The Stenhouse legacy and the development of an applied research in education tradition

Abstract

This paper focuses on the nature of the legacy that Lawrence Stenhouse bequeathed in the field of curriculum development and research, particularly in relation to his idea of ‘the teacher as researcher’. In the process, it explores the contemporary relevance of this legacy to those who are currently attempting to rethink and re‐enact the relationship between teachers and the school curriculum in a policy context. It also explores the impact of Stenhouse's work on the development of a collaborative action research movement within the United Kingdom and beyond. The author distinguishes a particular strand of collaborative action research which he depicts as the neo‐Stenhouse tradition of applied research in education and distinguishes from the Stenhouse legacy as such. This distinction is based on a recognition that Stenhouse's legacy and idea of ‘the teacher as researcher’ was a work in progress, which he himself acknowledged. Drawing on ambiguities in Stenhouse's thinking about the relationships between educational theory and practice and between teachers and researchers, the author argues that there are strong conceptual links between Stenhouse's idea of ‘the teacher as researcher’ and his account of case study as a method of applied research in education. The paper concludes with an argument for the contemporary relevance of Stenhouse's work, and the tradition of applied research in education he wanted to establish, in policy contexts where curriculum development and research is dominated by a performative model of rationality.