Teacher Research: Tales from the Field

Abstract

In 1990, the concept of teacher research was new to me. I was intrigued, as I listened to teachers present their research on a cold February Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania's Ethnography and Education Forum. School-based teachers had joined the forum to present their research-research that honored their "insider" knowledge of the classroom. Teachers read from journals they had kept throughout the year and talked about ways they had studied their students' learning. They spoke of the importance of collaboration and the sense of renewal they derived from their work as researching teachers. The partnerships between school-and university-based teachers were calling for new ways of thinking about what is research and who does research. I was sitting at what felt like a new intersection of research and practice, and I wanted to learn more. It had never occurred to me that teachers could research their own teaching. Had I done this? Did I know other music teachers who had conducted research in their own classrooms? Were teaching and research two sides of the same coin? The possibilities seemed intriguing.Like all inquiry, teacher research begins with questions about practice that are never far from the surface. Teacher researchers' classrooms become laboratories of learning in which teachers remain open to new ideas and discoveries about both their teaching and their students' learning. Becoming a teacher researcher essentially involves "becoming a student of teaching" (Bullough & Gitlin, 1995). Britton (1987) writes, "Every lesson should be for the teacher, an inquiry, some further discovery, a quiet form of research" (p. 15). This quiet form of investigation might not appear like other types of research but, like its qualitative ancestor, teacher research involves systematic and intentional inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993). Although many definitions of teacher

Action Research as a Professional Development Activity

“…Previous literature within the field of music education encourages the use of teacher research in addressing contemporary and relevant issues within the profession (Conway and Borst 2001;Conway and Jeffers 2004;Leglar and Collay 2002;Regelski 1994;Robbins, Burbank, and Dunkle 2007). In addition to helping address issues that are important to practicing music teachers, teacher research can become a meaningful form of professional development.…”

“…Action research can be seen as a way for teachers to answer questions that puzzle them (Conway and Jeffers 2004;Robbins 2007). Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999) describe this process as practical inquiry, emphasizing its utility as a way to generate or enhance practical knowledge.…”

Setting an Agenda for Professional Development Policy, Practice, and Research in Music Education

“…Robbins (2007) describes the professional development effect of teacher research for two experienced music teachers. Nieto (2003) suggests, All good teachers, whether they consciously carry out research or not, are researchers in the broadest sense of the word.…”

Teacher research as professional development for P-12 music teachers

“…Keywords: teacher research; professional development; music education; practitioner inquiry Music education scholars have suggested that teacher research can be a valuable professional development for music teachers (Hartwig 2003;Robbins, Burbank, and Dunkle 2007;Wanzel 2009;Wanzel and Gordon 2007;West 2011). Teacher researchers seek answers to questions or situations they find puzzling in their classrooms, and this inquiry process is used to alter or transform classroom teaching (Cochran-Smith and Lytle 1999;Robbins in press).…”