This qualitative meta-analysis reviews 64 empirical studies (2018–2024) on teacher research communities, grounded on critical-social theoretical frameworks. A reflective thematic analysis was conducted to synthesize how these communities are represented in terms of organizational structures, collaborative inquiry and pedagogical knowledge production. The findings categorize eight organizational labels, grouped into four broad types, along with six collaborative inquiry practices and three epistemic rationalities, thus revealing tensions between functional and critical orientations, as well as the exclusion of narrative and biographical knowledge. The study proposes an analytical framework that repositions teachers as epistemic subjects and questions, challenging technocratic models of knowledge validation. By integrating studies from contexts in the Global North and the Global South, the review offers a comparative, situated perspective that enriches international debates on teacher research, epistemic justice, and professional development. • Reviewed 64 studies on school-based teacher research communities (2018–2024). • Identified and categorized eight organizational designations into four typologies. • Classified six inquiry practices and three epistemic rationalities for knowledge production. • Revealed tensions between functional and critical representations of research. • Proposed an analytical framework centered on teachers as epistemic agents.
Riaño et al. (Mon,) studied this question.