Understanding the Dynamics of Partnership Development: From Transaction to Collaboration in a “Young” Research-Practice Partnership

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Research-Practice Partnership Development (Table 35)

Abstract

Searching for more impactful and just approaches to education research, scholars are increasingly pursuing research-practice partnerships (RPP). RPPs challenge traditional transactional relationships between researchers and practitioners, envisioning instead a collaborative relationship involving joint work. Establishing a collaborative RPP can involve challenges, however, particularly in initial stages. Existing RPP research identified key dynamics of RPP development but has tended to rely on insights from well-established ‘mature’ partnerships. This paper instead explores developmental dynamics in a ‘young’ RPP between a district and university. Through action research involving interviews with RPP participants and observations of RPP meetings during the first year, findings reveal features that enable productive collaboration as well as tensions arising from the pull towards a more transactional relationship.

Authors

• Elizabeth Zumpe, University of Oklahoma

• Peter Piazza, University of Massachusetts - Amherst