Teacher-education programmes in Ireland and elsewhere have undergone multiple reforms in the recent past, informed by an orthodoxy that spotlights teachereducation standards, inclusion, diversity, and social justice among other priorities. The preparation of student teachers (STs) to teach within this perpetually dynamic vista is both a challenge and an opportunity. School placement or practicum experiences present opportunities to conduct research for exploring how best to prepare STs to negotiate whatever "cultural flashpoints" present. The conundrum of which research methods to use within the practicum space, that is characterised by an intricate amalgam of stakeholders, ethical requirements, and teacher-education provision requirements, does not often feature in the literature, despite its import. This article is based on an action-research project undertaken by primary teacher educators in two higher-education institutes (HEIs) in Ireland, North and South. Highlighting the value of action research in the school-placement setting, the qualitative project generated a rich data tapestry from which key findings were extrapolated. Notably, for both teacher educators and STs, these included increased knowledge of research methods, and of how these can be applied to advance social-justice principles in primary-school classrooms, and greater appreciation of the ethical considerations required for both the conduct of research and the development of teacher professionalism. The use of visual strategies, by children who took part in the project, emerged as a successful communication medium in social-justice lessons, underlining the potential to achieve a more inclusive engagement by pupils in their own learning, both within, and possibly beyond, a social-justice knowledge domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]