Foreword

Mary Bernard, PhD

I had the great privilege of joining Royal Roads University (RRU) early in its establishment by leading the development of the university’s research mandate as its first Associate Vice-President, Research. In those early years the university put forth a bold model for the times – an entirely interdisciplinary university with an applied and professional focus in the social sciences. The blended model of delivery, with short intensive residencies and internet learning between in-person residencies, was unique. Both the educational model and its mode of delivery was intended to attract career-oriented professionals who would continue in their communities and organizations while pursuing a higher education degree.

Indeed, those who have been attracted to RRU over this past quarter century have been exactly the type of learner that the university hoped for. They are those who seek to make the world a better place, to transform existing systems, and in the process often transform themselves.

Not only does RRU appeal to a diverse group of innovative learners, but the university attracted, and continues to attract, a broad range of creative scholar-practitioner professors, instructors, and supervisors of theses, dissertations, and other capstone pieces. They have embraced and expanded the university model with vigour and imagination.

The editors of this book, RRU professors Dr. Doug Hamilton, Dr. Richard Kool, and Dr. Elizabeth Childs, had the foresight to bring together a remarkable group of social science colleagues to explore teaching of real-world research, both conceptually and practically. They have decades of teaching and research experience and I have witnessed how each has contributed substantially to the development of key academic programs that capture the need for societal and organizational change. Doug Hamilton’s deep commitment to active learning and research is manifested in so many different ways including leading the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Educational Leadership and Management – International, as well as the advancement of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Rick Kool’s passion and drive is matched by only his sense of adventure and innovation in research. Rick founded the M.A. in Environmental Education and Communication program at RRU in the early 2000s. Elizabeth Childs leads the M.A. in Learning and Technology at RRU. Her technological approach and experience in teaching how to do research in both on-line and in-person contexts has become even more critical during the pandemic and its resulting world-wide changes.

The author contributors, the majority of which I have been involved with in some capacity over my academic administration career, bring their individual innovations and experience from a wide range of societal, community, and organizational settings as well as their insight from the classroom or supervision. Collectively they provide a wealth of scholar-practitioner reflection. Individually, each article brings nuggets of wisdom and guidance.

Through a compilation of thirty-three articles, this book embodies the nature and range of teaching and facilitating research to learners who wish to engage in real-world research across organizations, communities, and society. From a socially engaged applied research perspective the articles capture the primary components of teaching research, beginning with how to engage the learner in research to the application of research paradigms and methodologies and to data gathering and analysis. The roles of supervision and mentoring as well as teaching research courses complete the compilation. All components are explored specifically in relation to real-world research.

In a time of unprecedented change and significant questions, real-world inquiry that encompasses the complexity of our times is essential. This in no way negates the importance of pure research; both are necessary and can be complementary. My mentor through the 1980s, Eric Trist, was one of the grandfathers of action research and action learning. Trist always emphasized “Not all research must be socially engaged, but some of it must be.” Toward the end of his life, Trist, together with several of his colleagues, edited a three-volume set on the Social Engagement of the Social Science. The contributors to each volume (the socio-psychological perspective, the organizational perspective, and the social ecological perspective) were each grounded in forms of real-world inquiry including action research, community-based research, and participatory inquiry. I am reminded of Trist and his colleagues’ seminal work as I read Active Learning for Real-World Inquiry. The book further advances the importance of socially engaged research for our times by bringing to the forefront the importance of teaching how to do such inquiry.

There is something for all university community members in this book. Instructors and supervisors of student research will find a treasure trove of both practical and theoretical information on teaching and learning real-world inquiry. Students will find a good sense of the nature and range of such inquiry and how to actually engage in it. I hope the book inspires you like it has for me.

Sincerely,

Mary Bernard