Embedded researchers are individuals or teams undertaking explicit research roles within host schools or other educational organisations (such as Local Authorities), legitimated by staff status with the purpose of identifying and implementing a collaborative research agenda (McGinity & Salokangas forthcoming). The relationship typically provides the researcher with greater access to the host educational organisation with benefits for collecting data and research funding. Again the host benefits from a bridge to academia and academic knowledge, networks and critical approaches to policy and practice implementations.

As yet, the methodological, ethical and practical implications of embedded research have not been appropriately identified and critiqued.  This lack of scrutiny is problematic as embedded research is providing more and more doctoral students with a route into academia and research in England. As a result we present here a definition and a direction to critically engage, develop and inform the practice of embedded research.  The research questions that we intend to address are firstly, what is embedded research? And secondly, what is the potential impact that embedded research may have for developing the host educational organisation? This ‘researching school’ model for school improvement retains a strong potential for continuing sustained and effective changes by utilising networks of internal and external processes of knowledge production and transfer.

We draw a distinction between embedded research and the literature which focuses upon members of the academy working with schools in the role of either ’critical friend’ or consultant (Swaffield 2004; 2005; 2007). Embedded researchers work within and between the university and the host educational organisation on the joint design of the remit, aims, research questions, methodology and methods, and then undertake analysis and feedback in collaboration with their host educational organisation.  As such emdedded research is an approach to partnership working in which the focus is upon the processes involved in developing research projects, which  may utilise a range of methodological techniques to gather the data on which to build a strategic agenda.

As the economic crisis has impacted education across Europe and in England it has transformed funding and governance arrangements in school and university levels of education. This shift in arrangements has challenged practitioners in schools and researchers to explore new ways of funding educational research and school improvement strategies and as such, the embedded research model has provided an approach to tackle these challenges. The model is not entirely unproblematic, as the nature of embedded research and associated partnerships are dynamic, and therefore are likely to experience tensions that may arise throughout the process of collaboration. Issues, tensions and dilemmas in relation to funding, positionality and access will be discussed this paper.

McGinity, R. & Salokangas, M. (2013) Embedded researchers: defining the research agenda. Forthcoming, British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration. Swaffield, S. (2004). Exploring critical friendship through leadership for learning. The International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, Rotterdam (Vol. 44, pp. 6–9 Swaffield, S. (2005). No sleeping partners: relationships between head teachers and critical friends. School Leadership & Management, 25(1), 43-57. Swaffield, S. (2007). Light touch critical friendship. Improving Schools, 10(3), 205-219.