Researchers as actors: using vignettes to understand how researcher-facilitators negotiate their roles in collaborative research in physical education

Abstract

A significant number of studies have shown that collaborative research can enable practitioners to solve practical issues while simultaneously allowing researchers to study the process of change. However, knowledge about the roles of researcher-facilitators and how these role(s) are experienced, is scarce. In this study, we explore how researchers experience and negotiate their role(s) in a collaborative research project working closely with teachers over three years. We draw on theoretical concepts from Goffman, E. [(1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Doubleday Anchor Book] and Goffman, E. [(1961). Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction. Bobbs-Merril] to better understand how being a researcher can be compared to doing role-playing and performing in the theatre. Guided by an analysis of researchers’ reflective diaries, teacher interviews and data collected from Shut-up-n-write sessions, we represent our findings through three vignettes. In the first vignette, Negotiating and serving multiple roles and unexpected scenarios we discuss how the facilitator takes on and is given, different roles that need to be appropriately performed over the course of a project. In the second vignette, Negotiating emotions front- and backstage, we problematise how the unpredictable nature of collaborations elicits a broad range of emotions that need to be negotiated. In the third vignette, Creating spaces for on-stage performances, we discuss how researchers must sometimes reflect on their performances and address situations that occur in the heat of the moment. Altogether, these three vignettes highlight various aspects of the complexity of being a facilitator, and underscore how the facilitator role is something that needs to be practised and refined over time.