Getting over the gap: How can researchers and practitioners work together? ‘Please mind the gap between the researcher and practitioner’: How can we work together more effectively?

Often, it makes little sense for practitioners and researchers to work in isolated professional silos, especially when research is conducted to inform practice. However, a perceived disconnect between research and practice is a theme that runs through various fields of literature, including those of health and education. A co-research model that involves both practitioners and researchers working together collaboratively on a research project can be seen as one way of attempting to bridge this gap.

An effective partnership between researcher and practitioner has the potential to become a powerful source of knowledge. Practitioners can enable the development of a more effective research design informed by their insider knowledge, increasing the researcher’s chance of accessing the fundamental issues of the setting. It is also discussed in the literature how insider-outsider co-research models can enhance trustworthiness of data and generate rich findings.

I intend to embrace this approach in the design of own research project, which will explore secondary school teacher and pupil perceptions of informal learning in music education. I plan to work collaboratively with teachers to co-design data collection methods for each setting. However, literature suggests that this approach will not be without its challenges, and emphasises the importance of building good working relationships. Effectively negotiating and agreeing upon research design whilst avoiding loss of control over the research will require sensitive navigation.

In this poster presentation, I will draw on a range of literature that explores the disconnect between research and practice, and will discuss a selection of literature that has effectively worked across this gap. I will present some of the potential challenges and benefits of co-researching, as well as open up dialogue about how this approach could be implemented more effectively in the future.