ABOUT WCER NEWS Events Cover Stories Research News International Research Press WHAT'S THE RESEARCH ON...? PROJECTS All Active Projects All Completed Projects PUBLICATIONS LECTURE SERIES PEOPLE Staff Directory Project Leaders ERG - EVALUATION RESOURCES GROUP RESOURCES Conference Rooms Equipment GRANT SERVICES GRADUATE TRAINING SERVICE UNITS Director's Office Business Office Technical Services Printing & Mail EMPLOYMENT CONTACT INFO MyWCER WORKSPACE LOGIN

Teacher research can be a professional development experience of great importance and have a significant effect on teaching and learning, according to UW Madison Education professor Kenneth Zeichner. His recent meta-analysis of studies of teacher-research activities nationwide* shows teacher-researchers gaining a new sense of confidence from conducting research, beginning to see themselves as learners, and developing closer relationships with their students and colleagues.

Teacher research involves teachers directly in the selection of immediate and compelling topics to explore with respect to their own practice. “Teacher-researchers are autonomous, responsible agents who direct their own work and their own professional development,” Zeichner says.

Kinds of research programs

Depending on the program, teachers’ individual studies range in format and content. Many teachers write journals documenting their research experience or find some other way to keep detailed records of their observations of and discussions with students. These records help teachers challenge the way they think about their teaching.

Other kinds of teacher research include ongoing discussions of practice; data analysis of observations, interviews, and document collection; and written essays that interpret and analyze various aspects of schooling. Some teacher research involves posing and investigating a specific question, while other projects focus simultaneously on several questions. While some research projects primarily attempt to develop a better understanding of practice, others also aim to improve it. Some studies focus on specific classroom issues, while others move beyond the classroom to issues that are schoolwide or larger.

The degree to which “outside” research is incorporated into the teachers’ studies varies widely. For example, in Brookline, Mass., some teacher-researchers used concepts, questions, and ideas from external research as the starting point for their own research; others used external research as a resource later on in the research process; and some chose not to use external research.

The many benefits

Although there is growing amount of testimony about the positive outcomes of this kind of research, Zeichner says one should not draw immediate conclusions about its value from this testimony alone. For example, many of the claims about the value of teacher research are anecdotal in nature rather than the result of systematic studies of teachers research experiences. And even if the accuracy of the claims is accepted, there is little information about how the research is conducted or supported, making it hard to know how to replicate these successes. Yet in spite of these concerns, teacher researchers forge ahead. Zeichner says teachers engage in this kind of research because they see its relevance to their work and because they seek to better understand, or change, their classroom practice. Advocates claim that teacher research

• helps teachers become more flexible and open to new ideas,
• narrows the gap between teachers’ aspirations and realizations, and
• heightens the quality of student learning.

Teachers are motivated to conduct research in their own classrooms for a variety of reasons. They include

• the desire to know more about student learning. Teachers in the Madison (Wis.) Metropolitan School District’s Action Research Program report becoming more learner-centered in their practice as a result of conducting research. Many developed a new appreciation for the knowledge their students bring to class. In some cases there is evidence that this increased effort to listen to students leads to more democratic and interactive work in the classroom.
• a search for connections and meaning in one’s work. Participants in the Teacher Study Groups at the Lawrence School in Brookline, Mass., critically examine, explore, and affirm their work, placing teacher knowledge at the center of the inquiry process. Teachers’ perspective broadens as they question their assumptions about themselves and their students and develop new perspectives toward teaching and learning. Changes in perspective lead to changes in teachers’ professional identities as they learn to more clearly articulate their ideas about education.

Effects on school culture

Unlike many other professional development experiences, teacher research promotes particular kinds of teacher and student learning that many teachers find valuable. The evidence from recent reports shows that, under the right conditions (see below), engaging in teacher research validates the importance of the work teachers do and helps them to

• become more confident about their ability to promote student learning,
• become more proactive in dealing with difficult situations arising in their teaching,
• acquire habits and skills of inquiry used beyond the research experience to analyze their teaching, and
• develop or rekindle an excitement about teaching.

Zeichner also sees evidence of links between conducting teacher research under particular conditions and improvements in students’ attitudes, behavior, and learning, although he says these improved student outcomes have not always been reported in sufficient detail.

The right conditions

From his studies of teacher research programs nationwide Zeichner has condensed a set of attributes that appear to be important in transforming teacher and student learning.

• Creating a culture of inquiry that respects the voices of teachers and the knowledge they bring to the research experience. Educators should consider teacher research as seriously as other kinds of inquiry and should evaluate it on the basis of both moral and educational criteria.
• Investment in teachers’ intellectual capital, which results in teachers having control over more aspects of the research process. When teachers lacked the ability to determine their own research focus, they reacted negatively to what they saw as an administrative attempt to increase controls over them.
• Collaboration over time in a safe and supportive group environment. Working in a group where all members are engaged in self-study seems to help teachers develop new dispositions and skills to work collaboratively.
• Intellectual challenges and stimulation. Teacher researchers said they valued the difficulty and challenges provided by group discussions about their work.
• Established rituals and routines that build community within groups. Studies of programs in Wisconsin and Massachusetts have provided important information about the ways facilitators of local research groups structure group discussions about the research process (e.g., determining several possible data collection tools) and group discussion norms (e.g., posing clarifying questions). Sponsors of teacher research range from teachers themselves, to school districts and teachers’ unions, to state departments of education and foundations. Some universities and colleges offer specific courses on teacher research, support teacher research graduate work, and organize and support teacher research on a broad scale.

Making a commitment to teacher research as professional development represents a long term investment in building teachers’ capacity to exercise their judgment and leadership abilities and to improve learning for themselves and their students. It is not a form of professional development that will produce quick fixes for the complex and ongoing problems of schooling, Zeichner says. Nor will it compensate for the unsatisfactory working conditions teachers must often endure, or the failure of our society to provide the social preconditions necessary for the educational success of all students. But when teacher research is organized and supported it can become an experience of great importance to teachers and have a clear impact on teaching and learning.

For more information contact Zeichner at zeichner@facstaff.wisc.edu. Copies of his recent report, cowritten with Mary Klehr, “Teacher Research as Professional Development for P-12 Educators, also are available from him. Funding for the study was provided by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education.

For additional information on teacher research. The Web site for the National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching (NPEAT) is www.npeat.org. The Web site for the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) is www.tc.columbia.edu/~teachcomm/, which includes the report, “What Matters Most: Teaching For America's Future,” The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (1996), a blueprint for recruiting, preparing, and supporting excellent teachers in all of America's schools, and teacher research is part of the vision.

Footnote:

*(The five programs reviewed for the Zeichner/Klehr study include the Madison (Wis.) Metropolitan School District classroom action research program; Brookline and Boston (Mass.) Learning/Teaching Collaborative inquiry seminars; the Lawrence School teacher study groups, Brookline (Mass.); the Bay Area (Cal.) professional development consortium teacher action research project; and schoolwide action research in Georgia and Ames, Iowa.