Stylus Publishing (VA) Research, Actionable Knowledge, and Social Change: Reclaiming Social Responsibility Through Research Partnerships (Engaged Research and Practice for Social Justice in Education)

A professional text written for social science researchers and practitioners, Research, Actionable Knowledge and Social Change provides strategies and frameworks for using social science research to engage in critical social and educational problem solving. Combining the best practices of critical analysis and traditional research methods, this professional text offers guidance for using the Action Inquiry Model (AIM), a transformative model that explains how to successfully conduct action-oriented research in a multitude of professional service organisations. The aim of the text is to encourage a new generation of research-based partnerships reforms that promote equity and access for underserved populations. <br><br>Topics discussed include: <ul><li> The historical precedents for universities engaged in social change </li><li> The limitations of current social science theory and methods </li><li> The critical-empirical approach to social research </li><li> The issues relating to social justice within the policy decision process </li><li> The use of social research to integrate an emphasis of social justice into economic and policy decision making </li></ul> <em>Research, Actionable Knowledge and Social Change</em> does not propose different foundations for social research, but rather argues that it is necessary to reconsider how to work with theory and research methods to inform change. This text can also be used by students enrolled in graduate and Ed.D/Ph.D Higher Education Leadership programs and graduate programs across professional fields including K-12, public administration, sociology, health, cultural studies, organisational development and organisational theory. It further offers students guidance for research design and dissertation research. Review St. John's book offers hope for practitioners, researchers and policymakers interested in moving past studying problems and moving toward addressing them. He provides both theoretical and practical guidance for individuals designing and engaging with actionable research. This book serves as a useful tool for graduate students, seasoned scholars, and those outside the academy who are interested in building partnerships.--Ronald Hallett, Assistant Professor, Director, Creating Opportunities Via Education "Benerd School of Education, University of the Pacific" (7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)"St. John has spent his career studying the intersections of policy, practice, and research. He has struggled with how those of us concerned with social justice might move away from entrenched notions of research and measurement and instead infuse our work in more direct ways to achieve ends aimed at improving the public good. This book summarizes his ideas and suggest that actionable research has the potential of promoting social justice and fairness in education and social systems. The book will appeal to educational and social researchers interested in collaborating with practitioners committed to improving equity."--William G. Tierney, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education"St. John pushes us to reconsider the one-size-fits-all educational interventions of the day by demonstrating the effectiveness of the action-inquiry model on organizational change. In a brilliant elaboration on the theory of justice and human capabilities approach, he urges us toward a more sophisticated, multidimensional view of policymaking."--Gilia Smith, Associate Director, Committee on Global Thought About the Author <strong>Edward St. John</strong> is Algo D. Henderson Collegiate Professor of Education at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, USA.