Being the Insider: Lessons in Practitioner Research

Why working within your own institution is both a risk and a responsibility - and how to do it right

For many researchers in higher education, objectivity is sacred. We’re trained to remain distant, neutral, invisible - an observer, not a participant.

But what if you are part of the very system you're studying?

When undertaking the research for my doctorate in Experiential Education, I didn’t just research student development. I shaped it. I co-designed the curriculum. I hired the staff. I mentored the learners.

So when I chose to conduct doctoral research within my own institution, I stepped directly into the complex world of practitioner research - an insider studying their own practice.

And it made me so much more conscious of my position as a teacher - my body language, the part I played in the classroom setting, even how much and how often I spoke.

🧭 What Is Practitioner Research, Really?

Practitioner research is messy, human, and deeply situated.

It’s not about hovering above the action. It’s about being in it - making sense of your practice as you live it. It requires you to be a teacher and a researcher, a designer and a listener, a leader and a learner.

In my thesis, I took a naturalistic, nested case study approach, exploring how students developed soft skills in two contrasting undergraduate business programmes - one traditional, one experiential.

But the real insight came not from observation alone - it came from reflection.

🔍 The Power (and Challenge) of Insider Positionality

As an “insider” researcher, you gain access to rich, nuanced insights that outsiders simply can’t see.

You notice:

• The informal rituals of a classroom.
• The unspoken dynamics between staff and students.
• The way confidence builds (or breaks) between feedback cycles.

But you also face enormous responsibility:

• How do you avoid bias?
• How do you challenge systems you helped create?
• How do you navigate the emotional labour of seeing both the promise and pain of your own leadership?

I grounded my methodology in symbolic interactionism - a lens that views learning as socially constructed through interactions, language, and meaning-making.

It helped me make sense of the small moments:

🧠 The glance between students in group work.

🗣️ The hesitancy in reflective journals.

🎓 The pride in a final project presentation.

💡 Key Lessons from the Inside

Here’s what I learned:

1️⃣ Transparency builds trust. I was open with participants about my dual role. Trust wasn’t assumed - it was earned.

2️⃣ Reflexivity is your superpower. Your subjectivity is not a flaw - it’s a data source. Keep a reflective journal. Notice your own reactions. Analyse yourself as much as the setting.

3️⃣ Proximity doesn’t prevent rigour. Practitioner research isn’t “softer” research - it’s deeper. But it demands structure, ethics, and clarity of boundaries.

4️⃣ You see things others never would. The way a student responds to group work. The subtle shift when feedback lands. The courage it takes to present to peers. These moments aren’t always visible to outsiders. But they matter deeply.

🌱 Why This Matters for the Sector

In a time when education is under pressure to change - from AI, from industry, from students themselves - we need research that doesn’t just comment from the outside.

We need voices from within.

Practitioner research bridges the gap between theory and practice - between knowing and doing.

It enables leaders, teachers, and designers to make change from the inside out. And that, in my view, is where the most authentic transformation begins.

🔁 A Final Thought

If you're considering researching your own institution, your own students, or your own leadership - I encourage you to do it.

But do it with courage, clarity, and care.

Because insider research isn’t just about what you discover. It’s about who you become in the process.

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