Table Of ContentCASES AND STORIES OF
TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION RESEARCH
Cases and Stories of Transformative Action Research builds on its companion book,
Principles and Methods of Transformative Action Research, by describing and analyzing
dozens of examples of successful action research efforts pursued in the past five
decades by students and faculty of the Western Institute for Social Research.
Someprojectsarelarge-scale,andsomearemodestinterventionsintheeveryday
lives of those participating. Some are formal organizational efforts; others are the
results of individual or small group initiatives. Included are chapters on community
needs assessments and innovative grassroots approaches to program evaluation; the
challenges of improving our decision-making during the crisis of the COVID-19
pandemic; strategies of intellectual activism in addressing the growing problem of
workplacebullying; action research topreserve andshare the history ofthe Omaha
tribe; and plans for an innovative school-based project based on collaborative
action-and-inquiry between students and Artificial Intelligence. In addition, there
are a number of detailed stories about the use of transformative action research in
such areas as somatic and trauma counseling, ethnic studies, health disparities,
genderdifferences,grassrootspopulareducation,andtheimprovementofstatewide
steps for preventing child abuse, among many others.
This book can serve as an undergraduate or graduate social sciences text on
research methods. It is also a guidebook for action-oriented research by academics,
professionals, and lay people alike.
John A. Bilorusky (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) is co-founder of the
Western Institute for Social Research in Berkeley. For 45 years, as a faculty
member there, he has guided hundreds of student action research theses, disserta-
tions, and projects, and consulted with dozens of community agencies and colleges
on action research.
CASES AND STORIES OF
TRANSFORMATIVE
ACTION RESEARCH
Five Decades of Collaborative Action
and Learning
John A. Bilorusky
Contributing Colleagues:
Terry F. Lunsford, JD, PhD
Cynthia Lawrence, PhD
Contributing Authors:
David Yamada, JD, PhD
Dennis Hastings, PhD
Margery Coffey, PhD
Sudia Paloma McCaleb, EdD
Marilyn Jackson, PhD
Kence Anderson, BS
Other Notable Colleagues:
Vera Labat, MPH
Shyaam Shabaka, MPH
Milly Henry
and many WISR Learners acknowledged
Firstpublished2021
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Names:Bilorusky,JohnA.(JohnAlan),author.
Title:Casesandstoriesoftransformativeactionresearch:fivedecadesof
collaborativeactionandlearning/JohnA.Bilorusky.
Description:Abingdon,Oxon;NewYork,NY:Routledge,2021.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.|
Identifiers:LCCN2020047736(print)|LCCN2020047737(ebook)|
ISBN9780367742454(hardback)|ISBN9780367742461(paperback)|
ISBN9781003156758(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Actionresearch--Casestudies.|Evaluationresearch
(Socialactionprograms)--Casestudies.
Classification:LCCH62.B52292021(print)|LCCH62(ebook)|
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TypesetinBembo
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
To those, no matter how oppressed or privileged,
who listen eloquently and who are motivated
bylove,andbythepursuitofjusticeandcollectivewell-being.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements xi
About the author xiii
1 Introduction 1
What is transformative action research? 1
About the “experimenting learning community” in which transformative
action research has developed 7
For whom is this book written, and why? 10
What this book aims to do 12
PARTI
Applications 15
2 Program evaluations 17
Evaluations in community agencies 17
Case example of some steps in agency-consultant collaboration on
program evaluation 21
Toward a transformative approach to evaluation 24
Evaluation as the discovery of grounded theory 27
3 Uses of action research in community organizations 29
An ongoing process of information-gathering and review 29
Uses of action research in community groups 30
A focus that can shape organizational “politics” 33
viii Contents
Community needs assessments 34
Designing pilot projects and developing concept papers addressing
community needs and problems 37
Challenges and opportunities in working for significant, multilevel
changes 40
4 Community-based think tanks 44
Introduction 44
A vision for community-based think tanks 45
Sample plan for a community-based think tank 48
5 Toward expert knowledge and human development—the
curriculum of the “experimenting community” 51
Learning as human development, and as knowledge and skill
development 51
A curriculum, based on the action-inquiry of collaborative script
improvisation, to promote ego development and progressively
increasing expert knowledge 54
The stages and the developmental transitions and progress—intersections
of content and process 57
WISR’s curricular approach—the “structure” of scripts for
improvisation 61
6 Using transformative action-inquiry during the COVID-19
pandemic: Critiquing studies and facing decision-making
dilemmas 67
Action-and-inquiry during the COVID-19 pandemic 67
What “data” are relevant? 69
Our social responsibility in making decisions in the midst of a large-scale
crisis, and the importance of using qualitative as well as quantitative
data about the pandemic—a case study 71
The role of “qualitative data” 82
Concluding remarks 84
PARTII
Illustrations 85
7 Intellectual activism and action research—a case study on
workplace bullying 87
David Yamada
Contents ix
Introduction to a case study of an intellectual activist using action
research in addressing the problem of workplace bullying 87
From David Yamada’s dissertation: Action research and social
change 88
Social change theory and intellectual activism 91
Additional resources 99
8 Multifaceted, comprehensive action-oriented research, aimed at
preserving and restoring the Omaha culture 100
Dennis Hastings and Margery Coffey
Introduction 100
Action research and Grandfather Remembers—by Dennis Hastings
and Margery Coffey, Omaha Tribal Historical Research Project, Inc.
(OTHRP), July 2009 102
9 Stories, concepts, and methods of participatory action
research—Transforming individuals and groups 118
Sudia Paloma McCaleb
Introduction 118
Sudia’s stories and insights—of participatory action research 118
Engaging in dialogue with Salvadoran immigrants living in California
and sharing words with Salvadoran educators back home and
Oaxacan indigenous communities 126
10 Getting out of the book and into the world: Ways to
understand action research 128
Marilyn Jackson
11 Teaching and learning physics as inquiry—Similarities with
transformative action research 135
The importance of inquiry 135
Creating learning environments conducive to inquiry 138
Concluding remarks and suggestions 144
12 Plans for a school-based project to involve students as teachers,
learners, and colleagues of Artificial Intelligence 146
Kence Anderson and John A. Bilorusky
13 Stories of action research from WISR learners 155
Introduction 155
WISR alumni and students speak about action research 156
