Research Friend: An Amazing Journey - Marina Niks

I am a “research friend” for the BC adult literacy field. I facilitate research workshops, encourage and support practitioners in doing research, and engage in one-to-one and group discussions online and in person. I have also been part of several research projects with practitioners and learners. It is an amazing journey!

When I think back to the first workshop I facilitated with Colleen Reid (a UBC colleague) in 1999, I find it hard to believe how the workshops – and I as a researcher and educator – have changed. When I started this work four years ago I saw myself transferring to the field what I learned in university about how to do research. But I was pushed and questioned, and encouraged to explore different ways of understanding my role and practitioners’ roles in defining research. Today I see myself facilitating the emergence of new ways of doing research by practitioners, questioning assumptions about how research “should” be done and by whom.

One of the most exciting aspects of my work as research friend is that I am not alone. From the beginning, Audrey Thomas of the Ministry of Advanced Education and Diane Morrison of the Centre for Curriculum, Transfer and Technology have been a constant source of support and encouragement. And others have become interested and willing to work together as research friends. Believing that we could challenge traditional ways of generating knowledge about literacy, a small group started meeting in 2002 to build what is now RiPAL-BC, a network to support research in practice in BC (page 6).

One nagging challenge in my work is the fact that practitioners who are eager to engage in research activities cannot or will not write a research proposal for an individual project. Deadlines to apply for funding come and go. Practitioners say their “proposal-writing” energy is directed to program delivery proposals. Their professional lives – let alone their personal lives – are too busy and stressful. Writing a research proposal is not a priority. But practitioners are interested in being part of larger projects that support their own particular interests and offer them the opportunity to work within a supportive environment. That is why I developed a project to support a small community of practitionerresearchers.

“Supporting Literacy Practitioner- Researcher Projects,” a new project beginning in fall 2003, is funded by the BC Adult Literacy Cost-Shared Program and sponsored by the Adult Basic Education Association of BC. It will encourage and help literacy and ABE practitioners carry out small, individual research projects within their daily practice. Up to eight practitioner-researchers will choose the topic they want to research, collect data, analyse it and write about their findings. We will form support groups to facilitate each individual project while developing a research community. Online discussions, teleconferences and face-to-face meetings will facilitate interaction within the community. This project builds on previous research in practice projects carried out in Alberta by Mary Norton and Grace Malicky and on a framework for coordinated support to research in practice described by Jenny Horsman and Mary Norton (1999).

I am excited about this project. It gives practitioners the opportunity to ask the questions they are interested in finding answers to, the freedom to explore more questions, and the choice to decide how to access information and share findings with colleagues. I see it as one more step in the process of developing knowledge about the field by people in the field. I look forward to sharing their journey.

Marina Niks is a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia. Her role as research friend in the BC literacy field has been funded by the BC Adult Literacy Cost-Shared Program since 1999.

Reference:

Horsman, Jenny and Mary Norton (1999). A Framework to Encourage and Support Practitioner Involvement in Adult Literacy Research in Practice in Canada. <www.nald.ca/ripal/Resourcs/ Framwrk/cover.htm>