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Unpacking teacher–researcher collaboration with three theoretical frameworks: a case of expansive learning activity?

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Abstract

Long association with a mathematics teacher at a Grade 4–6 school in Sweden, is basis for reporting a case of teacher–researcher collaboration. Three theoretical frameworks used to study its development over time are relational knowing, relational agency and cogenerative dialogue. While relational knowing uses narrative perspectives to explore the experiential and relational nature of collaboration; relational agency, draws on activity theory perspectives and identifies the change in the purpose of collaboration, from initially conducting classroom interventions to co-authoring research. Finally, cogenerative dialogue, deploys hermeneutic-phenomenological perspectives and investigates the dialogue that transpired between Lotta and the author, as they co-authored their research report. Such analysis sheds invaluable light on a case of expansive learning activity.

Svensk sammanfattning

Denna artikel undersöker ett långvarigt samarbete mellan Lotta, en matematiklärare på en mellanstadieskola, och författaren, en universitetsbaserad forskare. Samarbetet inleds med att författaren observerar Lottas undervisning och kulminerar i deras samförfattande av en forskningsrapport som beskriver en intervention de tillsammans genomfört. I detta samarbete är både Lotta och författaren forskare, där Lottas professionella kontext är platsen för forskningen och Lottas undervisningspraktik är i fokus för undersökningen. Tre teoretiska ramverk används för att analysera och förstå detta samarbete. För det första, relationellt vetande (relational knowing, Hollingsworth, Dybdahl, & Minarik 1993), som bygger på narrativa perspektiv och utforskar den erfarna och relationella karaktären hos ett samarbete. För det andra, relationell medverkan (relational agency, Edwards 2005), som bygger på perspektiv från aktivitetsteori och identifierar förändringen av samarbetets syfte från att initialt genomföra klassrumsinterventioner till att samförfatta forskning. För det tredje, medgenererande dialog (cogenerative dialogue, Roth and Tobin 2002), som bygger på hermeneutiska-fenomenologiska perspektiv och undersöker den dialog som försiggick mellan Lotta och författaren då de samförfattade forskningsrapporten. Förutom att ge empiriska belägg för samarbete mellan lärare och forskare, sprider en sådan insats ovärderligt ljus över hur författarens samarbete med Lotta blev ett fall av expansiv inlärning (expansive learning, Engeström 2001).

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Correspondence to Sharada Gade.

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Lead Editor: K. Tobin.

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Gade, S. Unpacking teacher–researcher collaboration with three theoretical frameworks: a case of expansive learning activity?. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 10, 603–619 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-014-9619-7

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