New group to promote action research in eTwinning has opened

The goal of the AReTwinning group is to provide a space for eTwinners who are interested in learning more about action research – what it is and how to implement it. The group is open to all eTwinners, teachers, teacher educators working at ITEs, student teachers, etc.

The group will help its members turn ‘classroom challenges’ into ‘researchable questions’ and thereby come up with more effective and sustainable solutions. The group members have access to versatile resources and learning events. They can share their action research ideas and network with other eTwinning teachers to establish fruitful collaborative projects.

Through the group, members can participate in professional development workshops and attend expert talks. During these one-hour talks, experts share their views on action research. The experts come from universities and the professional eTwinning community, and they share their expertise on the use of digital tools.

In this group, eTwinners share their research and work together by creating content for our e-library. As an example, the AReTwinning newsletter will be a biannual publication to demonstrate the group members’ initiatives and research.

During the group’s biannual online Action Research in School Education conferences, teachers share their valuable work by presenting their research, projects, and collaborative activities. The conferences target teachers and researchers and offer a framework for good practice sharing. This year’s first AReTwinning Conference, ‘eTwinning – creativity and innovation: democratic, digital, eco-schools’, took place on 14 May 2022 and focused on the eTwinning annual theme: Our Future Beautiful, Sustainable, Together: Schools and the New European Bauhaus and good practices from eTwinning and Erasmus projects. The materials presented as part of the first event are posted on the dedicated page in the group. The next group conference is scheduled for 14 October 2022.

Our growing community provides a space for eTwinners to participate in group campaigns, Twitter chats, forum discussions, and webinars, and to collaborate with professionals all over Europe, research, act, and share. As Kurt Lewin said, there should be ‘No action without research; no research without action’.

Marika Emese Cîmpean, Action Research in School Educationmoderator