Research with teachers should be transformative. When research is a transformative experience, it leaves all those involved in it better than when they started. But life experiences are not always transformative. Recently, I found myself bearing witness to the struggles and challenges that a prospective teacher was facing in her practicum experience. As I was shuttled back and forth to hear the perspective of the school and that of the prospective teacher, it was clear that, as an educator, my role was to mediate the situation and attempt to arrive at a solution. But what is the role of the researcher in a similar context? What role does the researcher play when confronted with inequitable practices and opportunities? How many of us embrace that question, not only in our thoughts, but also in our actions, our projects, and commitments? How many of us open the door to the possibility that what we do in the name of research might be otherwise?
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