In this commentary, the authors aim to connect the provocative topic of this special issue--"'The Village and the World': Research with, for, and by Teachers in an Age of Data" to several key ideas about practitioner inquiry that they have developed and explored over the years. They begin by highlighting three dimensions of their concept…

In this long-awaited sequel to "Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge", two leaders in the field of practitioner research offer a radically different view of the relationship of knowledge and practice and of the role of practitioners in educational change. In their new book, the authors put forward the notion of inquiry as stance as a…

In this "At Last" essay, Susan Lytle addresses issues of teacher research, work that is shaped by and that shapes the complexity of teachers' knowledge and learning, and is based on the accumulation of robust and meaningful experiences leading to classroom expertise. Assuring her readers that teacher research is alive and well, even in the current…

Staff development continues to be an important but much-debated topic in adult basic education and adult literacy education. Some staff development professionals start with the "deficit" model, in which learners are presumed to be empty vessels to be filled with knowledge. This model ignores the rich and varied experience that practitioners bring…

Discusses the recent interest in teacher research and inquiry, arguing that part of what makes it an official movement is that teacher research stems from various intellectual traditions and educational projects. Identifies five trends that characterize the movement and discusses the future of the movement in the face of current reforms that…

Systematic intentional inquiry by teachers makes accessible some of teachers' expertise and provides universities and schools with unique perspectives on teaching and learning. A four-part working typology of teacher research is proposed, with examples of the four types: journals, essays, oral inquiry processes, and classroom studies. (IAH)

Poor preparation of adult literacy educators is often blamed for the failure of adult literacy students. Four critical issues related to developing the adult literacy professional work force are as follows: how literacy is learned in adulthood; how practitioners learn and improve their practice; how new knowledge is generated in and for the field;…

Inquiry-based staff development is a promising direction for rethinking practice and research and for generating knowledge from a field-based perspective for adult literacy. Rethinking staff development entails investigating a number of current assumptions: the nature and function of literacy learning in adulthood; adult literacy practitioners as…