Taking note of obstacles research partners negotiate in long-term higher education community engagement partnerships

• Teachers negotiated challenges to remain partners in a research initiative.
• Generative theory of rurality locates engagement challenges with rural schools.
• Insights provide knowledge about partnerships with marginalised-school partners.
• Insights inform the conceptualisation and implementation of enduring partnerships.

This article describes the challenges that teachers negotiated in a rural school (thwarted by rurality in an emerging-economy context) to remain partners in a long-term research project. We use the generative theory of rurality to theoretically locate the challenges and thematic analysis of six years' Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) data with South African teachers (n = 9) in a rural school. Insights may contribute to knowledge about partnerships with marginalised-school partners. Knowing which obstacles teacher-partners had to overcome to continue in a project, may inform the conceptualisation and implementation of enduring partnerships.