Bridging the research and practice divide
By Jane Artess, HECSU Research Manager.
Putting Research Outcomes into Practice (PROP)
Aim and objectives
During the early planning stages of designing the HECSU longitudinal research programme, Career Making - the core of which was to become the Futuretrack study (see the article Embarking on higher education (II): Futuretrack 2006 - the bigger picture) - someone said,
I hope this research will be used to achieve something useful - it's no good if all it does is line our bookshelves.
The sentiment was most forcefully put by a leading practitioner who had seen that previous eminent research work had been gathering dust whilst busy professionals struggled to find time to read it and consider the possible practice implications of the findings. At that moment was born a consensus that work must be undertaken to bridge the research/practice divide and to aim for the dual outcome of:
- improving practice by providing researched evidence;
- helping to ensure that research responds to the current needs of practitioners (and those working directly with students and graduates).
Consequently, a new component called 'Putting Research Outcomes into Practice' (PROP) was added to the Career Making research programme, to run alongside it till 2011, with a remit to:
- create a forum for practitioners and researchers to collaborate on the development and dissemination of practice in careers education and guidance (CEG) in higher education in the UK.
With the following objectives:
- to assist practitioners to consider how research informs practice;
- to assist researchers to develop questions and themes relevant to practice;
- to develop innovative approaches to practice issues;
- to coordinate with other relevant initiatives;
- to disseminate activities openly;
- to contribute to policy formulation,
and outcomes:
- networked learning community focussed on provision of CEG in higher education
- range of CEG materials available electronically;
- short, accessible publications such as the HECSU Research Notes series (see HECSU).
Progress to date
We were aware that the issue identified above is not new and that what was required was an injection of creative thinking. Peter Hawkins and the team at the Graduates into Employment Unit (GIEU) at the University of Liverpool had been in discussion with HECSU at the time about stimulating an 'ideas factory' amongst career guidance professionals in higher education to develop new ways of thinking about careers education and guidance materials. Putting both ideas together led to the setting up of PROP which comprises a group of experienced professionals and researchers working collaboratively and innovatively. There are around 25 regular PROP participants who were 'volunteered' (some say, knobbled!) by their colleagues, by HECSU/GIEU or by themselves. Twenty-five is a manageable group size and is large enough to include those with contrasting experience of career-related work. However the group is by no means an exclusive one and other participation is always welcomed. Three residential events have been held since its inception in July 2006 and a number of interesting projects have emerged (three of which are reported in this issue of Graduate Market Trends by Ros Healey, Becka Currant and Kate Purcell/Paul Jackson - see More on PROP).
Participants in PROP have reported the following immediate outcomes:
- encouragement to develop culture of personal development amongst (careers) service staff;
- professional support - energising - confidence in approaching researchers;
- provides structure for professional reflection;
- establishment of a research post within the careers service;
- stimulated thinking about how research can be used;
- more inclined to take risks; to innovate.
Equally, challenges are articulated as:
- not all research is the same or of the same apparent value;
- much research is written for other researchers - the missing step appears to be articulating what practitioners can do about/with it;
- there is a need for a clear framework of principles and values to underpin PROP and the exposition of models or ways of working.
Inevitably PROP participants have shared practice - both accounts of practice and underlying conceptions. One member raised the possibility that PROP may achieve most by not setting out to uncover and promote 'good' or 'best practice', but could instead seek 'powerful practice', that is, practice that has an impact on the context in which it occurs (a stance that recognises that each institutional context is unique). This approach involves developing not only good descriptions (of practice or research findings) but also identifies key questions to be used in both practitioner-reflection and by researchers involved in the analysis of data.
Practitioner research
A parallel initiative is also being funded by HECSU to stimulate practitioner research. Here small amounts of funding may be bid for to undertake local (context-specific) research projects. The example provided by Paul Greenbank and Sue Hepworth of Edge Hill University (see Research working class students and the career decision making process) is of a practitioner research project which combines the expertise of a researcher and careers adviser working together to deepen their understanding of (in this case) the needs of students from 'widening participation' groups. Other recent projects have included the development of Jobsearch On-line by Strathclyde and a project exploring the pathways for students/graduates entering the voluntary or community work sectors - find out more from More on practitioner research.
Unlike HECSU's major research projects, which are conducted by leading research departments, 'Practitioner Research' is unlikely to have been commissioned and there is no project specification drawn up by HECSU. The aim of practitioner research is to support practitioners in the creation, development and dissemination of knowledge.
The inclusion of terms such as creation and development requires that research undertaken be focussed around professional agendas that may be highly localised and specific in application. Practitioner enquiry provides an opportunity to experiment with an aspect of practice. Individuals or teams will be encouraged to use an ‘action frame of reference’ (which is a broadly cyclical model of review and improvement) and to present ideas about how the research project has potential to enhance their own and others’ practice. Figure 1 illustrates this.
Proposals for practitioner research funding are considered on the basis of the following criteria, that they should make contribution to:
- the advancement of education of students and graduates;
- the career development and progression of students and graduates;
- the professional practices of careers advisory and other staff in higher education;
- developing innovative ways of working;
- the creation of knowledge about student and graduate career development, employment and learning.
Both the PROP project and the practitioner research projects, therefore, aim to do very similar things, albeit via rather different starting points, but neither PROP nor practitioner research will be able to enhance the experiences of students/graduates unless outcomes are widely disseminated. The HECSU website is one way to do this, as is the convening of conferences such as that held on 12 June of this year. One new method of disseminating particularly PROP work is via a Moodle virtual learning environment created by Becka Currant of University of Bradford (see Using VLE Moodle to put research into practice). As yet in embryonic form, it is hoped that this vehicle will be able to extend participation to a much wider range of interested colleagues.
The next steps
The PROP group is currently working on developing a (learning) model that enables the exploration of the intersection of three spheres of knowledge - public knowledge (that which is published, written by researchers, refereed etc), professional knowledge (that which is understood, interpreted, passed on via training/staff development/practice etc) and new knowledge (that is, insights and innovations gained from researchers and practitioners working together). The topic chosen for the group 'to get its teeth into' concerns a re-conceptualisation of careers education! If the foregoing has whetted your appetite for more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at admin@hecsu.ac.uk
Copyright © 2002-2012 HECSU | Content last updated: Autumn 2007
