The professorship’s principle is that research-based work on (ill-defined) practice-based issues, provides excellent opportunities to clarify professional issues and to contribute to sustainable improvements in professional practices. However, this implies that those involved possess certain qualities.
What does this mean in an educational context? For example, how do teachers with a master’s degree combine their roles of learning expert, innovator and researcher? How do teachers and researchers work together on practice-based issues regarding learning and developing, for instance, in research-practice-partnerships (RRP's)? What qualities do they apply?
The professorship's focus is on the question how boundary practices between (the roles of) educators and researchers in collaborating on professional issues can be improved. What research ability and what transdisciplinary ability to collaborate across boundaries do they need?
We presume that both teachers and researchers need both qualities and are thereby capable of viewing and acting from each other’s perspective. Moreover, they should take into account the rigor relevance and ethics of the practice-based research that they collaborate on. Assumably, they will have to apply innovative research approaches. In this way, teachers and researchers develop ‘boundary crossing practices’ that (as we assume and test) will actually contribute to sustainable development. The development of research ability and transdisciplinary ability means the role transition from teacher to research-oriented teacher and from researcher to transdisciplinary and practice based researcher.
Research areas
The professorship’s questions have been categorized in four research areas:
- Training and professionalization of educators
- Research ability of pupils and students in vocational education
- Research-based work by teachers with a master’s degree in vocational education
- Methodological issues in practice-based
In January 2021, we harvested six years of the ‘Boundary Crossing Practices’ professorship and shared the fruits with colleagues from Aeres University of Applied Sciences Wageningen and other organizations. In addition, we reconfirmed and elaborated the professorship's agenda for the next two years.
