Studying Your Own School: An Educator's Guide to Qualitative Practitioner Research

"This book promises to make an important contribution, especially in assisting teachers and others in using research to improve education, both individually and collaboratively."
Susan E. Noffke
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Practitioner research is now in the vanguard of educational development. School administrators and teachers are adding valuable information to the pool of knowledge, and these pioneers are increasingly being recognized for their contributions to the profession.

In Studying Your Own School, authors Anderson, Herr, and Nihlen describe the theory and methods for conducting "action-oriented," qualitative practitioner research as they guide educators through the research process. They explain how to adapt traditional research methods to the real-life demands of the dynamic and often-unpredictable classroom environment.

The authors′ experience ranges from years of practice and research in the classroom to university teaching and anthropological studies. This diversity endows Studying Your Own School with all the strengths of a scholarly work and the everyday applicability of a practitioner′s handbook.

Enlightening and well-documented, Studying Your Own School discusses how to handle the sensitive "political" issues that all practitioners encounter. Engaging examples of applications illustrate the authors′ points throughout the book, and an extensive bibliography provides material for further study.

Whether you are studying your own school to improve practice, challenging old models of educational practice, or doing research for a dissertation, Studying Your Own School guides you, step-by-step, through the process.

Gary L. Anderson is a professor in the Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University. He is a former teacher and high school principal. He has written numerous articles on action research with co-author Kathryn Herr as well as articles and books on educational policy and leadership. He is the author of Advocacy Leadership: Toward a Post-reform Agenda (Routledge).

Kathryn G. Herr is a faculty member in the College of Education and Human Services at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey.  She is co-author of the book Studying Your Own School: An Educator’s Guide to Qualitative Practitioner Research (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 1994). She is also Editor of the interdisciplinary journal Youth and Society. Her professional background is in Social Work and Education.