Practitioner and professional research or enquiry into practice has many proponents (McNiff and Whitehead, 2006). However, the challenges involved in facilitating the use and application of practitioner research findings in the researcher’s organisation have tended to remain unexplored. Similarly, the tensions between individual, group and organisational agendas which often emerge in attempting to disseminate findings or implement research-informed change have generally been ignored (Bartlett and Burton, 2006). For us teaching on a Master’s programme, there appeared to be little evidence that the research conducted by these professional students was being used, or even considered, in their organisations. The Link project was a small scale initiative designed to encourage and promote greater synergy between the enquiry conducted as part of their advanced study by public sector practitioners from a range of professional settings and its use in their workplaces. It was intended to improve the support given to researchers and the ways in which information, knowledge and research are shared in professional organisations. Link involved three university academics working with groups of part time students taking a Research Methods module as part of their Master’s programme in Educational Leadership and investigating the perspectives of a number of senior managers from the organisations in which these students were based. The personal experiences of the student group were explored in relation to the dissemination and use of research findings. Strategies to promote dissemination were discussed and a tool was developed for use in the research design process. The aim was to empower professional researchers to develop more research- and evidence-based discussion in their organisations. In addition, following the interviews with senior managers a protocol was developed to enable them to make more effective use of practitioner research.

a) A group of 8 MA students was recruited from schools, FE Colleges and health services. These students met as a group on three occasions over a term to work on the tool and they commented on its development in smaller groups and via email. b) Three group interviews were carried out as a means of populating aspects of the tool particularly with regard to key issues and frequently asked questions. c) Interviews of ten leaders with a range of experience in supporting enquiry in their organisations. d) Draft version of Enquiry Dissemination Planning Tool trialled with dissertation students.

The analysis of the experiences of university staff, professional Master’s students and senior managers in their organisations uncovered some of the issues involved in disseminating and applying practitioner research findings in a range of professional settings. What the project was able to do was to develop and initiate strategies that may enable the rhetoric of research-based practice to become more of a reality in the organisations involved. Success will be judged through evaluating the experiences of the professionals now using these tools over time.