There is a great deal of theoretical and empirical work on the nature, purposes and outcomes of partnership working in education (see, for example, Masson et al 2011 and Merini, 2006 for an overview).  In contrast, the fine detail of empirical work has been relatively under-examined.  We have come to realise that the approach to this work, the design of a research partnership and the tools chosen to support and explore the partnership all have a significant effect on the potential for partnership working but that these elements are often in the background (Baumfield et al 2009).  This workshop provides the opportunity for participants to explore the motivation to work in partnership and how that translates into the design of projects and the implications for the relationships inherent in different approaches and designs.  There will also be opportunities to work interactively with particular tools as a route to discovering their epistemic and catalytic qualities (Wall and Higgins, 2006; Knorr Cetina, 2001).

We present a framework for participation that uses a developmental model (McLaughlin and Black-Hawkins, 2004) to problematise surface notions of network, collaboration, participation and consultation by focusing on the espoused intent and the practical steps that are taken to reach it.  The specific tools that are employed here reflect this underlying intent (Amory, 2007), as Dewey reminds us: “A tool is also a mode of language… these objects are so intimately bound up with intentions, occupations and purposes that they have an eloquent voice” (Dewey 1938 p46).

The framework we provide recognizes that a successful research partnership is not simply one that finds an answer to an enquiry question but one that deepens understanding by throwing up new questions (Hall, 2009).  We think that this framework is important because it foregrounds the core purpose of professional partnerships in education which is to understand learning in order to enact change within it (Stenhouse, 1981).  The focus on the different aspects of partnership introduces a dimension beyond the invitation to participate, instead encouraging learners at all levels to become critical, active and engaged.

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