Having moved on from the swampy lowlands (Cook, 2009, p. 279), I now find myself in the research jungle, where I may encounter unexpected obstacles – but, thinking reflexively, perhaps opportunities for valuable insights, not only into the view of student participants in the study – but also the tensions that exist between the pedagogical approach and the institution itself – at least on a course level.
Indeed, I did feel somewhat feel ambushed when I received an email which effectively intrusted me to cease and desist with the intervention with one of my post grad marketing groups. The focus on ‘translanguaging’ – despite only being only a small part of the lesson – seemed to be puffing students off from attending. Any activity focused on multicultural community building should take place outside the class time. This in contrast to the generally positive and supportive feedback I had otherwise had from both students and course leaders – motivation through inclusivity which underpins the rationale for the intervention itself. However, this also presents an opportunity to understand the viewpoint of these students – and the demands of the department- at course level.
This unexpected direction from a course leader has however motivated to implement the qualitative data collection both pragmatically and strategically. In a previous workshop at LCC, critical friendship had highlighted that need to consider the language ability and comprehension of participants (as largely L2 users of English) of any questions in interviews or focus groups. The language appropriate for any survey would also need to be graded to the extent that all participants could access the necessary response – and be able to articulate this. For this reason, I have decided to advance a volley shot of surveys – this designed to reach the maximum range of participants – especially those who I may not see again in the Language Development classroom, and will be delivered via Moodle announcement to all the various course groups who had been included in the intervention. However, these survey questions would also serve as the basis of any semi structured interview or focus group – allowing participants time to read, understand (translate if necessary) the questions.
The synchronous data collection would potentially involve a much smaller number of participants and would also need to be organized as appropriate to the wishes of the student participants. Where this can form a meaningful learning experience as part of the lesson (this is an opportunity to apply the seminar skills that we have developed earlier in the scheme of work), and where participants are no longer willing, or able, to engage with this ‘teaching moment’ (O’Reilly, 2025), I will organize ad hoc outside the class time. This also attempts to respect the principles of ‘participatory action research’ (Lenette, 2024).
I hope that the outcome of this research can provide meaningful insights for both learners and teachers – including myself. Something I have been working on in my head (although see Holmes, 2025 for development) is articulating a rationale for the intervention and the study – so rather than attempt to justify the intervention here – I will begin a new post in order to do this.
References:
Cook, T. (2009) ‘The purpose of mess in action research: building
rigour though a messy turn,’ Educational Action Research, 17- (2)- 277-291, DOI:
10.1080/09650790902914241
Holmes, I. (2025) IP unit – reflective report Available at: https://pgcertianholmes2025.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/07/15/intervention-reflective-report_-fostering-inclusivity-in-the-international-multi-lingual-multi-cultural-university-space/ (Accessed 1 November, 2025)
Lenette, C. (2024) PAR: Participatory action research. August 2024 (Available at: https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/2190224/mod_folder/content/0/Lenette%20%282024%29%20PAR%20%28Video%29.mp4?forcedownload=1 (Accessed 25 October 2025).
O’Reilly J. (2025) Workshop 1: Action research project, 2025-26 PG Cert Academic Practice. London College of Communication, 26 September 2025