Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies

"This is a wonderful book with deep insight into the relationship between teachers′ action and result of student learning. It discusses from different angles impact of action research on student learning in the classroom. Writing samples provided at the back are wonderful examples." ―Kejing Liu, Shawnee State University


Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies focuses on helping schools build knowledge democracies through a process of action research in which teachers, students, and parents collaborate in conducting participatory and caring inquiry in the classroom, school, and community. Author Gerald J. Pine examines historical origins, the rationale for practice-based research, related theoretical and philosophical perspectives, and action research as a paradigm rather than a method.

Key Features

• Discusses how to build a school research culture through collaborative teacher research
• Delineates the role of the professional development school as a venue for constructing a knowledge democracy
• Focuses on how teacher action research can empower the active and ongoing inclusion of nontraditional voices (those of students and parents) in the research process
• Includes chapters addressing the concrete practices of observation, reflection, dialogue, writing, and the conduct of action research, as well as examples of teacher action research studies

 

Gerald Pine is currently a Professor in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, where he previously served as the school′s Dean. He received his Ed.D. from Boston University and his areas of interest center around action research as a process of inquiry, as professional development, and as a means for affecting educational change. He has co-authored numerous textbooks, most recently A Person-Centered Foundation for Counseling and Psychotherapy (Charles C. Thomas Co., 1999, 2e) and multiple titles for Houghton Mifflin and Allyn & Bacon.