Action Research and Preparation of Leaders of the Third Sector
Mary McDonald, University of San Diego; Paula Krist, Ph.D., University of San Diego
Nonprofit management education programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels have grown significantly in the United States since they appeared in higher education in the 1980’s (O’Neil, 2005; Ashcraft, 2001). Data compiled in 2011 reported that “…over 325 universities and colleges across the United States offer courses in nonprofit management and philanthropy” (Mirabella, 2011, p. 1). Program growth has also been found in similar philanthropic and nongovernmental courses internationally and is evidence of the potential influence such programs have on the emerging leadership of the sector.
Analysis of these programs at the course level has found that applied projects are a common curricular component among program course offerings particularly at the graduate level (Carpenter, 2010). These experiential opportunities provide students with varying levels of engagement with nongovernmental organizations including the opportunity to engage in practice building skills in action research. (James, Slater and Bucknam, 2011). This paper reports on an exploratory study of action research projects being conducted within a Master’s program in Nonprofit Leadership and Management. The purpose is to engage with students as they conceptualize the theory, design the method, and conduct the data collection through collaboration, action and reflection.
Empirical and Theoretical Concern
Action research is a systematic approach to action and change. It has been increasingly used in professional education because it uses iterative process and reflection to inform professional practice. Nursing and teaching have integrate action research in their curriculum (Smyth, 1989; Frabutt, Holter and Nuzzi, 2010; Rönnerman, Furu and Salo, 2008). Recently, efforts have emerged to integrate action research in nonprofit/nongovernmental course projects (James, Slater & Buchman, 2011).
This study will challenge our own practice as teachers, engage with students, and expand the academic community by learning how action research can build leadership practice for our students.
Short summary locating the concern within a wider literature
This research follows the traditions of Paulo Friere and Kurt Lewin, including diverse voices, reflection, and discussion in the construction of both meaning and change. These tools for dialogue can be viewed as an inductive process generating themes for action (Herr and Anderson, 2005) and as the framework for understanding, as well as assessment and priority setting in learning communities (Pasmore in Reason and Bradbury, 2006). Several theorists have elaborated on the cycles of action research (Herr and Anderson, 2005). The cycle the project will employ is that of Coghlan and Brannick (2010) four steps: Constructing (what the issues are), Planning action (with emphasis on collaboration); Taking action; and Evaluation of the action. Discourse occurs at each of these levels as all participants operationalize the intentions, planning, action and outcomes of the work (Coghlan and Brannick, p. 12). The teacher, the students, and the collaborative partners will work in the individual, the interpersonal and the organizational levels often identified as critical in action research through the systematic approach employed during the study.
The Methodological Approach
Two key questions guide this research: 1) What do students actually learn in collaborative community-based action research projects? 2) Do they leave the project with a theoretical framework that will inform their practice as they move to lead in an ever complex world?
This study is part of a research class in a masters education program. Literature on both the theoretical frame and practice of action research will be applied to student projects. All participants will journal, dialogue, and analyze documents through the various iterations of the research cycles. Students will present their work at a conference in April and then work with faculty to make sense of the peer review and their own reflections. The faculty will integrate findings into a pedagogical model. The model will inform university programs as well as create implications for the field of education.
Arguments and Supporting Evidence
Nonprofit and nongovernmental education programs are preparing students to lead in an increasingly diverse and complex world. Leadership skills need to increasingly include the capacity to engage with others across political and social divisions and to systematically reflect and test potential actions in the context of their capacity to produce change (James, Slater and Bucknam, 2011).
Statement on relevance to an
international audience
The results of this study will have implications for nonprofit and nongovernmental education programs throughout the world. The exploration involved in this work will not only answer the question, “How can action research improve my practice as a third sector leader” but also the question, “How do I actually do the work”? It ultimately documents the synergy of theory and practice.