TY - JOUR
T1 - Tales from the frontline
T2 - the experiences of early childhood practitioners working with an 'embedded' research team
AU - Wong, Sandie
PY - 2009/5
Y1 - 2009/5
N2 - In late 2006, SDN Children's Services, an Australian not-for-profit provider of services for children, families and communities, engaged a research team that was 'embedded' within the organisation for 1 year. This action represented a significant investment of resources, such as staff time and organisational funds, and demonstrates SDN's strong commitment to research and evaluation as a means of supporting organisational learning and development. This paper highlights the innovative nature of the approach by positioning the role of the embedded researcher within the current theoretical and socio-political context. It also provides evidence of the success of the approach by reporting on the findings of a study that investigated staff's experiences of being involved in this type of collaborative investigation of their work. I argue that the employment of an embedded researcher can have positive benefits both for the organisation and the practitioners-but who the researchers are really matters.
AB - In late 2006, SDN Children's Services, an Australian not-for-profit provider of services for children, families and communities, engaged a research team that was 'embedded' within the organisation for 1 year. This action represented a significant investment of resources, such as staff time and organisational funds, and demonstrates SDN's strong commitment to research and evaluation as a means of supporting organisational learning and development. This paper highlights the innovative nature of the approach by positioning the role of the embedded researcher within the current theoretical and socio-political context. It also provides evidence of the success of the approach by reporting on the findings of a study that investigated staff's experiences of being involved in this type of collaborative investigation of their work. I argue that the employment of an embedded researcher can have positive benefits both for the organisation and the practitioners-but who the researchers are really matters.
KW - embedded research
KW - early childhood education
KW - collaborative investigation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=60949087417&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2008.10.003
DO - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2008.10.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 19036451
AN - SCOPUS:60949087417
SN - 0149-7189
VL - 32
SP - 99
EP - 108
JO - Evaluation and Program Planning
JF - Evaluation and Program Planning
IS - 2
ER -