Introduction to Section 1: The Field of Practitioner Research and Worldviews

Practitioner research (PR) is conducted by and for a wide range of people working in education, with a number of complex and developed philosophical worldviews. The complexity comes not from an elaborate theoretical system or research methodology, but from the ongoing preoccupation with relating theory, evidence and practice. Practitioner researchers both conduct and apply research, and must develop as they do a rich understanding of how research and the knowledge it produces can form and inform practice.

In Section 1, we explore key ideas in the field of PR. The contributions chosen for this section have a focus on philosophical worldview, many drawing on the ideas and democratic ethos of pragmatism as they ask what drives research and what are the processes involved? The chapters also shed light on how and why PR may vary in different settings.