The research circle: a possible utopia? Possibilities and constraints of knowledge development within a research-circle practice

Figures & data

Table 1. The RC practice and its interconnections between arrangements and surrounding practices.

	Pedagogical practices	Research practices	Steering practices
Cultural–discursive arrangements	What was possible to say and not say regarding teaching in preschool	What was possible to say and not say regarding how research is ‘done’ in the RC	What was possible to say and not say regarding policy documents
Material – economic arrangements	Opportunities for teachers to participate in the RC in terms of, e.g. time and place	Opportunities for researchers to participate in the RC in terms of, e.g. time and place	Educational policies introduced by national authorities
Social – political arrangements	Relationships between teachers and researchers in the RC and the preschool community	Relationships between teachers and researchers in the RC and the research community	Relationships between the participants and educational policies

Table 2. The research circle practice’s nexus of actions, arrangements and surrounding practices.

	Pedagogical practices	Research practices	Steering practices
Cultural – discursive arrangements	Space for teachers’ professional experiences in preschool.	Dialogues in which participants were heard and listened to. Dialogues were based on the researchers’ questions.	The topic of the RC was a concept introduced in educational policy.
Sayings	Teachers’ formulated their experiences of pedagogical activities with children.	Teachers’ formulations were supported by scientific contributions. Researchers questioned teachers’ statements.	Teachers filled the topic with meanings in terms of fact-oriented content versus democratic values.
Material – economic arrangements	Between the meetings, the teachers worked in the preschools.	Research funds created time for researchers.	Educational policy was introduced by national authorities.
Doings	The teachers were less involved in planning and analysing.	The researchers summarised, analysed and planned the meetings.	The teachers’ uncritical adaptation to policy was questioned by the researchers. Teachers’ resistance was embraced.
Social – political arrangements	Relationships between the participants in terms of solidarity.	Equal versus asymmetric relationships between participants.	The teachers needed to handle educational policies. Researchers were ‘free’ of such policies.
Relatings	The teachers’ experiences were recognised.	The teachers’ taken-for-granted assumptions were questioned by the researchers. The researchers’ similar assumptions were not questioned.	The teachers positioned themselves as passive recipients of policy versus active agents.