Speaking the language of the outsider

There are a variety of audiences for educational research, for example: fellow researchers, educators, those who develop and implement policy for education, and the community. In general the audiences with which we have most effectively communicated are the first two. These can be characterised as ‘insiders’, with whom communications about our research reflect a shared understanding of education practices. Communication with the latter two groups needs to be different as the members of the ‘outsider’ communities generally do not share the same understandings of educational practices and purposes. In this paper we will explore implications of these challenges drawing on our research on school-community collaborations in school science programs.