Employing complexity thinking in action research: a worked example from a study on singing-infused general classrooms

Schools and classrooms function as complex systems where the priorities of students, teachers, parents, and school leaders continually interact. Complexity thinking offers a valuable lens for understanding these dynamics by emphasising relational and emergent processes rather than linear explanations. In music education, this perspective reframes how teacher-researchers interpret classroom activity. This paper presents a complexity framework developed for an action research project exploring singing-infused classrooms in an Australian primary school. Guided by complexity thinking as the methodological approach, the framework enabled the identification of subtle and previously overlooked patterns of practice. This framework has potential to inform future research projects by making the interacting forces of context, structure and time visible. The paper concludes by outlining the benefits and challenges of applying complexity thinking to education research and discusses its implications for future research design.