Presentation at the International Congress of School Effectiveness and School Improvement 2022 (online) as part of a symposium on pracademia and the pracademic. Draws on a forthcoming Special Issue of the Journal of Professional Capital and Community.

1. The problems and
possibilities of
pracademia / the
pracademic
Prof. Scott Eacott
UNSW Sydney

2. Eacott, S. (2021). Pracademia: an answer but not the answer
to an enduring question. Journal of Professional Capital and
Community. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-12-2020-0100

3. Assumptions
• All fields, especially the
professions, need diverse
voices in building and
expanding their knowledge
dynamic
• Clinical and contingent faculty
have been a consistent part
of teaching and research
programs in educational
leadership since its inception

4. De-couple ‘pracademia’ and
‘the pracademic’
• PRACADEMIA is concerned with the nominal space that exists between
the worlds of professional practice and academia.
• Note it is not about theory and practice, or even research and practice, rather locations in
professional practice and academia.
• Outside education faculties, there are often part-time academics who work in professional
practice part-time too, so literally working across practice and academia – fulfilling the
requirements of both roles (even if part-time).
• THE PRACADEMIC is an individual, and in educational leadership, usually
self-identifying, who makes claim to working in that space, but usually
framed around research (or theory) and practice.
• Frequently located in professional practice and doing research – including publishing – and
sometimes teaching.
• While contributing to some markers of academic work (publications, teaching), they are not
necessarily across the full breadth of the academic role, the academic side is more an add-
on to their already intense professional roles

5. What it means
• Andy Hargreaves sees it as ‘spanning the worlds of research and
practice’, notice the shift.
• Can be used as part of personal branding
• Shift to ‘research and practice’ means many qualify
• Unless, what it is really intended to mean is what type of knowledge is
being generated and what that says about expertise.
• What type of knowledge is deemed ‘useful’
• Who decides
• Who has primacy of that knowledge
• Enduring tensions ‘academic’ (theoretical, research) knowledge and
‘practitioner’ knowledge.
• A hierarchy where depending on where you are located, the other looks more valued

6. Fault lines
• Intended or not, the separate and bridging locates ‘the pracademic’ above ‘practice’ and
‘academia’
• Slippage in language matters
• Pracademic as divisive – even if beneficial to the individual

7. What it is really
about
• How do we support, encourage, and include
diverse voices?
• Include diverse voices where we debate
ideas not where they came from or who is
arguing for them.
• Challenging assumptions is part of the
process
• Bringing people together in conversation

8. Contact details
Professor Scott Eacott
s.eacott@unsw.edu.au
Scotteacott.com
@ScottEacott
@DrScottEacott