Action research and evaluation: can research and practice be successfully combined?

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education
• Action Research Methodology

Background:

• Educative intervention is crucial for young children with severe intellectual disabilities.
• Understanding the dynamics between practitioners and families is key to effective support.
• Action research offers a framework for studying such interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the dual roles of practitioner-researcher and client-subject in educative interventions.
• To analyze the impact of role interaction on intervention processes and outcomes.
• To inform future action research evaluations in this field.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing an 'action research' framework.
• Observing and analyzing the interaction between practitioners and families.
• Evaluating the educative intervention's effectiveness.

Main Results:

• The interaction between practitioner-researcher and client-subject roles significantly influences intervention.
• Evaluation methods must account for the complexities of this interaction.
• Findings provide a basis for refining future intervention strategies.

Conclusions:

• Educative intervention for severely subnormal children requires a nuanced understanding of practitioner-client dynamics.
• Future action research should incorporate these insights for more robust evaluations.
• This approach enhances the efficacy of support for children and their families.