As we move into the final month of the 2006-7 e-seminar of the BERA Practitioner-Researcher 
SIG, on What Standards Of Judgement Do We Use In Evaluating The Quality Of The Educational 
Knowledge And Educational Theories We Are Creating As Practitioner-Researchers?,  I’d like to see 
if the following claims are true in the sense that they do not need modifying after your critical 
evaluations.  Here are the claims:

1)	Living standards of judgment have been generated by practitioner-researchers in the theses 
below that have established a new epistemology for educational knowledge. The standards are 
consistent with Schon’s call for a new epistemology for the new scholarship from action research.
2)	These living standards of judgment have been generated in 5 doctoral theses below with 
graduations between September 2006 and July 2007, during the course of this year’s e-seminar.


Bernie Sullivan’s (2006) doctoral thesis on,  A Living Theory Of A Practice Of Social Justice: 
Realising The Right Of Traveller Children To Educational Equality at  
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/bernieabstract.html . Graduated from the University of Limerick.


Mairin Glenn’s  (2006)  doctoral thesis on  Working with collaborative projects: my living theory of 
a holistic educational practice at 
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/glennabstract.html . Graduated from the University of Limerick.

Mairin writes in her abstract:

"A distinctive feature of my research account is my articulation of how my ontological values of 
love and care have transformed into my living critical epistemological standards of judgement, as I 
produce my multimedia evidence-based living theory of a holistic educational practice. Through 
working with collaborative multimedia projects, I explain how I have developed an epistemology of 
practice that enables me to account for my educational influence in learning."

Caitriona McDonagh’s (2007) doctoral thesis on, My Living Theory Of  Learning To Teach For 
Social Justice: How Do I Enable Primary School Children With Specific Learning Disability (Dyslexia) 
And Myself As Their Teacher To Realise Our Learning Potentials? at 
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/mcdonaghabstract.html . Graduated from the University of Limerick.


Eden Charles’ Doctoral Thesis On, How Can I Bring Ubuntu As A Living Standard Of Judgment Into 
The Academy? Moving Beyond Decolonisation Through Societal Reidentification And Guiltless 
Recognition at, 
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/edenphd.shtml . Graduating from the University of Bath, 28 June 
2007.

Barry Hymer's (2007) Doctor of Educational Psychology thesis on,  How Do I Understand And 
Communicate My Values And Beliefs In My Work As An Educator In The Field Of Giftedness? At 
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/hymer.shtml .
Graduating from the University of Newcastle, 13 July 2007.

If you click on either Section 4 or 5 or 6 of Eden’s thesis I think you will see how Eden is setting 
new standards for the integration of streamed video into visual narratives. Each section begins 
with a short video clip of the practice that Eden is seeking to improve. 

Each thesis inspires me through the original contribution to knowledge and the living standards of 
judgment of the doctoral practitioner-researcher. Bernie and Caitriona show the meanings and 
influence of their values of social justice in  sustaining their commitment to working with pupils 
who are disadvantaged by their social context and/or have specific learning difficulties. Mairin 
shows, using a multi-media account, how her values of love and care have been transformed into 
epistemological standards of judgment.

Barry’s originality is expressed in the development of an inclusional approach to everyone’s 
talents and gifts. I’m inspired by the idea that each individual has talents through which they can 
create gifts that can be offered to our communities.  I see each thesis above in terms of this idea 
of gift creation. Each thesis flowing through web-space is a gift from the researcher, freely offered 
through the exercise and development of their talents, as a contribution to the creation of a world 
of educational quality. 

As we move into the final month of our 2006-7 seminar I could not have wished for more 
significant contributions to educational knowledge. I hope that you think so too and will check out 
the validity of the claims I made at the beginning of this note. Pete – I like the ideas in your latest 
posting and hope that they can be developed over 2007-8.

Love Jack.