Teacher as Researcher


Book Description

Teacher as Researcher: Becoming Familiar with Educational Research to Connect Theory to Practice is written for teachers involved in research on improving classroom instruction and helping students in their learning process. This is a complete guide for in-service teachers doing research in their classroom or for pre-service teachers as a guest teacher in a classroom. The purpose of this book is to offer a set of research tools for teachers to follow through the inquiry process and provide effective solutions to significant problems in their classroom. The book’s structure will help teachers to target the problem in their own classroom, inquire about different strategies that may provide solutions, and then finally examine the effective solution to the problem. The clarity and brevity of this book will help teachers conduct an action research study in a classroom or learn to do a case study with their student(s) in order to help students in their learning process. Designed for busy teachers, this book is simple to follow throughout the research process.




Being a Teacher | Researcher


Book Description

Using a sociocultural approach to critical action research, this book is a primer in doing reflexive, authentic inquiry research in teaching and learning for educators as teacher | researchers. Rather than the artificial dichotomy between theory and practice, the roles of teacher and researcher are instead seen in a dialectic relationship (indicated by the symbol “|” in teacher | researcher) in which each informs and mediates the other in the process of revising and generating new knowledge that is of benefit to those being researched. In addition to providing a theoretical foundation for authentic inquiry, Being a Teacher | Researcher provides a detailed framework with ideas and strategies that interested educators can apply in exploring teaching and learning in both formal and informal settings. It provides concrete examples of how to use authentic inquiry as a basis for collaborating with others to improve the quality of teaching and learning while cogenerating new theory and associated practices that bridge what has been described as a theory-practice divide. Included in this book are how to plan and carry out authentic inquiry studies, choosing appropriate methodologies, methods of data collection and analysis, negotiating research with human participants, using authenticity criteria and characteristics, and addressing challenges and conflicts for teacher | researchers.




Being a Teacher Educator


Book Description

This collection offers a timely and wide-ranging contribution to the research-informed improvement of the work of teacher educators. Drawing on original research studies conducted across a range of European countries, Canada, and Israel, contributors offer insight into not only questions of curriculum and programme development, research, and professional development, but also their day-to-day experience as teacher educators, student teachers, and mentors in schools. Themes explored include teaching and working with students, teacher educators as researchers, the partnership work of teacher educators, the professional development needs of teacher educators, professional development approaches for improving teacher education, and teacher educator empowerment. Arising from the international community of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), and drawing together theory and practice, this book offers a unique survey of the contributions of teacher educators and charts a path for future directions of the field.




Teachers Doing Research


Book Description

Describes the process of doing teacher action research and provides examples from teachers themselves. Textbook for pre-service and in-service teacher education courses. Includes suggested activities sections.




Self-Study Teacher Research


Book Description

Offer novice and experienced teachers guidelines for the "how" and "why" to do self-study teacher research Designed to help teachers plan, implement, and assess a manageable self-study research project, this unique textbook covers the foundation, history, theoretical underpinnings, and methods of self-study research. Written in a reader-friendly style and filled with interactive activities and examples, this book helps teachers every step of the way as they plan and conduct their studies. Author Anastasia Samaras encourages readers to think deeply about both the "how" and the "why" of this essential professional development tool as they pose questions and formulate personal theories to improve professional practice. Key Features A Self-Study Project Planner assists teachers in understanding both the details and process of conducting self-study research. A Critical Friends Portfolio includes innovative critical collaborative inquiries to support the completion of a high quality final research project. Advice from the most senior self-study academics working in the U.S. and internationally is included, along with descriptions of the self-study methodology that has been refined over time. Examples demonstrate the connections between self-study research, teachers′ professional growth, and their students′ learning. Tables, charts, and visuals help readers see the big picture and stay organized. Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries! A Student Study Site offers a wealth of resources, including additional examples and activities, web-based resources, study questions, and key terms. Intended Audience Self-Study Teacher Research: Improving Your Practice Through Collaborative Inquiry is intended as a core textbook for a wide variety of courses in the education curriculum, including Action Research, Qualitative Research Methods, Research Methods in Education, and the capstone/teacher researcher course required of all early childhood, elementary, and secondary education majors.




International Perspectives on Teacher Research


Book Description

Teacher research is recognized, in ELT and education more generally, as a powerful transformative strategy for teacher development and school improvement. This volume provides original insights into this issue by focusing on the processes involved in becoming and being a teacher researcher.




A Companion to Research in Teacher Education


Book Description

This state-of-the-art Companion assembles and assesses the extant research available on teacher education and provides clear guidelines on future directions. It addresses an important need in a collection that will be of value for teachers, teacher educators, policymakers and politicians. There has been little sustained, long-term or systematic research to provide empirical support for the broad aspects of teacher education policy, largely because such research has been chronically underfunded and based on traditional practitioner knowledge. Many of the changes to teacher education are contentious and yet are occurring in rapid succession. These policies and movements have important consequences for education, teacher quality and the future of the teaching profession. At the same time, the policies and initiatives that support these changes seem to be based more on ideology, business interests and tradition than on research and empirical findings. The nature, quality and effectiveness of teacher preparation have increasingly become a central focus for education policy worldwide in a fiercely argued debate among governments, think-tanks, world policy agencies, education researchers and teacher organisations.




Becoming an Evidence-based Practitioner


Book Description

The world of teacher research is rapidly changing following the introduction of Best Practice Research Scholarships. This was announced by the DfEE as part of a new Professional Development Plan in which teachers are to be allocated up to £3000 to do their own research (non-award bearing) with the support of an HE mentor. The TTA also believes that teachers should play a more active role in conceiving, implementing, evaluating and disseminating research. This book is for teachers who are looking, or being encouraged, to undertake research in their schools. Written by teachers and their HE research mentors, the book provides case studies which show teachers how to 'do' and 'use' research and how to 'do' effective pedagogy. Olwen MacNamara shows how a group of teachers set out to observe, describe, analyse and intervene in areas of primary education. The book can be raided for insights into research methods as well detailing professional issues about teaching and learning, and will be essential reading for teachers undertaking Best Practice Research Scholarships.




Teacher Proof


Book Description

‘Tom Bennett is the voice of the modern teacher.’ - Stephen Drew, Senior Vice-Principal, Passmores Academy, UK, featured on Channel 4’s Educating Essex Do the findings from educational science ever really improve the day-to-day practice of classroom teachers? Education is awash with theories about how pupils best learn and teachers best teach, most often propped up with the inevitable research that ‘proves’ the case in point. But what can teachers do to find the proof within the pudding, and how can this actually help them on wet Wednesday afternoon?. Drawing from a wide range of recent and popular education theories and strategies, Tom Bennett highlights how much of what we think we know in schools hasn’t been ‘proven’ in any meaningful sense at all. He inspires teachers to decide for themselves what good and bad education really is, empowering them as professionals and raising their confidence in the classroom and the staffroom alike. Readers are encouraged to question and reflect on issues such as: the most common ideas in modern education and where these ideas were born the crisis in research right now how research is commissioned and used by the people who make policy in the UK and beyond the provenance of education research: who instigates it, who writes it, and how to spot when a claim is based on evidence and when it isn’t the different way that data can be analysed what happens to the research conclusions once they escape the laboratory. Controversial, erudite and yet unremittingly entertaining, Tom includes practical suggestions for the classroom throughout. This book will be an ally to every teacher who’s been handed an instruction on a platter and been told, ‘the research proves it.’




Handbook of Research on Field-Based Teacher Education


Book Description

Teacher education is an evolving field with multiple pathways towards teacher certification. Due to an increasing emphasis on the benefits of field-based learning, teachers can now take alternative certification pathways to become teachers. The Handbook of Research on Field-Based Teacher Education is a pivotal reference source that combines field-based components with traditional programs, creating clinical experiences and “on-the-job” learning opportunities to further enrich teacher education. While highlighting topics such as certification design, preparation programs, and residency models, this publication explores theories of teaching and learning through collaborative efforts in pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 settings. This book is ideally designed for teacher education practitioners and researchers invested in the policies and practices of educational design.