Action research a Handbook for Students

their own intellectual and moral superiority is the most brutal consequence of the competen-
ce-based view of the process of emancipation” [emphasis by M.Z.] [Stańczyk 2018, p. 19].

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discussions in a classroom supports students’ involvement in real problems of the 
world which become emotional stimuli to take up research and actions that en-
able solving these problems [Witkowski, Giroux 2010; Giroux, 2014]. Students 
must be included in the processes of deliberation and treated as equal partners 
in discussion. It is a necessary condition for the development of conscientization 
and social change [Achtenhagen, Johannisson 2018].
Freire’s critical vision of education featured originally in his book Pedagogy 
of the Oppressed published in 1970 [Freire 2018], as well as his empowerment 
activities for disadvantaged groups in Brazilvery quickly became an inspiration 
for emancipatory social movements across the globe [Darder 2017]. As a result 
of indicating processes of participatory learning as conditions for the emancipa-
tion of individuals and, consequently, social change, Freire’s concepts also gave 
impetus to the development of the critical orientation in action research [Park 
1992]. A significant role in the development of this orientation, as well as critical 
pedagogy in general, was played by the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, in 
particular ideas of Jürgen Habermas concerning the idea of emancipatory reason 
and theory of communicative action (more detailed discussion of Habermas’ 
ideas in the context of action research can be found in: Kemmis 2010).
Freire’s conscientization in action research enables treating oppressed 
groups as equal partners of interactions. The researcher intervenes in the re-
search process by asking critical questions which unmask social, economic and 
political mechanisms that create the system of oppression, but it is the oppressed 
themselves who make decisions about the need to make a change. Critical action 
research highlights the political character of each research by exposing the illu-
sion of objectivity and value-free judgement in science.
3.2 Participation in the research process
Colombian sociologist Orlando Fals Borda
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remarked that “regular scientists 
may discover ways to travel to the moon, but their priorities and personal values 
may not permit them to solve messy problems for the poor woman who has to 
walk each day for water for her home.” [Fals Borda 2001, p. 29]. According to 
the sociologist, action research enables researchers to solve common, everyday 
problems of communities. AR also gives an opportunity to analyse interests of 
power that constitute oppression, including interests of researchers who often 
dismiss problems of the oppression as irrelevant for the mainstream academic 
discourse [Macedo 2014].
3
The authorship of the term