Inter-professional collaboration in action research

Abstract

This article describes an example of inter-professional action research conducted by teachers and university-based researchers/teacher educators in a vocational college in the Netherlands. The research was aimed at the professional learning of the teachers on their pedagogical approach to a new curriculum initiative. Despite a difficult context in the Netherlands for a type of action research in which teachers and researchers work in democratic collaboration on the improvement of teaching practices, this inter-professional collaboration worked out well. The participants worked, inspired by shared commitment towards the students, as equal partners. In the findings and conclusion insights developed about key elements for inter-professional collaborative research, such as the importance of common relevance, shared responsibility for the research and mutual trust and respect for differences in professional identities and working conditions are addressed.

Keywords:

• Vocational education
• improvement of pedagogical approach
• inter-professional collaboration
• shared responsibility
• mutual trust and respect
• common relevance

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Stichting Lezen (The Hague, the Netherlands) for providing a grant for the research and to Windesheim University of Professional Studies and Deltion Vocational College (both Zwolle, the Netherlands) for facilitating the project by granting research time to researchers and teachers. We are grateful to Gerda Vierhuizen (Windesheim University of Professional Studies) who, as a member of the research team, observed in classrooms and interviewed the vocational teachers.