That’s Another Story: An Alternative to the ‘Official’ Way the Urban School Story is Told

Unpacking ‘disadvantage’ and ‘potential’ in the context of fair access policies in England

“…The decision to introduce new national data monitoring streams recording progression to the most academically selective universities serves to focus attention on this issue at institutional level 12 . However, as Harridge et al (2014) note such approaches are likely to be experienced as most stigmatising in those contexts least able to compete. As evidenced in this research, such macro level approaches can also create distortions in such schools that then need to be corrected by new policy measures 13 .…”

Under-tapped potential: practitioner research as a vehicle for widening participation

“…The contribution made by practitioner-research has been a continuing subject of debate across professional domains (Shaw 2005;Hammersley, 2008;Harridge et al, 2014). As already noted the literature on WP practitioners is scant, the paper by Wilkins and Burke (2015) being a notable exception and they therefore do not feature in these debates.…”

“…The research literature identifies a number of benefits as arising out of practitioner-research, including some that point to the potential to deliver immediate improvements in practice (what under other agendas might be called 'impact'). This potential for positive change is embedded in the process (Carr, 2007) and can be transformative of both the individual and their professional setting (Shaw, 2005;Gewirtz et al 2009;Vetter, 2012;Harridge et al, 2014). In adopting a bottom up rather than top down approach the practitioner-researcher has more agency (Zeichner, 2003;Gewirtz et al, 2009;Killingsworth-Roberts et al 2010;Vetter, 2012).…”

“…In adopting a bottom up rather than top down approach the practitioner-researcher has more agency (Zeichner, 2003;Gewirtz et al, 2009;Killingsworth-Roberts et al 2010;Vetter, 2012). In fostering a capacity for critical reflection such approaches provide (Killingsworth-Roberts et al, 2010;Vetter, 2012;Harridge et al, 2014) while also allowing access to marginalised/missing/alternative voices and perspectives (Harridge et al, 2014). Such approaches create opportunities to (better) integrate theory with practice (Vetter et al2012), something that may never be required if simply inputting evaluation data.…”