Inhabiting Each Other's Castles: towards knowledge and mutual growth through collaboration

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents a critical analysis of a form of collaborative action research undertaken by teachers in schools and a university‐based team, within the context of a funded project. Building on Bruner's concept of multiple realities and Foucault's theory of discourse, it uses the metaphor of a castle for the different constructed realities of the school and the academy, each with their own system of values and criteria for truth testing. The paper assumes that collaboration between the inhabitants of two very different ‘castles’ is inherently problematic, although mutually beneficial. It addresses three questions: •In the collaborative relationship how do you deal with the perceived power differential construed by the educational community in school/university collaboration?•What might be appropriate epistemologies to underpin collaboration in school/university relationships?•How does each partner in these relationships change as a result of the process? What does each partner contribute to the process?.