Action research transcends constraints of poverty in elementary ...

that has become too small to allow people to get on with theircultural evolution. (p. 5)BackgroundI have been a passionate learner as far back as I can recollect; however, Ido not have many memories of academic success until recently.Interestingly, it was this paradox, this crisis, that provided a catalyst formy journey—a way to “get on with” my cultural evolution. As a lifelonglearner and educator dedicated to the learners in my care I take advantageof many opportunities to improve my practice (i.e. additionalqualification courses, voluntary professional development, ministry ofeducation training, school board initiatives…) as I seek the answer to theproblems that plague education today. Although I did have some positiveexperiences as I encountered other passionate educators and interestingtheories, I did not find the solution I sought. Instead, I became moreimmersed in didactic thinking and false dichotomies—the “one-thinking”(Mann in Four Arrows, 2008, p.42) that dominates the pedagogue of ourlearning institutions. Too often, I felt that much of what I was doingcontributed to the devolution of my students and myself—this was myliving contradiction (Whitehead, 1989). The values that I sensed wereimportant were often in conflict with Ministry mandates, prescribedcurriculum, board initiatives and school policy, including standardizedtesting and textbook learning. I was beginning to lose my sense of self asthe ability to live according to my values was challenged. Lackingconfidence in my self-knowledge created an impoverished learningenvironment for my students and me and prevented us from flourishingindividually and collectively.Recognizing that traditional thinking stifled my creative efforts, I beganlooking outside of Western thought for explanations and ideas. Iimmersed myself in books that shared alternative, non-Western,worldviews. I was consuming an inordinate amount of literature and readeverything from Ayurveda to Zen; however, I still lacked a frameworkfor applying this knowledge to my educational practice.This crisis was the birth of my transformation that enabled me to see thepotential of a culture of inquiry based on Delong’s model and the hopeand wisdom in Whitehead’s “living educational theory”.While pursuing a Master’s of Education degree, I was introduced toWhitehead’s “living educational theory” model of action research andDelong’s culture of inquiry model, and through developing my ownliving educational theory I generated a way to blend theory and practicethat transcended traditional linear, analytical and technical thinking andhonoured alternative epistemology and ontology. Equally important, this