There are different communities of research practice: action research, teacher research, lesson study, self-study, participatory action research, and the scholarship of teaching. Taken together, these communities of research practice illustrate 'different local forms' grounded in ontological, epistemological, and methodological orientations to ways of knowing in practitioner inquiry. The article elaborates on two emergent themes that unpack synergies, boundaries and tensions across inquiries: practitioner inquiry as a paradigm for change, and practitioner inquiry as a practice of variety.