On July 1, 2021, SPF launched a new feature on its platform for practitioner research. The SPF Blog, https://www.socialpublishersfoundation.org/blog/, is a space in which issues of policy-making, practitioner research, research in general, and larger contexts of strengthening democratic societies will converge. As SPF Board President Lonnie Rowell puts it, “Blog posts will draw on the SPF knowledge base and other sources to highlight the potential of practice-based research evidence to contribute to the search for creative solutions to the challenges of daily living in our troubled 21st Century.” The Blog posts will be written by Rowell as well as a number of Guest Bloggers active in action research, participatory action research, practitioner research, and social science research in general. The Blog will contribute reflection, commentary and critique in relation to SPF’s goal of fostering the development of a global network of socially responsible practitioner research that contributes to sustainable development for individuals and communities and that empowers the marginalized, oppressed and ignored.
SPF Advisory Board member Rolla Lewis commented on the launch that SPF is a “vital organization” that has “nurtured action and participation in constructing knowledge democracies in local schools and communities.” According to SPF Board President Rowell, the Blog intends to link such action and participation with reflection on the range of critical issues that drive participatory action research and practitioner research around the globe.