This paper engages with some of the specific issues that challenge critical practice. The author's argument is related to the Carr and Kemmis debate on 'staying critical'. It is the author's view that emancipatory action research, committed to the practice of social justice, with the intention of bringing about social change, is a necessary component of critical practice. The author claims that emancipatory action research is the glue that binds critical praxis in a unity of theory and action.