Conducted by university researchers and/or teachers themselves, teacher research is a form of inquiry approached from the teacher perspective. Such research works from the assumption that teachers “make up their own minds about how to change their practices in light of their informed practical deliberations” (Carr & Kemmis, 1986, p. 219). It adds to the knowledge base of teaching, despite ongoing controversy whether that knowledge base should be codified, who should contribute to it, and for what purposes it should be used (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1998; Donmoyer, 1996; Kleibard, 1993; Shulman, 2004; Wise, 1993). The strand of research includes teacher-oriented (1) action research (Altrichter, Posch, & Somekh, 1993; Stringer, 2007; Whitehead & McNiff, 2006), (2) case study research (Adler, 1996; Goldblatt & Smith, 2005; Shulman, 1996), and (3) reflective practice (Ladson-Billings, 1999; Pedro, 2005; Russell & Munby, 1994). Also, (4) narrative inquiry (Clandinin, Pushor, & Murray Orr, 2007; Connelly & Clandinin, 1999; Estola & Elbaz-Luwisch, 2003), and (5) practitioner inquiry (Day, Calderhead, & Denicolo, 1993; Dadds & Hart, 2001; Zeichner & Noffke, 2001) constitute veins of teacher research. The (6) self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (Feldman, Paugh, & Mills, 2004; Guilfoyle, Hamilton, Pinnegar, & Placier, 2004; Loughran, 2005) and (7) the scholarship of teaching and learning (Hatch et al., 2005; Hatch & Pointer Mace, 2007) are furthermore included. Additionally, (8) the use of practice as a site for research (Lampert & Ball, 1998; Wilson, 2001) forms a branch of the teacher research tree. Cutting across these related lines of inquiry are the associated literatures having to do with teacher collaboration (Achinstein, 2002; C. Clark et al., 1996; Craig & J. Huber, 2007), teacher conversation (C. M. Clark, 2001; Feldman, 1999; Hollingsworth, 1994; Rust, 1999), and teacher community (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Olson & Craig, 2001; Wilson & Berne, 1999; Grossman, Wineberg, Woolworth, 2001). Teacher networks (Lieberman, 2000; Wood & Lieberman, 2003) and teacher research networks (Ainscow, Booth, & Dyson, 2004; Atwah, Kemmis, & Weeks, 1998; Reason & Bradbury, 2001) such as the Collaborative Action Research Network (http://www.did.stu.mmu.ac.uk/carn) (which began in the U.K. but is currently international in its reach), and teacher research studies arising from the National Writing Project and its regional affiliates in the U.S. (http://www.nwp.org), for example, are also closely aligned with the teacher research and teachers as researchers theme.
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Craig, C.J. (2009). Teacher Research and Teacher as Researcher. In: Saha, L.J., Dworkin, A.G. (eds) International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 21. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_4
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