SYMP 296 - PERISCOPE: Relations and tensions between two communities of practice: researchers and school practitioners

It is our belief that knowledge transfer is not a one-way process. It is also our belief that research is a practice in its own right. In our collaborative reflective analysis, Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) is applied to identify tensions between communities of practice that both want student and school success: a community of practice composed of researchers and a community of practice composed of school-based practitioners. The two communities of practice interact at local and multi levels at a number of sites and as a whole at the national level. We will present the relationships that have developed as well as tensions that have emerged, and ways we are attempting to overcome them. Doing so, we hope to gain insight into our own doings and span the frontiers of our transformative agency.