Category: Unit 3: Action Research Project

Formative Assessment: I found the formative assessment incredibly helpful, and I am very grateful to Mallika, Christin, Gem and Kelly for their insightful comments and feedback. The initial presentation acted as a space for me to formulate my ideas and make sense of the journey I have been on throughout the ARP. However, while I…

I began the unit by expanding on material encountered during the IP unit, as my ARP developed directly from my earlier intervention design. I was particularly influenced by Sara Ahmed’s On Being Included (2012), whose accessible yet critical approach to institutional life resonated strongly with my own experiences of working with students. Ahmed’s emphasis on…

I gathered research data at key points during the students’ collaborative project with London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS). This began with an interview with course leader Gabi Tropia, which helped identify the key issues to be explored through the research (addressing unconscious bias, discriminatory language, fosteing ethical collaboration and encouraging reflection on positionality). Data was…

As the workshop was scheduled as part of the first years curriculum, I ensured that I contacted all of the students both in person and via email two weeks in advance of the workshop to explain the session content, context, and that their participation in the research was completely optional. I provided them with my…

I decided on a research method that uses arts based qualitative and quantitative approaches. I adopted a mixed-methods, participatory approach in order to capture both measurable shifts in student understanding and the lived, relational experiences of collaborative practice. I chose methods that invited reflexivity, ethical engagement, and shared knowledge production, aligning with the values underpinning…

Following on from Mallika’s feedback I redrafted the Ethical Research Plan. As well as the comments and thoughts laid out in the previous blog post, I also updated the form to encompass the following ethical concerns that arose through my reading of Ellis and Bochner (2006), Lenette (2023), and McNiff (2002). I came to realise…

At the start of the ARP unit, I felt overwhelmed by the scale of what I wanted to achieve with the intervention in relation to the time limitations of the term to create meaningful change. I felt concerned about creating a project that felt like ‘hypothetical social action’ as Helguera warned against. However, through discussion…

Research Question: How can collective manifesto making support students to reflect on their  positionality and develop more ethical, caring approaches to collaborative filmmaking? Rationale: This research question emerged out of the IP unit, where I designed a manifesto workshop as an intervention to foster inclusive, anti-racist, and ethically engaged filmmaking practices among first year students on MA…