Recognising, valuing and celebrating practitioner research

Practitioner research has become a recognised and legitimate form of professional learning in many professional contexts, and a significant component of what has been identified as a ‘paradigm shift gathering momentum’ in relation to the professional learning of teachers that goes beyond ‘merely supporting the acquisition of new knowledge and skills’ (Vescio et al., 2008: 81). An established research literature demonstrates the contribution its use makes to sustaining educational change, quality improvement and teacher growth and empowerment in school settings (see, for example, Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 2007; Groundwater-Smith and Mockler, 2008; Kemmis et al. 2014; Mockler and Casey, this volume). In contrast, in early childhood contexts, practitioner research might be seen as an ‘emergent’ practice, and the research literature documenting its use in these settings, while growing, is relatively small. This is both perplexing, given the growth in policy attention internationally to early childhood, and the consequent need to strengthen pedagogical quality and ‘grow’ the profession, and unsurprising, given the often marginal status of the early childhood profession and the increasingly dominant framing of early childhood within human capital discourses (Bown et al., 2009; Moss, 2012). In this chapter, we establish the rationale for the production of this book and its contribution to understanding and exemplifying the important place of practitioner research in the early childhood field. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the research and policy context of early childhood. This is followed by an articulation of what is understood and implied by practitioner research and its variant forms, incorporating a discussion of its distinctive characteristics and contribution. The final section of this chapter introduces the chapters of the book and discusses their content and contribution under the particular themes of collaborative partnerships, knowledge and knowing, capacity building and transformation and change. These themes were identified by the editors as particularly salient from the research findings of projects described by the chapter authors.