Connecting Research and Practice: A scientific approach

Over the last decade there has been much criticism levelled at educational research as being unscientific, non-cumulative, uncollaborative and inaccessible. To a large extent this viewpoint has driven research policy and the types of research that are privileged.
In the UK increasing use of systematic review is seen as being a way to engage practitioners in the debates started by the researchers. However, the issue of dissemination remains problematic. There is a case to see the focus on unidirectional dissemination of research findings as being a misguided one. There is also a danger of the systematic review process ‘centralising’ the debate and marginalising the constituency that it purports to support.
The charge of being unscientific also merits attention as a number of scientific policy initiatives, particularly in contested areas, are looking at ways of listening to and valuing more fully forms of public knowledge and social intelligence. In effect they are looking at ‘upstream engagement’ to identify ways in which this can strengthen the reflective capacity of scientists and therefore inform the formulation of research questions.
This paper draws on work on the impact of educational research to improve professional practice, discussion of upstream engagement amongst the scientific community and work that is in progress to use this approach amongst educational workers. In particular it will detail two particular initiatives; one in the policy domain Policy Unplugged and the other in the area of science education.