ABSTRACT
Action research is normally proposed as a means of creating a research culture at the school level, and thereby developing the practice of teachers. It is not normally seen as a means for increasing their impact upon national policymaking. However, because action research is collaborative in nature, because it focuses upon school-led rather than externally driven issues, and because it could provide an extra research dimension to the teaching profession, it is argued here that it could provide a critical underpinning for a heightened teacher status, and therefore for raising the level of impact of the profession upon educational policy-making. This, it is argued, is vital, not only for the good of the profession, but also because a critically aware and reflective teaching profession could become one of the main instruments in a move towards a more just and democratic society. This chapter will critically examine this possibility.
