The question & the action research cycle

I feel like I’m good at visualising things and describing them in quite a detailed way, with perhaps too much context – because that’s what I need when receiving information. However my downfall is sometimes being able to identify or align it to a theory or methodology that already exists.
I have found it so helpful to discuss my practice and thoughts with colleagues, although equally find it emotionally exhausting to try to make clear my thoughts. I’ve benefitted from having a very open and inclusive space in my team where we are encouraged to embrace our differences and show up in a way that makes sense for us. They are both critical friends, colleagues and real friends. The rarity of this dynamic is not lost on me and so important to me.
I mention this because I think being given that (which feels rare at the level of it we’re afforded/ have created) is actually very influential on my teaching and how and why I am approaching the ARP in the way that I am. To explain a little further- as I’ve previously mentioned I haven’t always felt I belong in certain spaces and so to be given that sense of belonging is so important, it has such a profound effect on my practice that I hope to play forward to my students.

It is apparent to me having these conversations with friends and colleagues, and by the mapping which I talked about in the previous blogpost that accessibility and inclusion is such a huge and important aspect of the live briefs for me. It was the reason for the conception of this way of working, and continues to be a thread that is woven through it. So whilst I could have approached the ARP purely as an auto-ethnographic account of the building and growing of this kind of work. I actually think there is another approach I can take which puts me in a slightly different place on the action research loop so to speak. But I think that it might fit well for a few reasons.
Firstly we are talking about a body of work and development that now spans several years, so to do justice to it as an entirely autoethnographic account will be impossible I think.
Secondly I think in terms of growth for me and my practice I am already given lots of space to explore and naturally default to an autoethnographic or as I might call it an anecdotal approach already. For example in many ways I’ve already done that via the mapping sessions we have had.

So I think the most appropriate direction given this, is to really focus down on an aspect that I’m passionate about and frame a question around that.

So the question that I’m going to address is

“How can I design more inclusive and accessible live briefs, from pre-application to post-completion support”

I will navigate this question through a specific brief “Home” which is the second iteration of a brief designed to directly target students and graduates who may have barriers to participating in such projects.

The action research cycle – I find it quite hard to establish where this sits in the action research cycle because I feel like my process is to move through this cycle multiple times in any one day, session or project. Almost as if there are many rotations constantly happening within a bigger picture or an overarching cycle. I was trying to articulate this to Liz in a recent tutorial, eyes closed visualising the many circles and gesturing circles within circles as I tried to explain. It turns out that this is in fact also a thing we have already named that I didn’t have the language of yet – an action research spiral.

This spiral might speak to the complexities of live briefs when designed with accessibility at the forefront, or maybe also to my brain and the amount of live processing and questioning I do naturally vs being able to park it until post-event or project. This is almost certainly a trait of my ADHD and both enhanced pattern recognition and a hypervigilance means that my brain has almost been trained into a mode that allows me to behave in a way that moves through the cycle very quickly and dynamically in a given scenario- such as a session within a live brief. It’s not hyperbole when I say that for me moving through the world with ADHD or more specifically with my brain, feels like being stuck on an ARP spiral that unfortunately you can’t pick up and put down like a book or a research project. And by that I mean I am constantly hyper-aware of every movement (literal or metaphorical) I make, the collecting of data/information (over observing everything) identifying a problem (threat) or potential for one, deciding many possible workarounds/ solutions and so on…

One of the things that came out of the live brief mapping sessions that I think was really important for me and that I’m reminded of now while thinking through the sometimes difficult loop I’ve just described, is that I kept feeling the need to apologise for it seeming confusing or all over the place was when I had said something along the lines of – I think I’m at peace with the chaos of it because I’m quite chaotic, but I realise that isn’t comfortable for everyone. My colleague Vicky pointed out that what I was describing as chaos was actually what she described as ‘an amazing ability to be agile’ V,Fabbri, personal communication (2023), and now that I reflect on it, perhaps that ability to move through the spiral or cycle in a way that is integrated and embedded into your daily life, or your teaching delivery is an example of that agility, or how it can manifest for me.

There are both pros and cons of this way of being/ thinking concerning my practice in general and my ARP and if I look at it reflexively, there is a risk that this response and hypersensitivity to what is going on can result in a desire or an effort to shift or shape things live in the moment. This can be very helpful and successful in making participants feel seen and heard as you respond to their needs in real-time, but on the flip of this these shifts and changes can sometimes feel unexpected for others and therefore might not serve everyone if the space. For example if you pre-design the format of a session and you notify students of what you will be doing in advance as an inclusive and accessible practice, then this shifting of plans or structure can harm some, whilst indeed for different reasons having a really positive impact on others. This is an important see-saw to consider.


says:, A.K., Says:, L.E.W. and Epstein, K.K. (2016) About, Action-Based Research Methods. Available at: https://activistresearchmethods.wordpress.com/about/ (Accessed: 01 February 2024).