Pedagogy, education and praxis : Understanding new forms of intersubjectivity through action research and practice theory

The Pedagogy, Education and Praxis (PEP) network is a cross-institutional, collaborative research programme which brings together researchers from Australia, Columbia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Caribbean, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. These researchers are investigating the nature, traditions and conditions of pedagogy, education and praxis and how they are understood, developed and sustained in different national contexts and various educational settings. The PEP international network emerged in 2005 out of a series of discussions about the ways in which the bureaucratization and de-professionalization of education were eroding the moral, social and political commitments that informed pedagogical practice until the recent past, and a shared conviction of the need for a form of educational research committed to reviving and restoring these commitments. This article outlines the PEP’s research programme, ‘Action Research and Site Based Education Development’, through the lens of the theory of practice architectures. This theory offers insights into the cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political conditions that shape practices, throwing light on contemporary educational issues and suggesting ways forward for site based education development.