Forming a collaborative action research partnership

Abstract

This article describes the complex nature of collaborative relationships, the difficulties of conducting research with others, and the complications of partnerships in educational research. To create and sustain a communicative space in which participants can collaborate to innovate education and curriculum, time and opportunity to develop trust in the group are needed. We report on a collaborative action research project in the Netherlands in which 14 teachers, three facilitators and an academic researcher formed a partnership, and together designed Language 1 education. We find contextual and the communicative conditions are important in the collaborative action research partnership. We use metaphors of facilitative actions – map, magnifying glass, mirror and compass – formulated by Wadsworth to analyze and describe the collaboration. We show that the participants had to come to terms with their roles and responsibilities and, through dialogue and reflection, evolved and learned to contribute to the collaborative action research partnership by sustaining dialogue and utilizing their unique expertise.