ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on one of the primary purposes of the partnership, which was to develop and sustain research activities in the schools. It will explore the question, ‘What have we learned about schools’ attempts to go beyond individual teacher research and to engage in generating research-based knowledge to inform practice?’ This purpose cannot be neatly distinguished from the other purposes for the work which took place within the partnership; however, we will aim to maintain a focus in this chapter on the schools and in the next on the partnership. The chapter begins with an exploration of motivations and conceptions of research, then it explores what kinds of research and research knowledge were found to be useful and valued, what the issues were around knowledge creation and dissemination, how the activity was developed and sustained, and the claims made for the impact on teachers and pupils; finally, it ends with the achievements of and challenges faced by the schools.
