This paper draws on data from a participant action research project with adult basic mathematics students in inner-city areas of south London. The students all attended general basic mathematics courses and most of the students also attended literacy courses. The data challenges the view that curricula for basic mathematics should be determined by…

A 1996 research project in St. Paul, Minnesota, found high rates of poverty and unemployment in its American Indian population and a lack of connection between social service agencies and the Indian community. A follow-up project aimed to support the Indian community in identifying its own priorities for research and action. Eight focus groups…

In this paper the work of democratic theorists is applied to an analysis of democratic decision-making in a public high school. The article opens with a brief description of democratic decision-making as a school-reform strategy. The data for the study were collected in 1998 and 1999 and were based on 52 interviews with teachers, administrators,…

Ten female doctoral students in nursing, aged 30-50, expressed a loss of "voice" in the educational experience. In a process viewed as an heroic journey, they achieved empowerment through the formation of a community of scholarly caring and emancipation resulting from assertion of their scholarly identity. (SK)

A participatory research project was designed to teach eight British adults with learning disabilities about keeping healthy. The development of the project, the recruitment of the participants, and the involvement of the participants in the project are discussed, along with the role of researchers and support workers in participatory research.…

From case study articles drawn from four journals in gifted education, two are identified as exemplars of qualitative case study research. The works of Coleman (2001) and Hebert and Beardsley (2001) are used to illustrate how researchers can plan qualitative case studies so that the perspectives of gifted students are included. (Contains…

A project is described in which a support team collaborated with the science department of a British high school to develop a "whole school" approach to serving children with special educational needs. "New paradigm" research, which aims to involve the subjects of an inquiry as collaborators, was used in the project. (JDD)

Two types of verbal-report data (concurrent and retrospective) and four major introspective methods used in second-language research (L2) (thinking-aloud, questionnaires, interviews, diary-keeping) are described in a discussion of introspective L2 research studies. It is argued that, though incomplete, verbal reports from informant-learners offer…

Describes three projects sponsored by the International Community Education Association: (1) functional literacy for railway workers in Ghana; (2) youth farmers' community development project in Ghana; and (3) participatory research in a community education and development network in Sierra Leone. (SK)

Nine principles of participatory action research (PAR) are identification of individual and collective projects; changing power distribution; changing group and institutional culture; acting and reflecting; unifying intellectual and practical projects; producing knowledge; engaging the politics; using methodological resources; and creating theory.…

An Australian action research project to explore the construction of gender in elementary education experienced difficulties resulting from external management and funding. Some project managers had expectations of the participants that resembled a top-down approach to change. (SK)

Uncritically accepted assumptions of adult education are it has humanistic goals; it narrows the gap in educational attainment; it is learner centered and empowering; (and it advances equality. The reality of practice must be confronted through critical pedagogy and participatory research. (SK)

Findings from a collaborative action research project involving seven culturally diverse families with children with disabilities are used to illustrate how professionals can provide assistance in a family's zone of proximal development, rather than targeting goals that are normative for the mainstream, but not for the family. (Author/CR)

A pilot program engaged adults aged 55-84 in mental fitness activities to stimulate creative thinking, problem solving, memory, mental flexibility, risk taking, and confidence. The changes in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes support mental fitness as a critical component of healthy aging. (SK)

The Tribal Disability Actualization Process used culturally appropriate deliberation processes and particpatory action research in considering policies for American Indians with disabilities. Talking circles on five reservations were used to achieve consensus on the needs of people with disabilities and derive community-driven solutions that are…