Interpreting tensions in teacher–researcher collaboration

Teacher—researcher collaboration is often promoted to create research-informed schools. Yet, research highlights several challenges that generate tensions shaping how such collaborations unfold in practice. This article examines how teachers reflected on and responded to such tensions in a design-based research project to promote dialogic teaching, using pedagogical resources and digital technology. The analysis draws on interviews with 14 Norwegian lower-secondary teachers. Using activity theory and the concept of experiencing, we investigated tensions related to pedagogical aims, resource use, and expectations of participation. The findings demonstrate how teachers navigated tensions through reflection, pragmatic adjustments, and partial engagement. Participation reflected what felt realistic and valuable in teaching routines. Modest or temporary uses of new resources were seen as meaningful, indicating how teachers adapted project ideas to their practice. Building on the concept of experiencing, we introduce relational experiencing to capture the reciprocal dynamic by which evolving relationships, expectations, and ongoing negotiations in teacher—researcher collaboration shape what teachers take up from, engage with, and sustain regarding the pedagogical resources and ideas introduced by researchers. The article contributes to the nuanced understanding of how teacher—researcher collaboration develops in practice, emphasising the significance of everyday negotiations, situated reflections, and adaptive practices as constructive elements.