Research in Practice: The Voice of the Practitioner

Research publications are often based on the premise that research precedes practice. Indeed, a corollary is that practice uninformed by research is less worthy than practice that is solely derived from research. This hierarchical placement of research on a higher plane than practice is problematic. The Bilingual Research Journal embraces a bi-directional conception of these two notions: research informs practice, but, practice is the operational base on which research is built. Practice, in short informs the researcher about the field often revealing the questions to be explored.

The Bilingual Research Journal realizes that the contributions by practitioners to the field of bilingual education through both research and practical application are essential to the collection of data, testing theories and hypotheses, and the dissemination of knowledge about the field. In essence, without the field, bilingual education research would be limited in value or non-existent. While clinical experiments could still be "performed" on bilingual subjects in a clinical setting, nothing could replace a live classroom or school as a laboratory. Therefore, research and practice are inextricably bound.

To put this idea into practice in the BRJ, the editors have created a "Research in Practice" section in which we will include the work of practitioners in our field. We envision these papers a shorter piece when compared to those in the "Research and Essays" section. These "Research in Practice" articles will range from 8 to 15 pages in length and will focus on specific aspects of the practitioner's craft: reflections of practice, case studies exemplifying or disputing the knowledge base, short-term action research, the experience of teaching, and other examples of the connections that exist between the world of practice and world of research. Other formats are possible.

Material for "Research in Practice" will be peer refereed. However, the standards for selection will be differentiated from those used for the straight "Research and Essays" section. The jurors reviewing material for this section will view the material from the perspective of its usefulness to other practitioners. Please refer to "Submitting Materials for Publication in BRJ" elsewhere in this issue. Except as noted above, observe the instructions for submitting articles instead of "Research and Practice."

JoAnn Canales, Texas A&M University-Corpus Cristi,
Editor, "Research in Practice"