Blurring the boundaries: connecting research, practice and professional learning

Abstract

Educational researchers can incorporate benefits for themselves and teacher participants by planning for interactions between research, practice and teachers’ professional learning from the outset of a project. However, the dual role of a researcher as a professional learning partner has rarely been explicated and theorised in studies of teacher–researcher relationships. The study described in this paper occurred in the context of early childhood education. The notion of a critical friend was extended and validated as a useful theorisation of the relationship. Four ways that I acted as a critical friend are described. The expertise, roles, boundaries and hybridity of a co‐constructed approach to research are discussed. The importance of a researcher as critical friend having research and theoretical knowledge to shift teacher knowledge and practice is argued. Implications for teacher–researcher partnerships in terms of strengthening coherence between research, practice and professional learning are suggested.

Keywords:

• critical friend
• early childhood
• research–practice
• teacher–researcher partnership
• professional learning

Acknowledgements

Warm thanks to the teachers, children and families of Takapuna Kindergarten and The No 1 Kindy in Auckland, New Zealand, who generously shared their lives with me in 2005. This project was reviewed and approved by the Massey University Human Ethics Committee: reference 04/64. The principle of credit rather than anonymity was approved to acknowledge the centres’ and participants’ real names in their contributions to the study. Sincere appreciation is also due to Professor Joy Cullen who has been my long‐time critical friend, and to the two anonymous reviewers who provided thought‐provoking critique of an earlier draft of this paper.