ABSTRACT
Constant reflection on any research methodology is necessary, yet in the current historical context of the transition from modern to postmodern thinking, the need appears imminent, particularly in terms of action research (AR) methodology. Many factors make it necessary to reconceptualize educational AR today. In many countries of the western world (Europe, USA and Australia), serious educational and social changes over the last 20 years disprove the modernist vision. Such changes include:
the deprofessionalization of teaching (Carr and Kemmis 2005), achieved by imposing external control on school education and minimizing the teachers’ initiative and decision-making autonomy (Groundwater-Smith 2005); this downgrades teaching to a simple technical management of specific processes;
the shift towards marketization and managerialism in the educational landscape (Groundwater-Smith 2005);
the dominance of positivism in educational research, a phenomenon that is aggravated by the above social changes.
