ERIC Number: ED397005
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1996-Apr
Pages: 53
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Teacher Team Collaborative Action Research.
Saurino, Dan R.
This paper explores the concept of combining collaborative action research, used in examining teacher behaviors, with group dynamics, used to facilitate new ideas and increase motivation. Specifically, the study examines the effort by one team of middle school teachers to conduct teacher team collaborative research. After reviewing the literature on the history and rationale of both group dynamics and action research, this paper outlines the foundation of the study in the principles of symbolic interactionism. The interactions of the team (with the researcher as collaborator), the understandings they came to through these interactions, and the impact of these understandings on their practice are all examined. Annotated scripts from team meetings are provided, illustrating the group's interaction and collaboration while the teacher-researchers were trying to develop components of a social skills curriculum for their students. Action research was found to be an effective tool for teachers' professional development, with the group aspect of teacher teams conducting such research providing numerous additional advantages. Recommendations for further research include a call for similar studies in a wide variety of environments. (Contains 140 references.) (PB)
Descriptors: Action Research, Case Studies, Classroom Research, Cooperative Planning, Faculty Development, Group Dynamics, Inservice Teacher Education, Intermediate Grades, Interpersonal Relationship, Junior High Schools, Middle Schools, Qualitative Research, Teacher Collaboration, Teacher Researchers, Team Teaching
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, April 8-12, 1996).