Leveraging situated strategies in research–practice partnerships: Participatory dialogue in a Norwegian school

Abstract

Research–practice partnerships (RPPs) have been embraced as a way to increase the relevance of educational research for practice. RPPs typically focus on existing problems of practice and require researchers and practitioners to collaborate. However, RPPs are likely to operate differently across cultural contexts, and little is known about the contextually situated strategies researchers and practitioners in partnerships use to address problems in practice. This case study draws on data from a Norwegian RPP to outline one such strategy, participatory dialogue (PD). We locate PD in sociocultural theory as an instance of boundary crossing. PD is shown to be a culturally embedded multipronged tool for practitioners, readily usable for numerous purposes. However, leveraging situated strategies such as PD does not replace other strategies in RPPs; instead, situated strategies complement, enable, and enhance efforts to solve problems and build trust. We discuss the implications of leveraging situated strategies such as PD and its implications for RPPs.