Supportive Contexts for Action Research in Education

This chapter provides supportive contexts to conduct action research, more specifically advices about how to successfully gain access to appropriate educational institutions and maintain the research agenda in collaborative research relationships within these pre‐kindergarten through higher education partnerships. It discusses avenues to create bridges to barriers that may occur prior to and/or while conducting action research in those educational venues, as well as protections and the process of obtaining consent to work with vulnerable populations, such as students with disabilities and those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQIA). The chapter identifies the nuances of cultivating partnerships between researchers, practitioners, and their education sites, as well as modes of communication between the researchers and practitioners. Several additional themes are discussed as they apply to the navigation of the action research process in educational settings: relationships with stakeholders, participation and cooperation of stakeholders, and obtaining vulnerable participants' consent.