The European Centre for Modern Languages project “Action research communities for language teachers” (ARC) has supported teachers in European classrooms in using action research as an essential tool for the development of reflective classroom practice - highlighting ways in which teachers can enhance their self-confidence and professionalism. The webinar (available on the project website and on YouTube) which took place on 25 January 2019 provides an insight into the experiences gathered over the 3 years of the project (2016-2018) and the results achieved.
The goal of ARC has been to contribute towards quality enhancement in the language classroom through the application of action research approaches by tapping into existing networks with a view to creating new learning communities, which can be replicated across ECML member states.
Over the three years of the project, the team was able to strengthen professional networks by linking academic expertise on action research and good practice in the language classroom. The project has also designed a set of resources for teachers who would like to get into action research and also for teacher educators running courses on action research.
In the webinar the project team and colleagues involved in action research (as listed below) speak about their experiences with action research in national contexts, the resources they developed and addressed questions raised by participants:
- Christine Lechner, Pedagogical University, Austria, ARC - project framework
- Angela Gallagher-Brett: SOAS, University of London, UK - "The ARC-Spiral"
- Inge Alfredson: Avedoere Lower Secondary School, Denmark, "The discovery of the intercultural dimension in English lessons through action research"
- Kenan Dikilitas: Bahçeşehir University Turkey, "Action Research at tertiary level: Field notes from a research mentor"
- Sunny Lau, Bishop's University, Canada. Participatory action research: Promotion of language teachers’ self-efficacy and advocacy for socially just plurilingual pedagogy.