Of Twirling Dervishes and Daring New Directions: Collaborative and Practitioner Research

Overview & Synopsis

This article discusses the dearth of qualitative and quantitative research in "Religious Education." There is a growing concern in educational journals that the field must respond to the needs of practitioners and publish what has been called "really useful knowledge" (Johnson 1988, 21-22). In "Religious Education," 86.5% of the published articles are from faculty. In order to build up the number of practitioners who contribute, the author suggests to begin encouraging more practitioner research, possibly based in action research and its related methods such as participatory action research, action inquiry, and action reflection learning. A researcher in both adult education and religious education, the author suggests change in research directions and methods. Basing her comments on (a) her active participation in research and publication of adult education, and (b) her study of the contents and contributors to several religious education journals, she claims that each field can learn from the other, and offers suggestions for specific types of qualitative research approaches that can be used in "Religious Education."