Because educational research is the province of professors, knowledge available to people working within the schools is undervalued. Collaborative teacher-initiated inquiry capitalizes on teachers' insider knowledge and helps change the professional activities of researchers. For teacher-initiated research to prosper, it is best developed outside…

Research emerging from practice has a natural life in schools, because the questions are more appropriate, the investigations more straightforward, and the findings more valid for school practice than research conceived, conducted, and interpreted in higher education settings. At the University of South Carolina, interns are being prepared as…

Research and practice are not necessarily separate. Teacher educators should define research as disciplined, reflective inquiry into practice. Drawing upon current conceptions and practices in teacher education, the article defines an approach to research on practice and presents a rationale for reflective inquiry into teacher education. (SM)

Discusses the meaning of being a teacher-researcher, emphasizing the need to involve teachers in research to link theory and practice and noting how participant observation helps them inquire into practice. Practitioner-researcher examples from teachers involved in a graduate research course are presented. The cases support and explicate…

Presents a rationale for change in adult education research. Suggests that graduate adult education programs teach relevant research methods based on practitioner problems and encourage action and participatory methods in theses and dissertations. (SK)

Examines unexpected challenges based on differing understandings and values about what counts as research in teacher-researcher collaboration. Focuses on two challenges: defining and legitimating nonquantitative research; and intermingling roles and responsibilities of "researcher" and "teacher." Shows how key material…

Discusses the split between theory and practice in education and the extent to which teachers engaging in research into their own practice can bridge the gap and help improve schools and research. The paper presents two case studies of successful collaborative, school-based action research and offers a critical reflection of learning from the case…

Discusses trends in higher education and related public policy that have implications for scholars, faculty, and researchers in the field of rural sociology. Discusses characteristics of the rural South and the role of rural sociology in addressing the needs of an undereducated, disadvantaged region. Outlines challenges that the field must meet to…

Explores experiences of a school board member, himself an educational researcher, that relate to the relationship between social science research and educational policymaking. Why decision makers are skeptical about the value of research in formulating policy is considered, and thoughts are presented on the future of educational research. (SLD)

Rather than informing the teaching community about good research, five experienced teachers and three university researchers developed a discourse community around vocabulary learning to reflect on practice, engage in shared critiques, and support professional choices. In doing so, they were able to inform the research community about good…

A study explored the perceptions of 12 administrators and policy makers, 13 family members, 12 friends, and 9 adults with challenging behavior and mental retardation and/or autism, 7 researchers, and 13 teachers regarding current behavioral information and dissemination. Results indicate a continued gap between research and practice. (Contains…

Knowledge translation articulates how new scientific insights can be implemented efficiently into clinical practice to reap maximal health benefits. Modern information and communication technologies can be effective tools to help in the collection, processing, and targeted distribution of information from which clinicians, researchers,…

Educational theory should be the foundation for most practice and research, but this is not a one-way relationship. Good inductive research may help to develop theory instead of coming from it. The relationship of theory to research can be different in qualitative research than in quantitative research. Practice can and should also inform and be…

This article considers teachers' work as they grapple with theories in practice in the everyday worlds of their classroom. It argues that Bourdieu's theory of practice and the concept of habitus may be useful in moving past theory/practice dichotomies. After establishing the historical context for teacher research in South Australia, the work of…

This paper is about Ph.Ds, practitioner-centred research and action learning. The aim of this paper is to help develop a framework for those completing doctorates based on action learning. The paper explores relationships between the personal learning of action learning participants and the public knowledge associated with conventional research.…