What Difference Does Research Make and for Whom?

Book excerpt: Education is a discipline that is constantly emerging, and for which there are more questions than answers. Beyond the research reports, the articles in refereed journals, and the well-crafted presentations, what is happening in education? What difference does our work make in the lives of those we research? How is education as a whole different because of our effort? And what is the nature of the difference we make? This book provides some answers to those questions based on engaged and critical research from around the world. It is also a critical reflection on new possibilities for qualitative research, its implications and relevance to educational practice. Andrew Hargreaves, Enora Brown, Graham Hingagaroa Smith, Jack Whitehead, Mutindi Mumbua, Andrew Gitlin, Phil Carspecken, and others invite readers to join the conversation, and take it beyond these pages by enriching and extending the discourse within their communities of practice.