An educational researcher describes and reflects on a qualitative research project she conducted, focusing on her positioning, neutrality, and objectivity throughout the research process and during subsequent data analysis. The research took place in a K-12 school in a remote rural New Zealand community inhabited by Maori, 1970s…

This paper presents an overview of the findings and implications of an ongoing 5-year collaborative action research project conducted by university faculty and classroom teachers in a large urban school district in the southeastern United States. Based on the premise that participation in research empowers teachers to take action to improve…

This paper presents two examples of teacher researchers conducting classroom inquiry situated in a framework of care. The teacher research movement continues to gain momentum as researchers seek answers and better understanding of issues related to their own practice. However, teachers continue to have difficulty in finding value in the practices…

This publication is a compilation of resources concerned with practitioner research in P-12 education, with a focus on North America. The guide includes information about practitioner research networks, on-line sites, journals, collections of practitioner research studies, funding sources in support of action research, and publications about…

Dennie Palmer Wolf's career has taken her from teaching in a two-room schoolhouse to groundbreaking research on portfolios and alternative assessments. Today she directs PACE (Performance Collaboratives for Education) and is a senior research associate at Harvard Graduate School of Education. In an unequal society, schools are obligated to help…

Describes the mutual and interactive growth as reflective professionals of the two authors--one a teacher-researcher and the other a researcher and teacher of teachers. (SR)

Summarizes results of an inservice activity designed to increase the variety and use of feedback. District consultants (usually teachers) told stories about their professional experiences; obtained feedback from peers, principals, and researchers; and responded to the feedback received. Suggestions from peers were well received; advice from…

Presents a framework for comparing and evaluating action research that transcends differences among existing models. The dimensions of the framework are theoretical orientation, purpose, and type of reflective process. The paper describes how the framework was developed and presents examples of how it can be used to analyze different approaches to…

Criticizes the essay by J. Smith on the "balkanization" of educational research, asserting that the assumption that there is no common ground among current views of educational research is not only false but will lead to the very divisions that Smith fears. (SLD)

Raises the issue of the separation existing between the world of teacher and the world of educational research. Argues that teachers and academic researchers live in two parallel universes, both of which are committed to the improvement of education and the well-being of children, but only one of which is privileged as a source of knowledge about…

Examines various factors creating conflicts and misunderstandings among practitioner researchers and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), describing the meaning of research, ethical difficulties arising from practitioner research, what makes IRBs obstructive, improvements in relations between IRBs and practitioner researchers, and the need to deal…

This book presents information on action research for teachers and administrators. Chapter 1, Reflective Professional Practice, discusses reflective professionals, urges active use of solitary dialogue and personal journals to enhance reflectiveness, delineates concerns of maturing educators, and summarizes meditative steps of reflective practice…

Teachers engaged in action research are involved in a process that focuses on how they and their students construct and reconstruct learning experiences, thereby extending professionalism and creating additional learning opportunities for students. This paper describes the evolution of an action research project involving an elementary school…

Narrative inquiry is a qualitative research approach that brings rigor and depth to the understanding of human experiences. It is important that the researcher become enmeshed in the school context in order to develop a heightened sense of the world view of participants. Critical to beginning a narrative inquiry are negotiating relationships and…

The idea of the teacher as researcher is presented from several different perspectives--the teacher's, the administrator's, and the university based researcher's--to convey a sense of what it means to be a teacher/researcher. The following chapters are included: (1) The Teacher as Researcher--A Historical Perspective (Mary W. Olson); (2) The Door…