Action Research as a method in researching community music

Little has been published on Action Research (AR) in Germany in recent years (von Unger et al. 2007), where this research method is historically not as established and recognised as it is, for example, in the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian context. In the German context, AR “always had and still has a very weak position” (Fricke 2011:249). But internationally, participatory and action-based research methods are an established part of qualitative research, which becomes clear when one looks at the wealth of current English-language textbooks and research guides on Action Research (e.g. Herr/Anderson 2005; Reason/Bradbury 2013). This is contrasted by a different development of these methods in the German context, resulting in a generally critical attitude towards them, as described by Burkhard Hill (2013). A recent paper on teacher-practitioner research in music education (Buchborn/Malmberg 2013) and the critical response to it (Niessen et al. 2014) exemplifies this situation. Through this article, I would like to enable a deeper understanding of AR, which takes into account these international perspectives. I will examine in what way AR is an appropriate research method for certain research questions in music education, specifically in community music. To further the development of music education research in Germany, I believe there is a need to include research methods that have been accepted internationally as part of the qualitative methods spectrum (for example AR and arts based research methods). In the following, I will introduce and analyse AR as a research method in community music, using examples from the Munich Community Music Action Research Group (MCMARG), which I facilitate as part of a research project on developing community music in Munich. I will start by defining community music (Chapter 1) and introducing AR as a research method (Chapter 2), followed by a brief look at the research questions that guided my study. Then I will describe the research context and exemplify the research process of AR through the example of the MCMARG (Chapter 3). Finally, I will reflect on the challenges and benefits of AR as a research method in community music (Chapter 4) and offer some final conclusions (Chapter 5)