International Portal of Teacher Education
The online resource of academic content on teacher training and teacher education
Section archive - Research Methods
Page 21/29
283 items
201
The article examines how action research theories and practices are remodelled in local contexts and used to support educational reform. The article analyzes 46 publications from the period 2000-2008. It identifies five 'variations' in the globalized theory and practice of action research: action research in times of political upheaval and transition; action research as a state-sponsored means of reforming schooling; co-option of action research by Western governments and school systems to control teachers; action research as a university-led reform movement; and action research as locally-sponsored systemic reform sustained over time.
Published: 2009
Updated: May. 14, 2009
202
The paper takes the history of teacher research in one large urban school district over a period of 20 years as a telling case of the intensely local character of this work. The authors begin with an overview of the variations and different conceptions of teacher research in the USA. They argue that teacher research is continually being invented and reinvented by participants in the movement and is strongly informed by local conditions, agendas and epistemologies.
Published: 2009
Updated: May. 14, 2009
203
Participatory Action Research: Contributions to the Development of Practitioner Inquiry in Education
Participatory action research (PAR) provides a framework for recapturing the potential of practitioner inquiry to bring about meaningful change. In this article, the authors briefly address the origins, purposes, values, and unique aspects of PAR. They then identify some of the contributions PAR can make to the common goal of improving educational practice and contributing to positive change in life.
Published: 2009
Updated: May. 14, 2009
204
This article presents a study in which teachers describe the working situation at their school. The goal of the study was to find out in what respects the school needed to be developed. This was a case study and the method for collecting data was focus group dialogues.
Published: 2008
Updated: Feb. 04, 2009
205
Anxious doctoral researchers can now call on a proliferation of advice books telling them how to produce their dissertations. The present paper analyzes some characteristics of this self-help genre. The authors argue for a more complex view of doctoral writing both as text work/identity work and as a discursive social practice.
Published: 2008
Updated: Jan. 28, 2009
206
The authors examine how a mixed-methods research team designed and conducted a 4-year study that tracked 300 teachers in 100 schools in England over a 3-year fieldwork period. The authors discuss processes that led to new knowledge.They consider the advantage of synergistic approaches and combination of a greater range of data.
Published: 2008
Updated: Jan. 28, 2009
207
This article discusses a project focused on children researching their role in decision making in their classrooms and schools, with a view to increasing their involvement. The article explores the constraints encountered by both children and teachers in sharing decisions and in carrying out action research. It identifies two dimensions: the teachers' thinking and action, as well as children's research and decision making. The teachers struggled with their need to mediate the project aims in the context of the changing nature of their professional role in the current target-driven school culture.
Published: 2009
Updated: Dec. 14, 2008
208
In this study, the authors implement a programme of collaborative action research with the purpose of investigating the degree to which it could contribute to the development of inclusive practices. The findings shed further light on the nature of differentiation in the preparation and teaching of teachers in relation to inclusive education as well as on the role of teachers as leaders in this process. Inclusive practices in Cyprus schools, then, should not be approached as simplistic recipes or trite formulas but as social learning that will be developed in small networks and communities of practice.
Published: 2008
Updated: Dec. 14, 2008
209
This article presents the results of a research study that used a mixed design methodology to investigate the effect of expert commentaries on prospective teachers' reasoning about inclusion case studies. Results indicate that prospective teachers are reluctant to accept theoretical and pedagogical information that conflicts with their own previously held conceptions, even when it is presented through case methods.
Published: 2008
Updated: Nov. 17, 2008
210
Recent Internet developments and advances in networking have encouraged students' collaboration with other students and instructors, increased students' access to experts, and provided an array of learning resources. However, the potential of technology to transform the teaching and learning environment is still far from being realized in institutions of higher education. The e-learning program within the Masters Degree (MSc) Program in Education and Training Management in the School of Education Studies at Dublin City University (DCU) is attempting to realize that potential by integrating technology with active learning activities in an online learning community. Using examples drawn from a cohort of students working their way through the Emerging Pedagogies module, I demonstrate how information and communication technologies, and online discussions in particular, can be used to help students recognize and examine the values that underlie their teaching and learning, thereby enhancing their personal knowledge base for professional practice.
Published: 2008
Updated: Oct. 26, 2008