Practitioners Research for Education

Each school and classroom is different. Therefore educators must learn, through their own inquiry, how to adjust their practices in ways that will improve teaching and learning. This book explains how the popular technique of practitioner inquiry can be used by teachers, principals, and other school leaders to solve instructional problems and improve student achievement. The authors include step-by-step instructions, ready-to-use tools, and examples of successful practitioner research projects. Practical yet rigourous, this collaborative process is ideal for use in professional learning communities.

Appropriate for novice and experienced educators alike, this indispensable book provides a functional framework for developing a culture of inquiry among teachers based on high-quality information, mutually supportive critique, and a sustained focus on school improvement. While the primary audiences for this book are teachers, principals, and other school leaders, this valuable resource is equally useful for teacher educators and pre-service teachers.

Table of Contents

Preface

About the Authors

Part I: The Need for Practitioner Research

1. Educators as Researchers
2. Tailoring Research to Solve Problems
3. Collaborating to Improve Practice
4. Combining Rigor and Respect

Part II: Doing Practitioner Research

5. Planning Your Research
6. Purposeful Information Gathering: Interviews and Questionnaires
7. Purposeful Information Gathering: Observations and Other Data Collection Methods
8. Purposeful Data Analysis
9. Communicating Your Research

Part III: Practitioner Research and School Improvement

10. Integrating Practitioner Research Schoolwide

References

Index