Helen M. Gunter is Professor of Education Policy, Leadership and Management at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.David Hall is Professor of Education Policy and Practice at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. Colin Mills is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.

This is more than a 'how to do it' text. It is both practical and theoretical, it is challenging and critical, thought-provoking and innovative whilst at the same time offering new knowledge to support the policy research arena as it grapples with new challenges . . . It should be a text that graces all university library shelves and one identified as compulsory reading for all PhD and Ed doctoral students as they plan their research design

• Foreword, Michael AppleIntroduction: Working Towards Critical Social Explanation, Helen M. Gunter, David Hall and Colin MillsPart I: Embedded Researchers1. Embedded research: contextualising managerialisation in a local authority, James R. Duggan (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)2. Student Action Research: fluidity and researcher identities, Patricia M. Davies (University of Manchester, UK)3. Navigating research partnerships as a critical secretary, Harriet Rowley (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)4. School - university partnerships: border crossings as 'a legal alien', Maija Salokangas (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)Part II: Insider and Outsider Researchers5. Negotiating trust: researching the practice of school business managers, Paul Armstrong (University of Manchester, UK)6. Leading Primary Schools: Adopting and Shaping Practice for a Changing Climate, Maureen Cain (University of Manchester, UK)7. Promoting researcher well-being: emerging and changing identites, Carl Emery (University of Manchester, UK)8. New teachers and Masters-level study: researching tensions in the policy-practice interface, Cate Goodlad (University of Manchester, UK) and John Hull (University of Manchester, UK)Part III: Researchers as theorisers9. School-university Research Partnerships: Knowledge Production and the Impact of Rapid Reform, Ruth McGinity (University of Manchester, UK)10. Competing identities of the academic researcher in studies of higher education participation: Ambassador or Observer?, Steven Jones (University of Manchester, UK)11. Virtue and ethics in education policy research: the case of "personalised learning" and "voice", Stephen Rogers (University of Manchester, UK)Conclusion: Thinking with Theory at a Time of Rapid Reform, Helen M. Gunter, David Hall and Colin MillsIndex

Helen M. Gunter is Professor of Education Policy, Leadership and Management at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.David Hall is Professor of Education Policy and Practice at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. Colin Mills is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.

This is more than a 'how to do it' text. It is both practical and theoretical, it is challenging and critical, thought-provoking and innovative whilst at the same time offering new knowledge to support the policy research arena as it grapples with new challenges . . . It should be a text that graces all university library shelves and one identified as compulsory reading for all PhD and Ed doctoral students as they plan their research design

• Foreword, Michael AppleIntroduction: Working Towards Critical Social Explanation, Helen M. Gunter, David Hall and Colin MillsPart I: Embedded Researchers1. Embedded research: contextualising managerialisation in a local authority, James R. Duggan (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)2. Student Action Research: fluidity and researcher identities, Patricia M. Davies (University of Manchester, UK)3. Navigating research partnerships as a critical secretary, Harriet Rowley (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)4. School - university partnerships: border crossings as 'a legal alien', Maija Salokangas (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)Part II: Insider and Outsider Researchers5. Negotiating trust: researching the practice of school business managers, Paul Armstrong (University of Manchester, UK)6. Leading Primary Schools: Adopting and Shaping Practice for a Changing Climate, Maureen Cain (University of Manchester, UK)7. Promoting researcher well-being: emerging and changing identites, Carl Emery (University of Manchester, UK)8. New teachers and Masters-level study: researching tensions in the policy-practice interface, Cate Goodlad (University of Manchester, UK) and John Hull (University of Manchester, UK)Part III: Researchers as theorisers9. School-university Research Partnerships: Knowledge Production and the Impact of Rapid Reform, Ruth McGinity (University of Manchester, UK)10. Competing identities of the academic researcher in studies of higher education participation: Ambassador or Observer?, Steven Jones (University of Manchester, UK)11. Virtue and ethics in education policy research: the case of "personalised learning" and "voice", Stephen Rogers (University of Manchester, UK)Conclusion: Thinking with Theory at a Time of Rapid Reform, Helen M. Gunter, David Hall and Colin MillsIndex

Helen M. Gunter is Professor of Education Policy, Leadership and Management at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.David Hall is Professor of Education Policy and Practice at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. Colin Mills is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.

This is more than a 'how to do it' text. It is both practical and theoretical, it is challenging and critical, thought-provoking and innovative whilst at the same time offering new knowledge to support the policy research arena as it grapples with new challenges . . . It should be a text that graces all university library shelves and one identified as compulsory reading for all PhD and Ed doctoral students as they plan their research design

• Foreword, Michael AppleIntroduction: Working Towards Critical Social Explanation, Helen M. Gunter, David Hall and Colin MillsPart I: Embedded Researchers1. Embedded research: contextualising managerialisation in a local authority, James R. Duggan (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)2. Student Action Research: fluidity and researcher identities, Patricia M. Davies (University of Manchester, UK)3. Navigating research partnerships as a critical secretary, Harriet Rowley (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)4. School - university partnerships: border crossings as 'a legal alien', Maija Salokangas (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)Part II: Insider and Outsider Researchers5. Negotiating trust: researching the practice of school business managers, Paul Armstrong (University of Manchester, UK)6. Leading Primary Schools: Adopting and Shaping Practice for a Changing Climate, Maureen Cain (University of Manchester, UK)7. Promoting researcher well-being: emerging and changing identites, Carl Emery (University of Manchester, UK)8. New teachers and Masters-level study: researching tensions in the policy-practice interface, Cate Goodlad (University of Manchester, UK) and John Hull (University of Manchester, UK)Part III: Researchers as theorisers9. School-university Research Partnerships: Knowledge Production and the Impact of Rapid Reform, Ruth McGinity (University of Manchester, UK)10. Competing identities of the academic researcher in studies of higher education participation: Ambassador or Observer?, Steven Jones (University of Manchester, UK)11. Virtue and ethics in education policy research: the case of "personalised learning" and "voice", Stephen Rogers (University of Manchester, UK)Conclusion: Thinking with Theory at a Time of Rapid Reform, Helen M. Gunter, David Hall and Colin MillsIndex