Dynamics of role formation in a research-practice partnership

Despite the increase of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) and their potential, the structuring of collaboration between researchers and practitioners is not fully understood. Research on RPPs offers limited insight into the role university researchers assume, their responsibilities, tasks, and the support they provide. This chapter, part of the research program on one RPP, focuses on the roles of academic faculty supporting schools in their research endeavors. Faculty members in the RPP met bi-weekly to exchange knowledge, address issues, engage in mutual learning, and discuss challenges and difficulties. These meetings, recorded and analyzed, revealed how faculty constructed their roles in the partnership through their interactions with each school and its research team of educators. The term “situated partnership” is introduced, as the data revealed the faculty roles were situated along two dimensions: (1) research-facilitator and external-researcher; (2) school research and academic research. The findings yield insights into the dynamics of RPPs and show how faculty members adapt and negotiate their roles to support schools.