In this article the authors draw upon 14 semi-structured interviews with the participants in a teacher-researcher project on the theme of 'ensuring African Caribbean attainment'. The aim of shedding light on the purposes, processes and lived experiences of teacher research in a difficult and contentious intellectual and practical domain. In the second half of the article the authors analyse the challenges and the rewards of participating in the project, including the challenges of facilitating teacher research. The authors also review the key implications of the research for policy and practice.