Indigenous ways of knowing and teacher research present two examples of knowledge developed outside of academic institutions. Although there is evidence in the literature and in current practices that the academy is very slowly acknowledging these other ways of knowing, they are still regarded as marginal. The challenge, in terms of collaborative research, is to generate spaces where individuals with different ways of knowing can enter a genuine dialogue in which the differences are acknowledged and valued.

Including different ways of knowing is not an easy task. I contend that unless there is an awareness of and respect for different standpoints, collaborative research does not fulfill its potential of generating dialogue between different standpoints. Smith's (1999) analyses make a compelling argument for researchers involved in collaborative research to reflect on and share their understandings of knowledge and examine how these are influenced by the context within which they are working. Definitions of research and knowledge cannot be taken for granted if researchers truly want to engage in sharing the process of generating knowledge with other researchers who may have a different way of knowing.

An examination of the literature on collaborative research reveals that researchers, especially those working in the university, have found that academic practices are not always in harmony with the demands of collaborative work.

Researchers have examined at least four interconnected aspects of academic culture that they have found problematic when doing collaborative work: emphasis on individual achievement, evaluation practices, focus on funding, and negligence of the obligation to best serve society.

Emphasis on individual achievement

The emphasis of collaboration is to work with others; individual expectations and rewards are negotiated so that the collaboration can be successful. Academic culture, in contrast, is mostly based on individual work, achievements and rewards. Sandra Acker and Carmen Armenti (2004) explored how women experience life within academic institutions and found significant tensions between institutionalized career paths and specific individual situations, especially those of young women with children. The tenure competition as well as other evaluations for promotion were reported as a source of anxiety and stress, a "tormenting ritual that seems to have gone out of control" (p. 19), affecting the well being of the women. These processes were perceived as a constant scrutiny of their performances, placing "great pressures on individuals to 'perform'" (p. 12). This emphasis on individual achievements exacerbated the isolation that women feel.

The need to produce individual "products" puts academically based researchers who want to collaborate with community researchers at a disadvantage. This emphasis on the individual could also collide with other ways of knowing that place an emphasis on the collective.