And what about the convers? What happens if we blur the boundaries so that researchers take on the perspective of teachers? One thing gained is groundedness. By researching what goes on in classroom, researchers automatically remove it from its real-world context and idealize it.
" making distinctions about what is in essence undistinguishable" ( Brumfit, 1996). In other words, researchers run the risk of distorting what they observe such that rather than reflecting reality, they create a new one. To counteract this tendency researchers must continually subject their findings to reality checks from a teacher's ( and perhaps student's ) perspective. Teachers are well-versed in the messy reality and contingencies of the classroom. Their view is particularistic and will help mitigate against researchers ' propensity to over-generalize their findings.