E-News - 22 September 2021

Your contributions to this fortnightly bulletin are welcome. Please send any items to admin [at]alarassociation.org.

We hope you and those close to you are safe and well. Please consider renewing a friendship with an AL / AR practitioner, or striking up a new one, by contacting ALARA members on the ALARA members pages. If you need assistance, please email admin [at] alarassociation.org.

In this e-News:

• Publishing Your Research Webinar Next Week


• Climate Action Webinar


• Annual General Meeting


• Call for Nominations


 

ALARA Events

Publishing Your Research Webinar Next Week

We have now received over seventy people from eighteen countries regsitering for the Publishing Your Research webinar. Representatives from eight of the AL / AR publications will co-present.

The webinar will be on 28 September at 5.00 pm and 29 September at 7.00 am (Eastern Australia Time in both cases). The webinar will include information about the various publications and small group discussions using submitted short papers from prospective authors.

Climate Action Webinar

The Climate Action workshop / webinar cancelled earlier this year because of COVID lock downs is now being planned for late November 2021. Ernie Stringer will assist deliver the webinar, with the aim to identify potential action research projects in climate action. More information soon.

If you would like to assist, or present at a webinar, please send your ideas or offer of help to admin[at}alarassociation.org.

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Annual General Meeting

The formal announcements about the Annual General Meeting started this week, with the electronic meeting commencing in early November and the virtual meeting being held on 17 November 2021. The announcement made this week also included a Call for Nominations (see below).

The agenda for the AGM and details of voting will be announced in mid-October

ALARA News

Call for Nominations

The next two items mention two new roles in the Committees Group. In addition to these two positions, ALARA will have most of its Board and Committees Group positions up for election. These positions include:

• President


• Vice-President - International


• Vice-President - Australasia


• Secretary


• Marketing Co-ordinator


• Membership Co-ordinator


• Publications Co-ordinator


• Research Co-ordinator


• Streams Co-ordinator


• Web Services Co-ordinator


 

Please see the role descriptions document for all positions.

ALARA invites anyone who would like to assist in the management and support of ALARA's activities to contact us. We also invite you to consider who in your networks may also be interested in supporting ALARA. Please email admin [at] alarassociation.org to discuss how you (or a colleague) could assist.

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Indigenous AL / AR Co-ordinator

As announced on 30 August, ALARA's Committee Group will expand to include a new role for a person to develop relationships with Indigenous individuals and groups at a global network scale who are using action learning and action research. This work could be in relation to academic, community development, delivery of programmes (health, justice, environment, etc.), cultural practices or other relevant areas. The role is predominantly an enabling one, with the Co-ordinator working as bridge-builder to nurture, promote and engender networking amongst Indigenous peoples using AL / AR.

To find out more on this role, please see the role descriptions document for all positions on the Board and Committees Group.

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Volunteers Co-ordinator

Also announced on 30 August was the addition of the Volunteers Co-ordinator role. In addition to supporting volunteers, the Volunteers Co-ordinator will develop, implement, help co-ordinate and realise strategies to promote and increase the number and success of volunteers in ALARA.

To find out more on this role, please see the role descriptions document for all positions on the Board and Committees Group.

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Who Will You Tell?

An interesting question was raised in a recent discussion amongst ALARA leaders: "How far is ALARA's reach?"

ALARA has been around for over thirty years. It has had well over a thousand people as members at one time or another over those years. The ALAR Journal site has had thousands of people register on it (and sadly, thousands of spammers register as well). There is obviously a lot of people who are aware of ALARA.

Is ALARA reaching the people who would benefit from knowing about ALARA, its network and its activities? That question raises another: "Who are you telling about ALARA?" Not: "Who have you told in the past?" Those people may already have gained benefits from seeking out ALARA. The question must be current and future-focused - "Who are you telling about ALARA, and to whom should you speak about ALARA into the future?"

Only by expanding the network and involving new faces in ALARA's activities can ALARA survive and continue to do more of the amazing things it has achieved over those thirty years.

So: Who will you tell about ALARA?

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Still Waiting on the Formal Advice about that Tip of Our Tongue Announcement

Frustratingly, the official announcement, mentioned in the last couple of e-News issues, has STILL not arrived - dare say COVID has got in the way. We will start asking if it does not appear soon.

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Journal Editor and Reviewers

We are now working with two people who have expressed interest in supporting the editing of the ALARj, but we do need more assistants and reviewers.

There are several roles in which you could assist ALARA in its publications. These roles are direct assistance with producing each issue, special issue or assistant editor, and reviewers. If you are interested, or would like more information about these roles, please email admin [at] alarassociation.org.

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Call for Monograph Submissions

ALARA has published seven monographs over the last several years. Monographs are usually 12-16,000 word papers, similar to journal articles, but which, due to their length, are published in a stand-alone booklet. You can view the published monographs here.

Our Monograph Editor, Eileen Piggot-Irvine, would welcome any new submissions. Please email them to editor [at] alarassociation.org. Submission guidelines are available here.

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Invitation to Assist ALARA

ALARA's Board has identified a range of activities and they are seeking people willing to assist in delivering these activities. Examples of these activities include:

• As indicated above, the Board and Committees Group (Co-ordinator) positions will be elected during the AGM, so members are urged to consider nominating for these positions.


• We have received one offer to assist in webinars, but more proposals and assistance are sought.


• Several members are involved in research, with at least two other projects on the horizon. The alliance with GCWAL (see below) also supports further research.


• The recognition of Indigenous People and supporting their work in action learning and action research is another exciting opportunity.


 

If you would like to know more, or want to assist, please contact ALARA.

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Action Learning Facilitator and Action Learning Practitioner Programmes

The alliance between ALARA and the Global Centre for Work-Applied Learning (GCWAL) includes the introduction of new professional certifications as Action Learning Facilitators and Action Learning Practitioners, co-badged by ALARA and GCWAL. Information about the programmes are available on the GCWAL website and the linked brochures.

The alliance also provides support to ALARA to develop research in action learning and action research. More news will come on research initiatives under the alliance.

If you would like to know more, please see the GCWAL website or the ALARA website.

Other Events and Information

The full list of these activities

is available here.

 

Reflective Practice Online

In 2020, a group of Australian academics and HEA fellows, known as a learning circle, launched a new (and free) Reflection for Learning Scholarly Practice. They now make a call to reflect online: "Are you researching, learning or teaching online? Reflective practices support learning (Harvey, Coulson & McMaugh, 2016) and they can be used in any research or learning environment, including online. Download the practice guide and view a video of a new practice you have not used before." See here for more information.

Evaluative Study of Action Research Book Published

The Evaluative Study of Action Research presents all eight published papers as part of the six-year, global, Evaluative Study of Action Research (ESAR) in one volume. The study sought to enhance the academic rigour of Action Research (AR) and provide greater evidence of its impact. Many ALARA people have contributed to this book. See here for more information.

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  ARNA News
  ARNA has announced their 2022 conference in Cedar City, Utah, USA.



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  AR Podcast - Feminism and AR
  
  The AR Podcast has many podcasts, with a recent one recorded by Dr Patricia Maguire on Feminism and Action Research. See here for more information.



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  AR+ AMICABLE coLAB
  
  AR+ commenced an AMICABLE coLAB online on June 24, 2021, and then August, November and January 2022.



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  CARN Conference 2021
  
  CARN is holding its 2021 conference on 1-3 October 2021.

   

  CARN Praxis
  
  CARN has launched a new publishing opportunity - a rich and collaborative space for voices to be heard more publicly.



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  CEEMAN - International Management Teachers Academy
  
  The International Association for Management Development in Dynamic Societies has announced their IMTA 2022 event, to be held in June.



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  EURAM 2022 Conference
  
  The EURAM 2022 Conference - Leading Digital Transformation will be held on 15-17 June 2022.



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  International Federation for Action Learning
  IFAL are planning a virtual event with Dr Rosetta Pillay on 22 September 2021.



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  PRIA International Academy
  PRIA International Academy is offering several online courses, including International Perspectives on Participatory Research, a six-week course commencing on 19 October 2021.



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  World Education Research Association
  WERA has announced their 2022 Focal Meeting, with submissions invited.



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  Socially Responsible Higher Education: International Perspectives on Knowledge Democracy
  
  The UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education hosted the launch of Socially Responsible Higher Education: International Perspectives on Knowledge Democracy, co-edited by the UNESCO Co-Chairs Dr. Budd Hall and Dr. Rajesh Tandon. See here for more details about this open access book.



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  Call for Papers for Special AR issue of International Journal of Managing Projects in Business
  
  The International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, a Quartile 1 journal in Scimagio, is inviting papers using action research including its variants such as engaged scholarship, action design research, collaborative research, participatory action research, design science research, with submissions due in September 2021.



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  Action Research Journal Call for Papers
  The ARJ has a call to educators for papers by 1 October 2021.



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  Canadian Journal of Action Research Call for Papers
  The CJAR is planning two special issues, one on AR and The Arts and one on COVID 19.



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  Call for Papers - Contemporary Perspectives Through Action Research Across Educational Disciplines
  
  Dr Nancy Nasr and Dr Jill Perry invite submissions for their planned book - abstracts are due now, and papers by 1 October 2021.