Reflections on teacher-researcher collaboration in a design-based science education project

Research collaborations between university scholars and K-12 educators have grown in recent decades, largely due to their ability to disrupt the top-down traditions of educational research and develop authentic practices informed by teachers’ knowledge. However, in-depth inquiry is needed to determine how those collaborations unfold at an interpersonal/relational level. In this self-reflexive qualitative study, we explored how our research team navigated strengths and tensions in an ongoing partnership with secondary science educators. A theme of ‘if it’s helpful’ (encouraging but not forcing) was apparent in our approach to both soliciting and responding to teachers’ ideas. We analyze how this theme may influence the balance of building a flexible and reciprocal project that supports a clear purpose while still producing deliverable materials. We connect our contextual analysis to the broader constraints and possibilities of co-design and action research, advocating for more researcher-teacher collaborations that are humble, self-reflexive, and cognizant of the challenges and power relations inherent in any partnership. This study may implicate co-design and action research alike by acknowledging common tensions and challenges but not treating these as necessarily failures.