Religious Education Research through a Community of Practice. Action Research and the Interpretive Approach

This book brings together a group of teachers and teacher educators who have researched their own students’ learning in schools and universities as part of the EC funded REDCo Project. Combining the methods of action and practitioner research with the key concepts of Robert Jackson’s interpretive approach, the book illustrates the collaborative research of a group of professionals working together as a community of practice.
• Part one sets out the key ideas of the interpretive approach and action research.
• Part two reports case studies from individual researchers’ projects carried out in diverse though related settings: different schools, teacher education and local authority teacher training.
• Part three traces the ideas of the ‘interpretive approach’, ‘action research’ and ‘community of practice’ across the individual studies.
• Part four connects the research with wider themes and findings from the European Commission REDCo Project on religion, education, dialogue and conflict.
The book is highly relevant to the work of teachers and teacher trainers in the field of religions and education, to researchers in this field, and to all interested in action research, practitioner research and communities of practice.