Using a Phenomenological Approach to Understand the Research-Practice Gap Contextualized Within a Research-Practice Partnership

Abstract

The disconnect between educational researchers and practitioners has been prevalent since the 1900s. Researchers often conduct inapplicable, inaccessible studies, teachers often inadvertently use teaching methods that are not empirically supported, and administrators can be highly disconnected from student needs (Broekkamp & van Hout-Wolters, 2008). One method of uniting researchers and practitioners is through Research Practice Partnerships (RPPs). These partnerships are long-term collaborations between researchers, practitioners, and school districts designed to identify problems in practice, and together, work to improve education. Teacher residency programs are RPPs that bring together researchers and practitioners who are collectively invested in preparing diverse, social justice-centered, equity focused, pre-service teachers to work in urban public schools. In this study, a modern, comprehensive, conceptual framework of the research-practice gap was used to understand how the research-practice gap manifests within one teacher residency program. A phenomenological, qualitative, single case study was used to describe residency stakeholder experiences in the inaugural year of a teacher residency program in the Northeastern United States and to uncover and explain areas of research-practice gap-related tensions that arise. A systematic reduction procedure was employed to extract research-practice gap related data from a large set of focus group interviews and open-ended surveys. The reduction process reduced the data from 214 documents to 134 documents that highlight resident (n = 12) and mentor teacher (n = 12) experiences in the program. After a cyclic, iterative three-stage coding analysis of the data included, research-practice gap related tensions and gaps in assumptions and perspectives between residency stakeholders were evident. There were differences in the program components that stakeholders valued and differences in perceptions of the purpose of the program. It was also found that tensions and disconnects between communities in the program were mediated by engaging in aspects of collaborative professionalism, specifically Mutual Dialogue and Joint Work (Hargreaves & O’Connor, 2017, 2018). The structure of a residency program by nature creates opportunities for meaningful interactions and can help foster frequent and impactful conversations about promoting social justice in the field of education. Overall, though the research-practice gap was evident in the residency program, its design and implementation helped bring communities with different values, perspectives, and training together to work towards the common goal of enhancing educational opportunities for K-12 students in a local, urban school district.