The Connection Between Research and Practice

This article reviews four hypotheses that have been put forward to account for a perceived lack of connection between research and practice: (a) research needs to be more authoritative, (b) research needs to be more relevant, (c) research needs to be more accessible, and (d) the education system itself is inherently too stable or too unstable and therefore unable to respond coherently to research findings. A brief history of thought within each of these hypotheses is offered, and the place of education researchers in the larger education context is discussed.