Response to ‘Research–practice partnerships in education: Why we need a methodological shift in how we do research’ by Dr McGeown

Abstract

Drawing on research examples from the field of literacy, McGeown (2023) persuasively puts forward a case for the benefits of research-practice partnerships in education. In this response, I highlight points of agreement with McGeown through presenting an overview of an established research-practice partnership in the field of autism education: the Pan London Autism Schools Network -Research group (PLASN-R). PLASN-R is a particularly pertinent example here, since it highlights nuanced challenges and complexities to collaborative ways of working: through the extension of research-practice partnerships at a more structural level (i.e., beyond the individual research projects that McGeown presents), but also through working with schools that are traditionally excluded from research opportunities (due to the perceived complexity of need of their pupils). I also echo McGeown's important call for