The lecture evolves around navigating in tensions and in dilemmas when doing research for sustainable change in organizations and society. Experience from doing action research and similar types of research to increase community growth will be shared with the PhD-students, with the aim of inspiring to approaches to research that would link research on regional development with practical work in the same field. She will share experience with the development of action research processes with policy makers, in order to create participatory perspectives of regional development.

Description of paper requirements, if applicable:

The Ph.D.-student can participate with either 1) a research paper or 2) a project description.

Provide an abstract of max. 500 words by 15th September 2024, containing:

• Purpose with the paper / project
• Methodological Considerations and Reflective Thoughts on Methodology
• Tentative Literature and/or Theoretical Considerations

 Scope of Full Paper / Complete Project Description: 3000 words. The content is expected to elaborate on the same considerations as presented in the abstract.

 Full paper / project description by October 21. 2024

Organizer: Julie Borup Jensen 

Lecturers: Julie Borup Jensen 

ECTS: TBA

Time: 5-6 November 2024

Place: Innovate, Thomas Manns Vej 25, 9220 Aalborg East, DK

Zip code: 9220

City: Aalborg

Number of seats: 25

Deadline: 15 October 2024

Important information concerning PhD courses: We have over some time experienced problems with no-show for both project and general courses. It has now reached a point where we are forced to take action. Therefore, the Doctoral School has decided to introduce a no-show fee of DKK 2.000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start. This can hopefully also provide new students a chance to register for courses during the year. We look forward to your registrations.