An illustrative case study of researcher roles and challenges in a Dutch school-level research-practice partnership
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21067730 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brianna L Kennedy (0000-0002-5537-6510, University of Glasgow, corresponding author), Semiha Bekir (Utrecht University), Lotte Henrichs (0000-0002-5065-741X, Utrecht University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 88 |
| Pages | 101558 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies In Educational Evaluation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0191-491X • E-ISSN: 1879-2529 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.stueduc.2026.101558 |
| OpenAlex | W7124833240 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Researchers at research-intensive universities may participate in research-practice partnerships (RPPs) to make their research activities more relevant and impacting. RPPs center equity as a goal, which means researchers and other stakeholders participate in defining and enacting equity through the partnership. Researchers must discern how to address equity goals while enacting the roles of knowledge broker, knowledge use facilitator, and knowledge development facilitator. Role enactment occurs as researchers face the challenges related to the content focus of the RPP and time demands. In this study, we examined artifacts ( n = 50) from an RPP between a team of researchers and nine educators between 2021 and 2024 to understand how we, as researchers, enacted these roles and negotiated these challenges. Findings show how surface level consensus about the meaning and importance of equity work bought us time to develop the relational capital necessary to lead more authentic discussions about inequitable practices. We co-constructed a research focus to prioritize equity-in-process but thereby curtailed the full engagement of our research expertise. Findings imply that more robust focus on school- and classroom-level RPPs reveal additional dynamics and mechanisms that allow for sustained changes in classroom teaching that support equity. • RPPs can be at the classroom, school, district, or state/national/international levels. • RPP researchers are knowledge brokers, knowledge use facilitators, and knowledge development facilitators. • RPP researchers face challenges related to the content focus of the RPP and time demands. • Surface level consensus about equity allows for development of relational capital. • Relational capital enables a looping of researcher roles that enhances RPP activities
General partnership · Relational capital · Collaborative Teaching and Inclusion · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
“What the Hell Is This, and Who the Hell Are You?” Role and Identity Negotiation in Research-Practice Partnerships
Chapter 8
Conceptualizing Research–Practice Partnerships as Joint Work at Boundaries
Knowing-In-Action
‘Who Is My Research for?’
Creating Transformative Research–Practice Partnership in Collaboration with School, City, and University Actors
Advancing Institutional Change to Encourage Faculty Participation in Research-Practice Partnerships
Are Research-Practice Partnerships Responsive to Partners’ Needs? Exploring Research Activities During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Conceptions and Practices of Equity in Research-Practice Partnerships
University-school partnership in education as a context for teacher professional development
Equity and Social Justice in Research Practice Partnerships in the United States
Mapping roles in research-practice partnerships – a systematic literature review
Of boundaries and borders
Research-practice partnerships “On the Ground”
Leveraging situated strategies in research–practice partnerships
The role of mosque education in the integration of Turkish–Dutch youth
The Challenges of Collaboration for Academic and Community Partners in a Research Partnership
Inside and Outside
Assaults on belonging
The development of an efficient technique for collecting and analyzing qualitative data
Cultural responsivity and common conceptualizations of “good” teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse elementary classrooms in the U.S. and the Netherlands
Critical Events in Education
The Process of Trust Building Between University Researchers and Urban School Personnel
Research–Practice Partnerships in Education
The New Paradigm Wars
Learning at the Boundaries of Research and Practice
The Rise of the Knowledge Broker
Boundary Crossing and Boundary Objects
Thematic Analysis
| Highly cited | No |
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