ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the process of making sense of practice and the relevance of hunches. Research often begins with a hunch. It may be triggered by ‘happenstance’ also. Sometimes children’s copybooks reflect teachers’ values. Alexander suggests that it is resistant to change even though there is ‘abundant evidence that it wastes much of talk’s discursive, cognitive and educational potential’. Rudduck and Fielding found that many educational practices and settings greatly underestimate the social maturity of children and young people. There is a great loss of potential they suggest, because the gains from including student voice in meaningful decision making can have a significant positive impact on students’ academic, social and personal development. Self-study is undertaken by people who are working on their own, but who are always in company with others. While the focus of an action research project is on the person who is doing the research, that research is always about their relationship and connection with others.
