Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies as a Research-Practice Partnership: A Case Study from Sweden

• In Event: Global Contexts for Research-Practice Partnerships: They Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Abstract

Overview
Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) aim to bridge research and practice through long-term, collaborative efforts to improve education (Farrell et al., 2021). In Sweden, the national ULF agreement is a structure that can support RPPs across all 27 teacher education institutions and school authorities (Prøitz et al., 2022). ULF seeks to strengthen the scientific foundation of educational practice through collaborative production of practice-relevant, peer-reviewed research grounded in educational needs. One long-standing example is Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS), one of several local ULF-collaborations. STLS have a specific focus on producing teacher-driven subject-didactic research (André & Eriksson, 2020). This study aims to describe and explore STLS through the lens of the RPP framework, by focusing on its initiation and purposes as well as the challenges and opportunities that arise.
Methods
This article presents a case study of STLS, a stable and well-established collaborative structure in Sweden that brings together researchers and school practitioners. Using the framework of Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) as an analytical lens, the study explores how such collaborations are enacted in a Swedish context. The analysis is based on a thematic reading of one of the main outcomes of STLS's collaborative work, peer-reviewed journal articles (n=25), and is complemented by policy documents, formal agreements, and interviews with key actors involved in the collaboration.
Results
STLS is jointly organised by teacher education institutions and school authorities. It is governed by a management group with representation from both sectors and supported by a scientific leadership team consisting of three professors. Since its establishment in 2009 as a collaboration between researchers at Stockholm University, Stockholm City, and Botkyrka Municipality (now additional partners), STLS has been funded by the school authorities that constitute the initiative. The financial contributions are calculated based on each authority’s participation capacity, which is linked, for example, to the number of enrolled pupils.
An initial, explorative analysis of the 25 included articles indicates that STLS operates as an RPP, facilitating collaboration between researchers and teachers to address real classroom challenges. Key benefits include teacher-driven knowledge production, and the generation of actionable, classroom-relevant findings. Joint data analysis enriches interpretation by combining practical and research-based insights. However, the collaboration also presents challenges. These include ethical concerns when teachers assume dual roles as researchers, and difficulties in integrating digital tools, such as video tagging, into existing pedagogical routines.
Significance
The case of STLS illustrates how the ULF agreement supports sustainable structures for collaboration between researchers and practitioners. This national framework shapes participation by promoting deeper engagement, gradually transforming STLS into a structure that more fully supports active collaboration between researchers and practitioners across all research projects. This evolution might help alleviate challenges, such as the aim of producing peer-reviewed research, while preserving the benefits of practitioner relevance. ULF thus spurs change in participation dynamics, pushing STLS further into RPP territory and enabling a future where researchers and teachers engage more closely in shared knowledge production.

Author

• Simon Sjölund, Mälardalen University