ABSTRACT
By presenting collective self-reflection as a qualitative ‘voice’ in educational research, this chapter describes an approach which renders more weight to the inter-group processes and thus plead for a greater emphasis on considering the epistemological origin of research results. To engage in critical inquiry into the sociodynamic aspects of educational research it is necessary to analyze the research process from a meta-communicative point of view. Educational changes are often initiated by organizational development programmes. Committing oneself to educational research activities which cover a certain time has consequences on different levels. Developments in organizational development in educational affairs show that traditional managerial concepts can no longer satisfy the demands of global responsibility. An important goal of the underlying project lay in the participatory approach of needs-oriented educational work, which ran through the project like a red thread. The theory-practice relationship which underpins any research activity has a special meaning in educational research because of its pedagogical claim to democratize society.
