When Marina "pushes" I tend to say OK that means I am going in the "wrong" direction, therefore I will quickly change direction so I am fitting into what I think Marina might want. I drop my original idea and try to do what is wanted. I find this interesting because 1) I do not think that is what Marina wants when she pushes. She wants us to think about it from all sides and to really know why we are "there". 2) I think this is partly why we are where we are re education. We learned early on not to waste energy and time going in a direction that was off the direct path to our goal. For me I can see that I am going to have to think differently for this project and to get the most out of the team input. 3) I like the way Marina warns us by saying OK I am going to push here. I think we can use that as an indicator that we are going to ask some hard questions but it does not mean we think the other person is off in left field it just means we are asking questions. And it does not mean that we want the other person to drop the idea completely or that we expect them to even make a change—we are just asking them to look at something more closely. OK Team—I am going to push here. It is your turn. (Email from Dee, April 2, 2001)

Training by Doing

Teaching how to do research is a contentious issue. This is particularly true when it involves teaching practitioners whose main interest in doing research is to impact their practice. In our case, teaching how to do research was also shaped by Marina’s own stand on what is considered research. As she was articulating in her doctoral writing, research has been defined in terms of academic research. In her dissertation, Marina proposes that we strip the concept of research of all the values assigned to it by academia and that we work from a bare definition of research, one to which other sectors can apply their own values. The proposition is that there be three basic elements to a research process: aim to produce new knowledge, be rigorous and methodical, and be shared. As a result of these reflections, Marina constantly questioned what she was describing as research and consequently what she was asking team members to do.

As an educator, Marina struggled to allow team members to discover the best way of investigating the topic at hand. This is related to how Marina teaches and also reflects her current thinking about research, research methodology, and practitioner research. This approach worked at times. However, at others the researcher-practitioners demanded more direction from her. We shared our ideas as a team via email:

I am aware that I have a trainer role for this team, and as an educator, I do not want to tell you what to do, I want you to discover different and innovative ways of doing things. I hear you want answers and clear directions. And I am responding with questions and options for paths to take, and I am giving you the responsibility of making a decision. I am here to support you and help you see options, but I find it hard to “tell you what to do”. I also realize that this may not be the best approach as the coordinator of the team of literacy practitioners. I can see the difference in how we approach tasks, and that is fine. I will try to be a bit more responsive to your requests, but I can’t promise to tell you what to do or tell you the “truth” about how things work (I will keep it a secret!). (Email from Marina, April 30, 2001)

Because of your experience and expertise in research Marina, it seems to me that you could see things… that could be problematic… I guess I am asking you to offer YOUR concrete suggestions to things based on your expertise Marina. I don’t feel that anyone on the team will passively accept your expertise without deciding if it makes sense or not.... If it doesn’t, the discussion/debate/process will continue. If we agree then knowledge has been shared without us (in this case) having to REDISCOVER something. (Email from Paula, May 1, 2001).