Socio-cultural models offer great scope for scope for theorising the complex processes involved in teaching and learning, and of capturing the nature of the co-constructions, which are important factors in success for both teachers and learners. But the implications of this theoretical stance are perhaps, not fully recognised in the attendant research methodologies and, if they are, there is a risk that the research strategies which emerge are viewed as not as rigorous as more “scientific” research approaches. In this article, we argue that this should not be the case. We present evidence from two smallscale research projects, one investigating the experiences of teachers and the other of learners, which illustrate the power of strategy which conceptualises research interviews as “structured conversations”, disrupting the conventional hierarchies of researcher/researched roles and taking account of both researcher and researched identities in the processes and ensuing
analytical frameworks.