Educational research partnership: differences and tensions at the interface between the professional cultures of practitioners in schools and researchers in higher education

Abstract

This article is a contribution to an ongoing debate in the United Kingdom about the value and impact of educational research. Specifically it focuses upon educational research carried out by teachers in school when they work in a partnership relationship with university-based researchers from a School of Education. The occupational culture of each of these professional groups differs, and the likelihood within a partnership for difference to be magnified and for misunderstanding and tension to arise are manifold. In attempting to explain how educational research is viewed from the perspective of each other's occupational culture, the hope is that greater understanding will give rise to partnerships that prove fruitful for both teacher researchers in school and for professional researchers from Higher Education.