Exploitation to empowerment: Reciprocity in school-based research

MICHAEL TAYLOR, PROFESSIONAL TUTOR, LIVERPOOL HOPE UNIVERSITY, UK

This article continues the conversation from previous research (Taylor, 2023), arguing for the need for reciprocity when working with schools and teachers. While the need to minimise harm from research is commonly advocated, this work argues that potential costs to schools in terms of time and resources should equally be considered. On occasion, schools and teachers may be offered remuneration for participating in research projects; this paper addresses questions concerning the appropriateness of such payments and whether there are more empowering rewards for schools that may encourage them to further engage in research. A framework of potential reciprocal arrangements to benefit schools participating in research may help schools to consider whether engaging is right for them and empower them to consider how such engagement may best benefit their interests.

Introduction

School-based research can take place in many formats, including formal partnerships with funding organisations such as the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), teacher–subject research networks and partnerships with universities. The projects may request to work with schools as a basis for trials that have shown some degree of efficacy, such as with the EEF, or as an initial project to find out more about the workings of education within schools. Occasionally, teachers are included in the research in a way that allows them to benefit from the research taking place and can result in professional learning, including examples where teachers then become critically engaged with the research material themselves (Boyd, 2018).

Teachers may also undertake action research, which has demonstrated a number of positive outcomes from such activities for both the school and individuals (Calladine-Evans, 2020) – in particular, using research methods to investigate how research findings may relate to their context or solve problems unique to their community. There is evidence from schools that they are finding the outcomes of engagement in research activities impactful for classroom practice and their engagement with outside stakeholders, such as parents (Atkinson, 2017).

While the discovery of solutions to an individual school’s questions may be useful, it isn’t always an outcome of school-based research and the findings may need to be more generalised. In these circumstances, the research team may need to consider how the research might offer something to the schools included in the research. This offering can be termed ‘reciprocity’ (Cohen et al., 2018) and should involve a consideration of the potential benefit to all participants in the research. Without considering how the research might be used for the participants, there may only be tangible benefits to the research team, such as outputs and publication, and the participants may feel exploited (Taylor, 2023).

The potential risk for participants to feel used in research without a benefit to them is particularly important to guard against in school-based research. School staff face a multitude of pressures on both their time and physical resources. Hence, any research team that takes from this needs to fully appreciate the potential costs, financial or otherwise. Any act of reciprocity that aims to counter these costs should be designed collaboratively to ensure that it genuinely respects the potential difficulty for school participants.

What are the challenges for schools engaging in research? 

The recent increase in interest and use of evidence in schools can be evidenced by engagement with organisations such as the Chartered College, evidence-based professional development providers and teacher-led research groups. These organisations can provide teachers with research reviews that help to bridge the knowledge–practice gap for research, where direct practice-based recommendations are made clear (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1990). However, while this can help schools to access research outcomes and ‘best bets’, it may not be enough to empower them and overcome the barriers for schools wanting to engage in research directly.

Organisations such as the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) have identified potential challenges for schools wishing to engage actively in research, such as them lacking the expertise and confidence to design and conduct research to solve practical problems (Walker, 2017). Some schools may have staff with significant research experience, but it may not be school-based or educational. Further difficulty can also emerge when needing to consult prior literature, as schools may not have access to peer-reviewed journals without a subscription. Not being able to conduct adequate literature reviews or build upon this may result in schools spending unnecessary time repeating research activities without utilising existing knowledge. Spending time on repeating research investigations is certainly not something that schools that are already time-poor are able to do.

In addition to lengthy and costly literature reviews, schools may not have the time, capacity or expertise to formulate and follow guidelines for ethical research. Universities utilise ethics committees as a safeguard for research participants and researchers. Schools may know and understand many of their stakeholders and possible participants better than most researchers; however, they may still have blind spots in identifying ethical issues. Some studies, where the school is simply examining the efficacy of normal practice, may pose little concern. However, if school leaders attempt randomised controlled trials, with some students potentially benefiting from education and others less so, there may be significant ethical concerns.

There are a multitude of potential barriers to schools actively engaging in research. Despite this, teacher participation in the research process is a vital opportunity for discovering improvements in practice (Calladine-Evans, 2020). There are many potential benefits for practitioners to engage in research if the barriers to access can be overcome.

Working in partnership to access research benefits

Working with research organisations is one way in which schools might overcome the difficulties of actively producing research themselves. This relationship should always be considered mutual to ensure that schools receive benefits from the work rather than being used to produce it (Taylor, 2023). Unfortunately, previous work in this area has suggested few ideas as to how research might be considered to benefit participants. Brooks et al. (2014) provide a short list of methods for reciprocity, including providing participants with financial incentives to ‘reduce the power differentials between the researchers and those being researched’ (p. 97). This work proposes moving from this compensatory model of reciprocity, however, and provokes schools to demand research partnerships that directly benefit them.

 Working in partnership will bring benefits to schools and offer evidence to drive improvements through the production of information that is of interest to them. Table 1 provides an overview of how research benefits for both schools and research institutions might be realised through partnership.

Table 1: A classification of the potential benefits to schools and research institutions of co-designed research

These benefits discussed are not meant as an exhaustive list but as examples to provoke thought and discussion between schools and research institutions. The traditional relationship of ‘researcher’ and ‘participant’ should be reconsidered more strategically to acknowledge the expertise and contribution of both. The notional payment that is often offered to schools for their participation has been deliberately omitted, as this can be a default and blunt tool. It is also ethically problematic, due to the potential for this to create power differentials between the researcher and participants in the research (Taylor, 2023).

Conclusion

This work highlights the mutually beneficial relationship between schools and research institutions when engaged in collaborative partnerships. Such collaborations can address potential challenges faced by both entities working independently. By combining resources and expertise, schools and research institutions can benefit more from the research process. This collaboration ultimately yields more impactful and relevant research findings, fostering continuous improvement in educational practice.

Many schools may currently use research evidence distilled in reports or books, attempting to apply their outcomes to the policies and processes within the school. However, they may find themselves disappointed to find that the recommendations from such literature do not translate the same benefits within their context. Schools may have different starting points, differences in their community and economic factors that may make applying research to practice difficult. Therefore, it is understandable that schools might need to conduct internal studies to determine the applicability of external findings within their contexts.

Current opportunities for schools to participate in research can be found through the Chartered College of Teaching and the Education Endowment Foundation. Participation in these research projects can help to ensure that schools can contribute information to the investigators, involving information on what works for their context. Contributing in this manner may go some way to reducing the gap between research outcomes and what is relevant or feasible in some contexts. It may still not completely address this gap, however, and they may not involve the school in the research design process.

Collaborative research reports do show many positive and inspiring examples of collaborations between schools and research institutions. Further working relationships like this are to be encouraged for the advantages given in this paper. The research organisers and sponsors should also be encouraged to disclose how such partnerships come about, so that other schools and institutions might follow similar procedures in the future. Further research to classify how reciprocal relationships are cultivated between these partners would additionally provide recommendations for interested parties on either side to seek future partnerships and solve mutual problems, as suggested throughout this paper. Through insight into how these ethically superior collaborations may be organised, school leaders will be empowered to ask what reciprocal incentives their school might receive beyond the traditional but problematic offer of financial incentives.