| Chapter 1: | Overview of the Study |
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The phenomenon of research falling behind practice is not a new discussion topic in the profession. As recently as the 1998 Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference, a panel discussion addressed the importance of thinking in terms of a model that reflects the reciprocal or back-and-forth relationship between research and practice. … Henschke (1987) identified a number of literature sources that looked to practice as an important resource for research. … Shön‘s idea of reflection in action is better understood by his 1983 statement, “When someone reflects-in-action, he becomes a researcher in the practice context” (p. 68). Building theory, according to Kenny and Harnisch in 1982 (cited in Deshler & Hagan, 1989, p. 152), is not an either / or approach, but instead, a blending of deductive and inductive approaches called action research described as researching what you are doing while you are doing it … for the purpose of solving a problem. Perhaps the new action research model (Figure 1) that reflects the blending of research and practice, better reflects today‘s practitioners research concerns (p. 4).
Regarding the practice of adult learning, Isenberg and Titus (1999) believe that there must be a change in “the dominant static linear model, from research comes practice, to reflect the current reality that the opposite is also true (from practice comes research), resulting in a new dynamic,
Figure 1. Isenberg and Titus’ new research / practice model
