We are excited to spread the word about two very recently published resources for those engaging in collaborative education research (CER) endeavors and/or those participating in research-practice partnership (RPP) brokering activities. Whether you have come across these already or are just hearing about them for the first time, we hope reading more about their history and purpose is useful as you decide how you might want to use them in your RPP learning. Let’s jump in!

(I) FRAMEWORK FOR COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION RESEARCH

BACKGROUND

For those that are engaging in a wide variety of collaborative education research endeavors, we are thrilled to highlight a recently published framework that aims to identify foundational elements of collaborative education research: “Towards a Field for Collaborative Education Research: Developing a Framework for the Complexity of Necessary Learning,” authored by the Collaborative Education Research Collective, a naming convention that acknowledges and honors the many contributors involved in this effort, introduces a framework that outlines five core ideas to be used in guiding preparation for and participation in collaborative education research.

The white paper resulted from a collaborative, multi-organization effort to increase the number of individuals and organizations working to advance collaborative education research, whereby this term is intentionally broad and “meant to capture a broad family of approaches and traditions including, but not limited to, research-practice partnerships, participatory action research, youth participatory action research, community based partnerships, community engaged scholarship, social design experiments, school university partnerships, networked improvement communities, and design-based implementation research partnerships” (p. 4). This effort began as an initial set of conversations in 2019 led by the National Center on Research in Policy and Practice (NCRPP) and took further shape when additional organizations joined, forming a design team with members from California Education Partners, Rice University, Stanford University, and University of Colorado Boulder. The design team conducted three virtual open-access events in 2022 with the goal of further exploring what preparation is needed for engaging in collaborative education research. Throughout these events, 339 individuals representing 185 institutions registered, with about half of those (45%; 154 of 339) engaging in at least one online event via discussion, note taking, and survey input (p. 7). The three virtual events were followed by parallel in-person and virtual design events to further synthesize the insights raised. The resulting framework reflects an intentional weaving of participants’ ideas and contributions, making it in and of itself a collaborative education effort.

WHY THE FRAMEWORK

Educational research conducted in collaboration with educators, families, communities, and other constituents has the potential to be more useful –and certainly more informed– than traditional ways of conducting education research. These efforts prioritize action and impact, typically with an explicit aim to  support equitable outcomes for children; however, such collaborative work is not easy and we know less about the learning that researchers, practitioners, and community members need to engage in to support it. The Collaborative Education Research Collective’s framework is a response to this, aiming to conceptualize and articulate the necessary learning for these partners to participate in collaborative education research. We invite you to explore the full paper to learn about the journey and shift in goals towards developing the framework that the design team and participants experienced.

The framework outlines critical questions to be considered for those engaging in collaborative education research – both individually and collectively. The following five core ideas make up the framework:

1. Systems Landscape: Educational research is embedded in social, cultural, historical, and political contexts.
2. Interpersonal Relationships: All collaborators can and should be positioned positively and powerfully through attention to roles and relationships.
3. Intrapersonal Relationships: Individuals can and should reflect on how they perpetuate power differences as they “show up” for the work.
4. Resource Mobilization: Human, financial, and material assets can and should be leveraged to create more equitable education systems.
5. Educational Research: Research evidence can and should be adaptive and responsive to local needs.

The critical questions for each core idea are grouped by those that relate to “Critical Reflection on Past Practices” and those that relate to “Equitable Development of Future Processes.”

HOW TO USE THE FRAMEWORK

The framework can be used in a variety of ways, including but not limited to informing the creation of courses on different ways of conducting collaborative research, supporting the learning of individuals and groups that are currently or are planning to engage in such work, and informing additional articles and tools building on this work. We recommend using the framework (Figure 7 on pages 24-26 of the white paper) as a tool for these purposes. However, the white paper’s description of the journey towards the framework also provides essential insights, and can be used as a learning opportunity as well. Lastly, plenty of future work remains to be done, as the field works towards developing routines / formal learning opportunities / curricula for conducting collaborative education research – and the framework and corresponding white paper hopefully function as a useful building block in these efforts. We invite you to explore it here! 

(II) OPEN-ACCESS BOOK FOR BROKERING IN RPPs

BACKGROUND

We have previously introduced the NNERPP RPP Brokers Handbook in this NNERPP Extra article as a practical, research- and experience-informed resource that clarifies the various activities that collectively make up “RPP brokering.” A  broker is defined as “a person who helps members of research and practice organizations integrate into an RPP by cultivating and maintaining the relationships needed to effectively support research production and use” (RPP Brokers Handbook, p.5). As a follow-up to that effort, we are excited to announce that Routledge has now published an open-access version of the book: “Brokering in Education Research-Practice Partnerships: A Guide for Education Professionals and Researchers.” 

Authored by Laura Wentworth, Paula Arce-Trigatti, Carrie Conaway, and Samantha Shewchuk and including a number of use cases contributed by NNERPP members which highlight the actual work of brokering in existing RPPs, this book is the latest contribution in our quest to support RPP brokering. This work originated from NNERPP’s earliest conversations about a brokering role in RPPs back in 2017 during the Annual Forum, our yearly gathering of members and friends where we talk all-things-RPP. These early conversations intensified into ideas for a handbook that would define this role and how it shows up in RPP work during the 2019 NNERPP Annual Forum, followed by two years of further development, led by Laura Wentworth and Carrie Conaway, with the additional authors joining along the way. At this point, three versions of the handbook have been published, with the Routledge version being the most recent. The latest edition has all updated chapters, including several new ones, featuring discussions on how brokering can differ by context, greater background on the theory and practice of brokering, and a new chapter offering a future look at brokering. 

WHY THE BOOK

The book’s primary contribution is in helping make clear the often invisible activities that constitute brokering in RPPs, through introducing a framework that helps us conceptually describe and understand the role. The framework divides the work of brokering into two main groups of activities: 1) brokering to strengthen partners and 2) brokering to strengthen partnerships. Brokering to strengthen partners involves supporting participants’ research use and production, developing and nurturing relationships to weather partnering challenges, and building individual competencies for engaging in an RPP. Brokering to strengthen partnerships involves developing partnership governance and administrative structures, designing partnership processes and communications routines, and supporting the assessment and continuous improvement of the partnership. The use cases demonstrate what each of these activities can look like in action.

The authors describe the essential brokering activities as follows: “Brokering activities are to research-practice partnerships as gears are to bicycles. Like gears, brokering is both very practical when it adjusts the speed of your bike and very challenging when they break down and stop your ride mid-journey. Consequently, the effectiveness of the brokering in an RPP can make or break the outputs and outcomes of an RPP” (p. 10). Given these important elements, the book aims to be a practical resource for current and future brokers in RPPs.

HOW TO USE THE BOOK

The book is packed with useful information about brokering work in RPPs, including lots of information and research on what brokering is and why it matters in RPPs, the evolution of the framework, and the above-mentioned case examples of brokering work in action. We recommend starting with the components of the framework first – and then diving into the examples for the framework’s component(s) that are most relevant to your current work and needs or future ambitions. The open access version of the book is available here for free download or for those that prefer a hard copy, that version is available here (please note that all royalties associated with any purchases of the hard copy will be donated back to NNERPP!).

Nina Spitzley is Marketing Specialist of the National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships (NNERPP).

Suggested citation: Spitzley, N. (2023). Collaborative Education Research and RPP Brokering: Spotlight On Two Recent Resources for Those Engaging in CER and RPPs. NNERPP Extra, 5(3), 19-23.