Classroom research as teacher-researcher

In the field of education, research projects that involve both the researcher and teacher being the same person are common today, as attested by the significant number of teacher-researcher studies. One issue confronting the dual role of teacher-researcher is the nature of interaction between the underlying goals that come with each of these roles. There are some researchers who express concern that the combination of these goals within the teacher-researcher may compromise either or both of the work of teaching and research in an unproductive way. This paper is an account of my adventure in attempting to fulfil both teaching and research goals in my work as teacher-researcher in a year 7 (Secondary One) geometry class in Singapore. My experience is then re-interpreted in the context of the ongoing conflicting-versus-complementary talk on the interaction between teacher/researcher &lsquo;selves&rsquo;. A model is proposed to account for the seemingly opposite sides of the camp as reported in the literature on this issue.<br /

Teacher-researcher relationships and collaborations in research.

To understand the complexity of the classroom in ways that might inform teaching research in needed that explains both why and how something works. Teacher-researcher collaboration is essential if this is to happen. Collaborative work can ensure that research builds on from what teachers know and can do. Researchers working with teachers to address their current concerns are more likely to generate insights into what teachers might do and where they might go next. Collaboration can contribute a warrant for relevance for research findings. At the same teachers deepen and enhance their own practice through engaging in the research process. This paper describes and discusses some approaches to collaboration that have enables researchers and teachers to access a diversity of ideas and expertise to their mutual benefit

Research that serves: building active teacher-researcher partnerships

The impact of scholarly research in education on educational practice in classrooms remains low (Admiraal, Buijs, Claessens, Honing, & Karkdijk, 2017). As a result, educational practices in schools remain tied to practical wisdom, rather than educational theories that have been developed and tested in classrooms. This research to practice gap, as it is widely known, is attributed to beliefs that scholars in higher education tend to examine problems that teachers in schools find irrelevant. Classroom teachers contend that because scholars’ primary purpose is to publish, they tend to aim toward generalizations rather than to focus on the improvement of relevant educational practice. Gore and Gitlin (2004) argued that existing tensions between researchers and practitioners may be related to long-standing traditions of framing educational research in such a way that classroom teachers are positioned as “users” rather than “producers” of knowledge.Accepted manuscrip

DOES MODERN SCHOOL NEED A TEACHER-RESEARCHER?

The purpose of the publication is to draw attention of educatorsof all levels to the need of improving quality of teacher training in research field.Methods. Based on the results of observations, interviews and surveys of teachers aged between 23 and 30 years with teaching experience of 1 to 5–6 years, and analysis of teacher practice, the assessment of the current state of innovation processes in public school and quality of university training of pre-service teachers in research field is given.Results. Insufficient training of young teachers for independent research has been revealed. It was established that the research experience acquired by them while writing the final qualifying work is non-demanded in modern educational work, where innovation is pushed out due to mismatch of educational policy and the actual educational practice. The reasons of reluctance of young professionals to combine educational activities and research are the following: lack of innovation environment, academic overload, household and personal problems, and, most importantly, unwillingness and inability to carry out independent scientific and pedagogical search. Also, the problems of final qualifying works supervision and management of pedagogical practice of students have been found out.Scientific novelty. Self-assessment of young teachers, concerning their research activities, has been conducted; it included a cluster of research activities that constitute its subject matter. The point for the need to abandon the narrow,  focused specialization in high school training of pre-service teachers and enhance their methodological preparation has been developed. Practical significance. Different ways of organizing work with in-service teachers concerning combination of subject specific and research specific aspects of their professional activities have been presented.Цель статьи – обратить внимание работников образования всех уровней на необходимость повышения качества подготовки учителей к исследовательской деятельности. Методология и методы исследования. На основе анализа результатов наблюдений, бесед и анкетирования учителей в возрасте от 23 до 30 лет, имеющих педагогический стаж от 1 года до 5–6 лет, и изучения образовательной практики дана оценка современного состояния инновационных процессов в массовой школе и качества вузовской подготовки педагогов к исследовательской деятельности. Результаты. Выявлена недостаточная готовность молодых учителей к самостоятельной исследовательской деятельности. Установлено, что даже тот опыт, который они приобрели в процессе выполнения выпускных квалификационных работ, остается невостребованным современной образовательной практикой, из которой вытеснены инициативные инновации вследствие несовпадения образовательной политики и реальной образовательной практики. Раскрыты причины нежелания молодых специалистов совмещать образовательную и исследовательскую деятельность: отсутствие инновационной среды, академическая загруженность, бытовые и личные трудности, а главное, нежелание и неспособность осуществлять самостоятельный научно-педагогический поиск. Определены проблемы в руководстве выпускными квалификационными работами и в организации педагогической практики студентов. Новизна. По совокупности исследовательских действий, составляющих предметное содержание изыскательской деятельности, осуществлен мониторинг самооценки молодых учителей. Обоснована необходимость усиления методологической подготовки будущих педагогов и отказа от узкой, предметной, специализации вузовского обучения. Практическая значимость. Описаны различные способы организации работы с начинающими учителями по совмещению предметного и исследовательского аспектов их профессиональной деятельности

TEACHER - RESEARCHER IN WORK WITH GIFTED STUDENTS

Purpose of the Study: The reforms occurred in foreign and domestic education systems over the past decades and the focus on humanistic, student-centered, and developing educational technologies have changed attitudes towards students exhibiting extraordinary abilities. Educational institutions, educational and social programs, public organizations, and foundations have emerged, which have identification, training, and development of gifted students as their main goal. Nowadays, working with gifted students appears to be an important and prioritized educational policy worldwide. The purpose of the article is to identify a new type of teacher-researcher who will be able to work with gifted students and analyze his or her professional skills. Methodology: The leading approach to the study of this problem is a method of historical and logical analysis of regulatory documents of foreign governments and research papers of leading scientists dealing with gifted education issues. Results: The main results of the study are identifying the teachers’ professional and personal positions to work with gifted students and revealing the pedagogical conditions to create educational environment for the development of students' talent. The readiness of a teacher to work with gifted students has been considered. Applications: The authors focus on the specifics of working with gifted students as well as on the analysis of problems of gifted students’ education in different countries. Novelty: The article can be useful for professors, teachers, students, and readers who are interested in the problems of gifted students' education

Teacher-researcher methodology: Themes, variations, and possibilities.

This analysis of teacher research studies illustrates the variety of choices teachers make in exploring questions within their own classrooms. Teacher action research has a long and rich history (McFarland &amp; Stansell, 1993; Olson, 1990), and there has been a recent renaissance of interest in teacher research (Baumann, Shockley-Bisplinghoff, &amp; Allen, 1997; Cochran-Smith &amp; Lytle, 1993; Lytle, 2000). This resurgence has resulted in the publication of numerous collections of teacher-research reports (e.g., Bissex &amp; Bullock, 1987; Donoahue, Van Tassell, &amp; Patterson, 1996; Patterson, Santa, Short, &amp; Smith, 1993), teacher-research studies published as full-length books (e.g., Allen, 1995; Allen, Michalove, &amp; Shockley, 1993), and articles appearing in periodicals such as The Reading Teacher, Teacher Research: A Journal of Classroom Inquiry, and Language Arts. Although there are many excellent sources for selecting and applying specific methods in teacher-research studies (e.g., Brause &amp; Mayher, 1991; Hopkins, 1993; Hubbard &amp; Power, 1993, 1999; Mohr &amp; Maclean, 1987; Sagor, 1992), we know much less about the methodological decisions teacher researchers actually make. In this article, we (a) summarize findings from a methodological analysis of published teacher-research studies, and (b) discuss what the results might suggest for the conduct of teacher-research investigations

Enhancing the STEM Ecosystem through Teacher-Researcher Partnerships

STEM faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) have partnered with teachers and administrators in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) to implement a Teacher-Researcher Partnership Program. This program establishes resources and infrastructure that engage K-12 science teachers in scientific research experiences. In the first implementation of this program, eleven UNO faculty mentors, drawn from several STEM disciplines, were matched with eleven OPS teachers to conduct genuine research projects in support of their teaching

An exploration of student-centred approaches to making Chinese learnable for beginner learners in Australian schools : a bilingual teacher action research project

This thesis reports an exploration into student-centred approaches to making Chinese learnable for beginning learners in Australian schools, specifically in the Western Sydney Region (WSR). The teacher-researcher was a bilingual volunteer teacher from mainland China who was a participant in the Research Oriented School Engaged Teacher Education (ROSETE) program whereby the students study their own teaching practice as the basis for their thesis. The research question devised to study the teaching assignment was: How can a bilingual volunteer teacher-researcher use action research to develop a student-centred teaching framework to make Chinese learnable to beginning learners in western Sydney schools? The three contributory questions were: 1. How can a bilingual volunteer teacher/ teacher-researcher develop a series of student-centred content, learning materials and resources to support the design of the lessons? 2. How can a bilingual volunteer teacher/ teacher-researcher develop a series of student-centred teaching strategies? 3. How can a bilingual volunteer teacher/ teacher-researcher develop a series of student-centred classroom management practices? The methodology chosen for this research was mixed methods, although the majority of the data collected was qualitative. The findings drawn from the data collected have provided a database of successful student-centred methods related to choosing lesson content, materials and resources, teaching pedagogies and behaviour management for implementation in a student-centred Chinese language classroom

Pedagogy Is Research: Investigating The Teacher-Researcher Identity And Pedagogy of Teachers Who Completed an Action Research Project

This research study explored the development of a teacher-researcher identity and investigated the pedagogy of two teachers who completed an action research course. I sought to investigate the development of a teacher-researcher identity in connection to the utilization of critical responsiveness in order to address the stifling of teacher agency that has resulted from standardization and deprofessionalization of the teaching profession. Through braiding the theoretical frameworks of cultural-historical activity theory, pragmatism, and critical theory, I examined the development of a teacher-researcher identity and how it impacted the pedagogical judgments and decisions of teachers. This multiple case study required data collection that included interviews, observations, and documents to understand and interpret how action research impacted the teacher identity and pedagogy of the participants. Findings of this study indicated that teachers’ teacher-researcher identity was connected to their feelings about research as well as their perceptions of and interactions with their research community. In addition, this study demonstrated that teachers\u27 acceptance or refusal of pedagogical responsibility influenced how they implemented action research, their perceptions of the impact action research had on their teaching, and their ability to critically reflect on their teaching practice and research. This study told the story of a teacher who became a self-identified teacher-researcher through action research and improved her pedagogical critical responsiveness to her students through an acceptance of pedagogical responsibility. Simultaneously, another story was told, a story of a teacher who did not become a teacher-researcher and, as a result, rejected pedagogical responsibility as seen in a lack of critical responsiveness and critical self-reflection. Lastly, I utilized my experience conducting this study to advocate for the humanization of research and research communities