Voices Of Inquiry In Teacher Education

This book is an attempt to show that preservice teacher knowledge is substantive and should be part of the wider database of knowledge about teaching and learning in the field of teacher education. From the perspectives of five prospective teacher interns and a teacher educator, this volume brings the experiences of students conducting research during preservice teacher education to life. Charged to conduct a semester long study in the school, the intern-authors studied classroom scenes and their own work, and wrote case studies depicting their experiences. Their pieces -- in their entirety -- compose the central chapters of the book and serve as examples of preservice teacher research. The surrounding chapters examine the interns' experiences of conducting research during their preservice internship year primarily from the perspective of a teacher educator who studied them and the scene throughout the experience. The teacher educator examines the interns' approaches to research and the processes they employed to conduct and complete their studies, the interns' professional growth as a result of their participation in the study, and the impact the project had on the program. This book fills the gaps that exist in the present literature on the use of teacher research during preservice by including the inquiry works of preservice teachers as examples of legitimate, important preliminary research in their own rights, and by addressing the complex issues of conducting this type of study during preservice from multiple perspectives, not just that of the university researcher. While some texts include the perspectives of students and even include portions of students' own work, this text takes the step of co-authorship, sharing the academic discourse with intern teachers who have produced experience and knowledge that are informative for the field of education as a whole and specifically for teacher education. The text attempts to combine many voices into one thorough, narrative approach, ultimately urging the reader to consider the possibilities of teacher research for advancing knowledge in the field and for enhancing the professional development of the participants.

We live in dangerous times when educational policies and practices are debated largely in terms of how they fit with the needs of the free market. This volume is a collection of writing by teacher-educators that draws on their unique biographies, experiences and perspectives to denounce these misguided norms. It explores what it means—practically and intellectually—to teach for social justice in conservative times. In a globalised world where the power of capital holds sway, the purposes of social institutions such as universities and schools is being refashioned in ways that are markedly instrumental and technicist in nature. The consequence is that teachers’ work is increasingly constrained by regimes of control such as standardised testing, accountability, transparency, and national curricula. In the meantime, large numbers of students and teachers are disengaging physically, emotionally and intellectually from learning. The contributors to this edited volume present both a powerful critique of these developments and a counter-hegemonic vision of teacher education founded on the principles and values of social justice, democracy and critical inquiry. Teacher education, they argue, involves a commitment to critical intellectual work that subjects some deeply entrenched assumptions, beliefs, habits, routines and practices to closer scrutiny. The contributing authors expose how ideology and power operate in seemingly blameless, rational ways to perpetuate social hierarchies based on class, gender, sexuality, race and culture.

The intent of this book is to provide a rich and broad view of the impact of argument-based inquiry in classrooms from the perspective of the teacher. There are two important reasons for such a book. The first is that we as researchers constantly work to present our views of these experiences with the voice of the teachers only being relayed through the perspective of the researcher. We need as a community to listen to what the teachers are telling us. The second reason is that as demands grow to provide opportunities for students to pose questions, make claims, and provide evidence, that is, to think critically and reason like scientists, we need to understand what this looks like from the perspective of the teacher. This book brings together a range of teachers from several countries who have used the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach to teach argument-based inquiry. These teachers have all gone through professional development programs and successfully implemented the approach at a high level.

This book is an attempt to show that preservice teacher knowledge is substantive and should be part of the wider database of knowledge about teaching and learning in the field of teacher education. From the perspectives of five prospective teacher interns and a teacher educator, this volume brings the experiences of students conducting research during preservice teacher education to life. Charged to conduct a semester long study in the school, the intern-authors studied classroom scenes and their own work, and wrote case studies depicting their experiences. Their pieces -- in their entirety -- compose the central chapters of the book and serve as examples of preservice teacher research. The surrounding chapters examine the interns' experiences of conducting research during their preservice internship year primarily from the perspective of a teacher educator who studied them and the scene throughout the experience. The teacher educator examines the interns' approaches to research and the processes they employed to conduct and complete their studies, the interns' professional growth as a result of their participation in the study, and the impact the project had on the program. This book fills the gaps that exist in the present literature on the use of teacher research during preservice by including the inquiry works of preservice teachers as examples of legitimate, important preliminary research in their own rights, and by addressing the complex issues of conducting this type of study during preservice from multiple perspectives, not just that of the university researcher. While some texts include the perspectives of students and even include portions of students' own work, this text takes the step of co-authorship, sharing the academic discourse with intern teachers who have produced experience and knowledge that are informative for the field of education as a whole and specifically for teacher education. The text attempts to combine many voices into one thorough, narrative approach, ultimately urging the reader to consider the possibilities of teacher research for advancing knowledge in the field and for enhancing the professional development of the participants.

Voices from the Classroom illustrates that teachers have a leading voice in the policies that impact their students and the profession of teaching. The aim is to provide a rich and broad view of the impact of inquiry in the classrooms, from primary to higher education, and to provide a window into the perspective of teachers. Voices from the Classroom allows us to advance this mission by identifying and then turning educators' ideas into action. The publication includes chapters on issues ranging from dyslexic students' geospatial abilities to teachers' differential behaviours related, student characteristics and the experiences of refugees with bullying in the educational space. All the contributions published in this book emerged from real classrooms: our teachers and researchers conducted their research by drawing on their experience as educators. We believe that these insights into everyday classrooms, and the issues affecting them, are crucial to making teaching and learning better. We hope they can help drive real, positive change for students and teachers.

Empowering the Voice of the Teacher Researcher through a Culture of Inquiry is essentially a description of one school's initiatives to use collaborative communities and action research to empower teacher research and a culture of collective inquiry. It is written by teachers primarily for teachers and teacher educators. Of course, none of the initiatives described in the text would be possible without the visionary leadership of school and district administrators. Because administrative support is foundational to the process, school and district administrators and staff developers will also be interested in reading about how this school's principal and assistant principal set the stage for developing their community of learners. There are many sound action research texts on the market. What sets this text apart are the first-person accounts of teachers' experiences with action research as examples of profound possibilities for professional growth. As such, this book, written by teachers for other teachers and then contextualized by the Editors so that the relevance is clear to a broader audience, fills an important niche in the literature.

This book follows the shared journey of five classroom teachers and a university professor as they together examine the possibilities and dilemmas of collaborative inquiry and teacher empowerment. Teachers’ voices, in spite of their similarities and differences, still are not heard in the clamor for educational reform, nor are they recognized on the national agendas for research on teacher education. Miller and her colleagues articulate and question the contexts and assumptions that influence and frame teaching practice as they explore the contraints and the possibilities of defining and thus empowering teachers as teacher-researchers. Here the multiple and changing voices of teachers are clearly heard, and Miller shares their experiences, their frustrations, their hopes, and their issues. By grounding these concerns within the particularities of their teaching, Miller and her colleagues explore concrete situations in which they challenge and support one another. Through these stories of collaborative efforts, others are invited to join together in the continuous process of creating those spaces in which all teachers’ voices may be acknowledged and valued.