Meta-Synthesis of Educational Action Research Projects Practiced based on Rhizomatic Thinking

This paper meta-synthesizes educational action research projects grounded in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s rhizomatic thinking. Utilizing Hoon’s theory-building protocol, we address the rhizo-researching educators’ varying results in the replicability and scalability of these projects, arguing that the digital divide is a key influencing factor. We introduce a novel redefinition of the Digital Divide as “(un)scalability and (ir)replicability of educational projects,” proposing that online technologies can significantly enhance their implementation, leading to more successful replication and scalability. Furthermore, in recognition of the French origins of rhizomatic philosophy, we propose “Écolent” as an esoteric concept, literally meaning “educational lens.” This term encapsulates the cognitive framework employed by educational planners, determining the overall, future reflection of the educational process. Our meta-synthesis identifies three distinct types of Écolent; Convex (Traditional), Boundary-Restricted Concave (Learner-oriented), and Glassy-Restricted Concave (Society-oriented), each reflecting varying degrees of interaction with the societal environment and influencing the quality of educational outcomes. As a concrete application, Écolent provides a comprehensive framework for Project-Based Learning (PjBL) methodologies, introducing “type of Écolent” as a seventh hallmark of PjBL alongside Krajcik and Shin’s established six. This new hallmark crucially reflects educational planners’ perspectives on intended outcomes and the extent of interaction with the societal environment, distinguishing levels of PjBL from traditional to fully society-oriented approaches. Finally, we categorize and compare rhizomatic projects against teacher-centered structures, highlighting how embracing societal-impacting, problem-oriented approaches can gradually diminish educational boundaries, fostering deeper engagement with real-world problems and enhancing learning utility and quality.