Interrogating Ourselves to Promote the Democratic Production, Distribution, and Use of Knowledge through Action Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Keywords
Knowledge democracy, autoethnography, action research
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2018.1526097
Abstract
This article is a report of a critical co-autoethnography action research (AR) study of Allan Feldman’s life in AR relative to the development of knowledge democracy (KD). For nearly 30 years he has been doing, studying, and writing about AR, first as a doctoral student and then as a professor. Prior to this he engaged in reflective practice as a secondary science teacher. In this study we ask how his life in AR has contributed to KD, and what actions he and others can take to increase the contribution of AR to KD. The meaning-making processes used throughout relied heavily on collaborative conversations with a critical friend (Frederick Bradley), self-reflective writing, and interrogation of the literature and Feldman’s previous writings. The findings suggest that while his work has been situated in democratic and critical aspects of AR, little of it fits in with current conceptions of KD. They also indicate that a reconfiguration of how we think about, practice, facilitate, and study AR might be necessary if we are to fall more in line with the ideals of KD. We contend the methods and results of our study can be used by others in the field, who seek to interrogate their participation in this way, and help them promote the democratic production, distribution, and use of knowledge.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Educational Action Research, v. 27, issue 1, p. 91-107
Scholar Commons Citation
Feldman, Allan and Bradley, Frederick B. III, "Interrogating Ourselves to Promote the Democratic Production, Distribution, and Use of Knowledge through Action Research" (2019). Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications. 497.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tal_facpub/497
