Much of the research on educational praxis helps us to understand what praxis is, and how it is being facilitated (or not facilitated) in different international contexts with varied histories, traditions and philosophies of educational practice. In this presentation, we take a different focus. Drawing on an integrative literature review, we examine research conducted in and for praxis, that is, research that helps us to understand and facilitate praxis from the ‘inside’, so to speak. In so doing, this presentation asks What research approaches are used to facilitate educational praxis and praxis development in different (inter)national contexts? The presentation maps some of the central foundations that seem to cut across educational praxis research (such as the theory of practice architectures and educational action research). We also touch upon approaches which, despite their obvious connections with praxis, appear to be less common (feminist approaches particularly derived from postcolonial, Indigenous and Black women scholars). We deliberate on the conditions under which praxis research might be conducted (and by whom), in different educational settings, and in different national contexts. Here, the differing cultures and traditions underpinning education and research (such as ‘Bildung’ in the Nordic countries; the influence of Paulo Freire and Orlando Fals Borda in Latin American) are significant. We argue that research in and for praxis is possible using multiple approaches and conducted from various positionalities, as long as the aim is to go beyond understanding praxis into making it possible in real educational sites. We argue for the potential of praxis research to encourage diversity in methods to enrich the knowledge base and, in order to ‘see things differently’. Furthermore, the emergence of new ideas and less dominant theories has the potential to facilitate the (re)imagining of new possibilities for research/praxis development.

Hardy,I., Salo, P. & Rönnerman, K. (2015). Bildung and educational action research: resources for hope in neoliberal times. Educational Action Research, 23 (3), 383-398. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09650792.2015.1012175 Wilkinson, J., Rönnerman, K., Bristol, L., & Salo, P. (2018). Practice Traditions of Researching Educational Leadership Across National Contexts. In J. Wilkinson and L. Bristol (Eds), Educational Leadership as a Culturally Constructed Practice: New Directions and Possibilities. Routledge: London, UK.