Learning Conversations as a Means to Deepen Practitioner Engagement With and Use of Research

• In Event: To Promote Research Is Not Enough: Research Capacity, Knowledge Mobilization, and Learning for Educational Change

Abstract

Purpose and Perspective:

An increased interest in many countries in the impact of research and an AERA conference theme that highlights the importance of research use to improve education necessitates a more nuanced understanding of processes and influences on practitioner engagement with and use of research findings for educational change. Views of research engagement frequently underplay the social and interactive nature of the process (Rickinson et al., 2011) and the two-way flows involved as researchers and ‘users’ bring their own perspectives and experiences to interpreting research and its meaning in a local context (Nutley et al., 2007). This paper argues that practitioner engagement with research findings depends on making learning connections by exploring the role of learning conversations as a social learning process that can mediate engagement and use. Different social learning perspectives (Paavola et al., 2004) are combined as research is processed through learning conversations that challenge thinking and stimulate new knowledge creation. The use of this new knowledge is then affected by the extent to which the organizational context for the conversation is, itself, research-minded.

Methods and Data:

The paper starts with a literature review analyzing the nature of learning conversations and issues of research engagement and use. A theoretical framework of learning conversations that stimulate deeper research engagement is tested against case study data sets from two projects in English school districts. In the first, vertical teams of school leaders and teachers in 18 schools are engaged in a evidence-informed school-to-school professional learning community focused on enhancing personal learning and thinking skills. The second involves senior leadership teams from 10 schools participating in a project aimed at increasing evidence-based forms of active student learning engagement. Learning conversations have been audio recorded and data about different levels of impact and contextual conditions collected.

Results and Significance:

The paper reports identified features of learning conversations that are related to greater engagement in case study sites and contextual conditions that supported research-informed learning conversations. Intermediate outcomes of collaborative knowledge creation and changed practice in classrooms and schools are explored, and in some cases tracking mechanisms have demonstrated changes to students’ learning engagement and outcomes, although causality is sometimes difficult to infer. Given that many successfully improving systems are shifting to learning through peer collaboration (Mourshed et al., 2010), it will be important to avoid the sharing of weak and uninformed practice. Research-informed learning conversations have the potential to elevate the level of knowledge shared, created and used by practitioners within professional learning communities and networks. The paper concludes with implications for researchers, districts and intermediate agencies and school leaders about ways to stimulate and support research-informed learning conversations that are more likely to promote changes in practice that enhance students’ learning.

Author

• Louise Stoll, Institute of Education - London