and learning of the teachers and other participants involved, rather than on the
learning of the students. In this respect, learning tends to be understood as a process
of inquiry involving the collaborative and democratic construction of insights,
shared understandings and practical knowledge within ‘communities of practice’.
Some of the articles misleadingly depicted social processes of action research as
methodologies, suggesting that academic participants and facilitators are under pressure
to justify their involvement with action research in methodological terms.
(However, see Locke, Alcorn, and O’Neill 2013, 107–123). The danger here is that
the processes concerned become represented as fixed ends of teacher professional
development and learning that are not open to critical reflection. The second-order
action research process thereby reduces the space for virtuous action by focusing
exclusively on the methods and devices employed as means.