ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we take a moment to reflect back on how we got to what we know about brokering in education research-practice partnerships. We explain what we have come to realize is that RPP brokering is not something that just one person – i.e., the designated RPP broker – does in a partnership. In fact, if we were to imagine what an ideal research-practice partnership might look like, especially in terms of brokering, we might expect to see a constellation of RPP brokers representing any multitude of engaged organizations all working collaboratively towards a common education goal. We argue that brokering should grow into an essential activity that all members of an RPP must be able to do or develop over time, to varying degrees depending on their roles in the partnership. Based on these ideas, we explore three claims related to the argument that all RPP participants should develop brokering proficiency over time as a mechanism for strengthening the RPP itself over time.
