Seidl and Conley elaborate a set of beliefs regarding transformative spaces, identity-making, and the development of a critical, multicultural identity that inform their approach to multicultural teacher education. They believe that if we expect new teachers to co-construct with their students classroom spaces that allow multiple voices and…

Describes how a teacher's journey of documenting everyday literacy events on the streets in her community changes her understanding of what it means to bring the outside world and local literacies into her classroom. Concludes that educators must place value on who students are and where they come from. Suggests that educators and students must…

An examination of how the use of descriptive analysis of children's work such as the Modified Descriptive Review process supported professional inquiry and growth for educators and for children they serve, is presented. The Modified Descriptive Review process fed immediate actions as well as the posing and exploring of large questions about…

Writing is a powerful social tool that offers students opportunities to chisel their identities as they position themselves and others on issues and beliefs (Dyson, 1992). This article presents the story of how Mark, a fifth-grade student who resisted writing in certain classroom contexts, used positional writing practices to shape his identities.…

Presents a story of the collaboration of two educators who developed communities of learners in their own classroom contexts. Describes the experiences shared as they reflected, revised, and struggled to improve their own practice. Discusses their continual struggle with ways to fully engage all students in the community-building process. (SG)

Examines the range of meanings evoked by a particular photograph as a means of challenging readers to consider the complexity of teacher research. (SR)

A case of Jill, an elementary school teacher who takes a reflection practitioner stance on her teaching is described. Three different social practices used by Jill to help her struggling third-grade students learn to write and some of the lasting impressions based on the whole experience are highlighted.

Conducts a critical review of empirical research focused directly on reflection activities with prospective teachers, and conducts a study in the authors' own literacy methods courses to learn what their students do when asked to reflect on course assignments. Concludes that engaging future teachers in multiple opportunities to critique their own…

Presents, in their own words, teachers in the process of becoming researchers. Shows how research is not just neatly laid out end-products of new knowledge but is also the ticks of discomfort arising from new awareness. Notes that all of the teachers featured were going about their normal daily tasks when they experience major changes as…

Tim O'Keefe, Rise Reinier and Kevin Gallagher, Bruce Morgan, Julia Lopez-Robertson, Donna Santman, JoAnn Wong-Kam, Sharon Hill, and Linda Christensen provide short essays describing their personal visions of possibility about literacy and how they maintain that passion and vision. Across a range of contexts, they reflect on the ways in which their…

Asks herself 5 provocative questions so that the author can better align her teaching practices with her beliefs. Addresses thoroughly each question. Concludes that her current challenge is to continually examine how her teaching practices align with her vision of the future. (SG)

Offers strategies teachers can use to keep their teaching fresh. Discusses what gives teachers energy and what takes away energy. Notes that when teachers had strong emotional connections with colleagues their teaching energy was high. (SG)

Notes that reflection can support both teachers and students in the aftermath of a disaster. Examines the visual and written works of North Dakota and Minnesota children who were victims of the flooding of the Red River in 1997 as a representational way to gain a broad perspective on children's thinking about their experiences surrounding the…

Describes the value to the author of taking notes on students at work in her third-grade classroom. Uses the analogy of "Footprints In The Snow" (from her daily morning walk) as a way of thinking about the importance of note-taking in teacher research. (SR)

Shares the author's systematic observations and reflections on students' learning in her first-grade classroom as a means of opening a conversation about what counts as teacher research. (SR)