15. Research Partnerships in Education
Research Workshop
Getting Started: Research-Practice Partnerships in Education
Sarah McGeown
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: McGeown, Sarah
There is growing interest in the use of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) in education, in an attempt to narrow the widely recognised gap between educational research and practice. Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are collaborative approaches to research which seek to improve children and young people’s educational experiences and outcomes, by drawing upon the collective knowledge, expertise and experience available from both research and practice. This approach to research recognises two equally important sources of knowledge: that of the researcher and the practitioner (Snow, 2015). RPPs ensure that University led research is more likely to align with the needs, interests and priorities of teachers and other stakeholders, ensuring research is more educationally relevant and increasingly likelihood of use (McGeown et al., accepted). In RPPs, practice partners are essential in terms of contributing to the development of knowledge, rather than simply being consumers or users of generated knowledge (Bevins & Price, 2014). In this way, RPPs can democratise the research system (Sjölund et al., 2022a).
The number of RPPs in education has increased considerably over recent years (see Sjölund, et al., 2022a, for a recent systematic review), with examples of different forms (e.g., Arce-Trigatti et al., 2018; Penuel & Hill, 2019) characterised by different durations, sectors, compositions, contributions, intensities, agendas and processes (McGeown et al., accepted). Furthermore, there is considerable scope for researchers and practice partners to take on different roles in the process (Sjölund et al., 2022b), and examples of both short-term researcher-teacher collaborations (Scanlon et al., 1994; Steel et al 2021) or more sustained research-practice partnerships (Arce-Trigatti et al., 2018; Coburn & Penuel, 2016) are evident. While there is growing research literature of RPPs (Sjölund, et al., 2022a), the majority of RPP research is from the US (Sjölund, et al., 2022a) and there is far less literature from other international contexts.
In this research workshop I aim to:
1) Provide an overview of the benefits and methodological considerations associated with RPPs, drawing upon examples from RPPs in the UK, but also referencing other examples from different international, including European, contexts.
2) Provide a structure and opportunity for all those attending the workshop to consider how their own research could be informed by involving practice partners.
3) Signpost attendees to research literature and resources to support them to initiate and develop RPPs.
4) Create an inclusive context for those attending the workshop to be able to share and discuss their own experiences with each other.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedDrawing upon multiple research-practice partnership projects from the University of Edinburgh’s Literacy Lab (https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/) (McGeown et al., 2022) in this workshop I will share experiences of: a) RPP projects with different community, education, and third-sector organisations, b) co-designing educational resources and programmes with teachers, and 3) how other professionals (e.g., Educational Psychologists) can make an important contribution to the research process.
The methodology underpinning the Love to Read project (https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lovetoread/) will be used to exemplify this collaborative approach to research. Love to Read (Sept 2021 – June 2023) is a project between researchers from three UK Universities, one education organisation (Education Scotland), two literacy organisations (Scottish Book Trust and National Literacy Trust), eight teachers (3 Scotland, 5 England), a team of professionals (Educational Psychologists) and ~60 children, to co-design a programme to inspire and sustain a love of reading among primary school children. The development of the programme had four phases: 1) Theory and research input, 2) Inclusion of children’s perspectives, 3) Teacher co-design, 4) Practice partner input and review. The evaluation of the co-designed programme will complete by March 2023, in a complex mixed methods evaluation which includes standardised assessments, surveys, interviews, observations and teacher diaries, to evaluate both programme effectiveness and process/implementation outcomes. Teachers and researchers’ perspectives of this collaborative process have already been evaluated (McGeown et al., accepted) and insights will be shared during the workshop.
In the workshop, I will provide details of the methodological approach used in this project, and others, to encourage non-hierarchical inclusive collaboration which draws optimally upon the research, professional and pedagogical knowledge, experience and expertise of different individuals. I will discuss the importance of evaluating RPPs from practice partners perspectives, as well as researchers, and different methodological approaches to do this. Finally, I will share how open research practices (specifically preregistration, open materials, open analysis) have supported our RPPS, ensuring participation from all, across all stages of the research process (i.e., design, execution and dissemination). While the workshop will draw upon experiences of RPPs in the UK, references to European (Sjouland et al., 2022) and other international examples (e.g., Donovan et al., 2003; Penuel & Hill, 2019) will also be provided.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsRPPs have considerable potential to improve children and young people’s educational experiences and outcomes, by drawing upon the cumulative depth and breadth of research and pedagogical knowledge, experience and expertise available. However, researchers need insight, guidance and training if they are to initiate and sustain effective partnerships with those outside of University contexts.
In terms of expected outcomes, it is expected that all those attending this research workshop will complete it with a clear understanding of the benefits and methodological considerations associated with research-practice partnerships, different models of RPPs, different ideas for practice partners, and insights into the ethical considerations and practicalities associated with RPPs in educational research. All attending the workshop will also have time to reflect on, and discuss, how their own educational research may benefit from RPPs, and how the opportunity to engage in RPPs may be shaped by their own national context (e.g., specific enablers or challenges associated with incentives, infrastructure, funding, etc). Finally, all those attending will be signposted to relevant academic literature and other resources to support them to initiate and develop new RPPs to support their own educational research.
ReferencesArce-Trigatti, P., Chukhray, I., & López Turley, R. N. (2018). Research–Practice Partnerships in Education. In B. Schneider (Ed.), Handbook of the sociology of education in the 21st century. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Bevins, S., & Price, G. (2014). Collaboration between academics and teachers: A complex relationship. Educational Action Research, 22(2), 270–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2013.869181
Coburn, C. E., & Penuel, W. R. (2016). Research–Practice Partnerships in Education: Outcomes, Dynamics, and Open Questions. Educational Researcher, 45(1), 48–54. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16631750
Donovan, S., Wigdor, A. K., & Snow, C. E. (2003). Strategic Education Research Partnership. National Research Council.
McGeown, S., Oxley, E., & Steel, J. (2022). Collaboration and co-design: Learning from literacy interventions co-created by researchers and teachers. Psychology of Education Review, 46(2), 4-9.
McGeown, S., P., Oxley, E., Love to Read Practice Partners, Ricketts, J., & Shapiro, L. (accepted). Working at the intersection of research and practice: The love to read project. International Journal of Educational Research. Preprint available from: https://osf.io/mj5fd/
Penuel, W. R., & Hill, H. C. (2019). Building a Knowledge Base on Research-Practice Partnerships: Introduction to the Special Topic Collection. AERA Open, 5(4), 233285841989195. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419891950
Sjölund, S., Lindvall, J., Larsson, M., & Ryve, A. (2022a). Using research to inform practice through research‐practice partnerships: A systematic literature review. Review of Education, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3337
Sjölund, S., Lindvall, J., Larsson, M., & Ryve, A. (2022b). Mapping roles in research-practice partnerships – a systematic literature review. Educational Review, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.2023103
Scanlon, D., Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1994). Collaborative Dialogues Between Teachers and Researchers to Create Educational Interventions: A Case Study. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 5(1), 69–76. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532768xjepc0501_5
Snow, C. E. (2015). 2014 Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture: Rigor and Realism: Doing Educational Science in the Real World. Educational Researcher, 44(9), 460–466. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X15619166
Steel, J, Williams, J., & McGeown, S. (2022) Teacher-researcher collaboration in animal assisted education: Co-designing a reading to dogs intervention. EducationalResearch. 10.1080/00131881.2021.2016061
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