Building on critical sociological models and action research traditions, our work theorizes a structurated model of action research to address the subjugation of knowledge within educational settings. We focus on the interplay between structure and agency and how these dimensions can co-evolve in teacher research. In this article, we examine how…

Teacher action research is an important element for democratizing educational research, yet teachers often view it as unmanageable atop their other priorities. Grounded in sociocultural theories of identity and situated practice, this paper employs qualitative methods to explore how 16 novice teacher-researchers navigated their distinct identities…

Learners from different generations have enrolled and graduated from educational institutions for many decades, but educators have been using the same strategies despite what generation they teach in their classrooms. A new generation of students has occupied today's classrooms who are called 'Generation Z' or Gen Z for short, and they are…

Practitioner inquiry is an alternative form of professional learning that can result in significant changes in teacher practice and student learning. We share our evolution as teacher learners within our classrooms and teacher leaders within our school as we progressed through 10 years of continuous cycles of practitioner inquiry. Beginning as…

The need to improvise and take action as a practitioner draws on Schwab's notion of deliberation and the Greek concept of poiesis. Inspired by an impromptu discussion with students at a computer summer camp, the author uses the works of Sarason, Eisner, and Stenhouse to show how practitioner performance, student audience, educational inquiry,…

Too often, because of the static nature of schools and the dominant existence of high-stakes testing, professional learning for teachers is determined by administrators or policy and is facilitated by those who are not part of the school community using prepackaged programs. These initiatives run counter to authentic teacher inquiry where teachers…

How does practitioner inquiry impact education? Examining the experiences of practitioners who have participated in inquiry projects, the authors present ways in which this work has enabled educators to be positive change agents. They reveal the difference that practitioner inquiry has made in their professional practice, their understanding of…

This article presents and discusses findings related to the relationship between a university researcher acting as the external agent and three self-selected teachers involved in a professional learning and research project. The role of an external agent in supporting teachers' professional development is of interest because it has not always been…

Teacher inquiry can shape empirical inquiries by nonpracticing researchers, by allowing them to draw on the practical knowledge of those in the classroom. This recognition challenged the author to question what legitimized her role as a teacher-researcher and ask how she could have felt empowered as a researcher without higher education. In this…

This paper explores the experiences of 14 early years educators who participated in a continuing professional development (CPD) programme coordinated by two of the paper's authors. The programme was part of a three-year research project, which aimed at introducing early childhood educators to an inquiry-based approach to mathematics and science…

This study explored the impact of the role of teacher-researchers on in-service teachers' professional development, as well as the reasons behind the lack of a teacher-as-researcher ethos in schools. In the study, teachers from four Hong Kong primary schools participated in a school-university collaborative research project that promotes…

Research Findings: Three former teaching colleagues at the University of California's Harold E. Jones Child Study Center discuss an interpretative approach to child observation and assessment and how this approach was developed (1970s-2005) within this lab school's early childhood education setting. With teaching practice shaped and driven by a…

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…

Teachers hold the key to school reform. Professional learning communities--as well as other related strategies, including collaborative and distributive models of leadership--offer much that is promising. Yet, weaknesses documented in research require attention. We conducted a study of teachers in two elementary schools identified as exemplary…

The landscape of research is continually evolving, enabling researchers to study increasingly complex phenomena. Educational researchers have propelled much of this forward progress and have developed novel methodologies to provide increasingly sound and complete evidence. Mixed methods research has emerged alongside quantitative and qualitative…