The Relationship Between Practice, Theory and Research

Abstract

The relationships between practice, theory and research are complex, interlinked, and influenced by political, economic and social order concerns represented in policy interventions, public scrutiny, accountability, marketisation and globalisation. It is within this complexity that individuals must make their way, responding to day-today challenges and making sense of their experiences. As human beings we learn to act or do and as social beings we take forward our interests and values which inform our practices and directions of travel in the world. We may be curious and want to make sense of what we do by understanding how and why we do it and it is this quest that leads to theories and research on practice. Our purpose here is to examine the problematic nature of the relationships between practice, theory and research, identifying areas of complementarity, dissonance and challenges, to reveal how they can contribute to enhancing practice education. In problematising these relationships we consider three key questions: − What is the nature of theory in relation to practice? − What kinds of research are appropriate for informing and illuminating practice? − What are the consequences for education for practice? We explore the territory of practice and consider its relationship with theory, the nature of knowledge and ways of knowing as a means for understanding how individuals learn to become practitioners. Our intention is to offer alternative ways of conceiving these relationships for the benefit of practice education and empowering practitioners to engage creatively and critically with theory and research for practice. PROBLEMATISING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRACTICE, THEORY AND RESEARCH Perspectives drawn from different fields of practice reveal the dynamics at work in the relationships between practice, theory and research and set the scene for considering the connections, dissonance and challenges they represent for understanding the "know-how," "know-why" and "know-that" of practice. Polkinghorne's (2004, pp. 2-3) argument for a return to judgment-based care highlights challenges for professional practice, controlled by a "technified worldview," where care interventions are directed by "empirically demonstrated technical sequences" derived from scientifically validated knowledge which holds that technique "produces change, not the caregiver." Clients and professionals are displaced by the precedence and power afforded to scientifically validated