We have put together the following reading suggestions if you would like to further develop your understanding of conducting action research, and teaching for creativity. We have also drawn on many of these publications in developing this resource.
Further Reading on Action Research
There are many guides to action research available online and to buy. Famous names include Kurt Lewin, Donald Schon, David Hopkins, Jean McNiff, Jack Whitehead.
Online resources and current guides that we recommend are:
Collaborative Action Research Network
Centre for Collaborative Action Research: https://www.actionresearchtutorials.org/
Clair Collins Consultancy: https://ccpathways.co.uk/practitioner-research
Clark, J., Porath, S., Thiele, J., & Jobe, M. (2024). Action research. New Prairie Press.
Education and Training Foundation: https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AR-Guide-v1.0-2.pdf
Hopkins, D (2014). A teacher’s guide to classroom research (5th edition). Open University Press.
McNiff, J. (2016). You and your action research project. Routledge.
National Foundation for Education Research: How to run action research –https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/how-to-run-action-research-do-it-yourself/
Examples of Action Research reports published in practitioner journals include:
Action Research; Camtree: The Cambridge Teacher Researcher Exchange; Educational Action Research; RaPAL Practitioner Action Research Edition
Further Reading on Teaching for Creativity
There are many books available to buy which focus on creativity in education. Respected authors in this field include Anna Craft, Bill Lucas, Pam Burnard, Kieran Egan, Anthony Wilson, and Michael Anderson.
Publications developed through the Penryn Creativity Collaboratives project include:
- Chappell, K., Cremin, T. & Crickmay, U. (in press 2025). Creative Pedagogies in school. In B. Lucas, E. Spencer & P. Sowden (Eds.) Handbook of Creativity in Schools. Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Crickmay, U., Childs, S., & Chappell, K. (2023). Creativity Collaboratives Penryn Partnership Year 1 Report: Question, Challenge and Explore. Penryn College. This publication contains the PCC literature review of creativity; there is also a shorter version of this available in the Executive Summary section of this report.
- Crickmay, U., Childs, S., & Chappell, K. (2024). Creativity Collaboratives Penryn Partnership Years 1-3: Embed and Grow. This report gives an overview of PCC and reports on the overall impact on schools.
- Crickmay, U., Childs, S. & Chappell, K. (2024) Penryn Creativity Collaborative: Developing teaching for creativity in primary and secondary schools through an action research model. Impact, journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 22, 45-47.
Other practice-based resources for exploring Teaching for Creativity include:
- Sci-Arts Resource: teaching guides and planning tools which support creative transdisciplinary science and arts teaching
- Penryn Creativity Collaborative Toolkit: Resources for teaching for creativity created by teachers on this project.
- BERA blog: Blog posts from the British Educational Research Association providing research informed content on educational issues. Refine your search using the drop-down menu on the left, selecting ‘SIGS’ and then ‘Creativities in Education’ to find relevant articles.
- OECD Resources for Teaching, Learning and Assessing Creative and Critical Thinking Skills: Comprehensive reports on these topics – the clearly laid out contents list in each report will help you select relevant sections to read.
Further Reading on Conducting a Literature Review
- Centre for Collaborative Action Research (2024). Action Research Tutorials: The Inquiry Context: Local history and past research. https://www.actionresearchtutorials.org/4.
- Koshy, V. (2010). Action research for improving educational practice: a step-by-step guide (2nd Edition). SAGE. (Chapter 3, Reviewing the literature).
- McNiff, J. (2017). Action Research: All you need to know. SAGE. (Chapter 8: The responsibilities of practitioner-researchers: Engaging with literatures).#test
Further Reading on Research Ethics
- British Educational Research Association. (2024). Ethical guidelines for educational research (5th ed.).
- NFER (2014). How to… Develop a questionnaire survey: Ask the right questions.
- Brindley, S. & Bowker, A. (2013). Towards an understanding of the place of ethics in school-based action research in the United Kingdom. Educational Action Research, 21(3), 289–306. doi: 10.1080/09650792.2013.815037
Further Reading on Data Collection
- Childhub (2024). YouCreate Toolkit – Participatory arts-based action research for well-being and social change. Collaborative Poetics (2026): Realising the potential of collaborative arts-based research.
- Hopkins, D (2014). A teacher’s guide to classroom research (5th edition). Open University Press.
- NFER (2014). How to… Develop a questionnaire survey: Ask the right questions.
- NFER (2014). How to… Use focus groups: Get the most from them.
- Thompson, J. (2009). The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Evaluation Resource Pack.
Further Reading on Data Analysis
- Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher, 2nd edition. Jossey-Bass.
- Koshy, V. (2010). Action research for improving educational practice: a step-by-step guide (2nd Edition). SAGE. (Chapter 6, Analysing data).
- NFER (2014). How to… Run qualitative and quantitative research.
