Surviving and Thriving with Teacher Action Research: Reflections and Advice from the Field

by Heather Lattimer

Overview

Action research can be a transformative learning experience that strengthens educators’ practice and empowers our voices. For the novice action researcher, however, it can sometimes be frustrating, isolating, and overwhelming. Surviving and Thriving with Teacher Action Research is an outstanding companion for educators embarking on the action research journey. The book shares the collected wisdom of more than thirty experienced teacher researchers. Designed to guide readers through the research process, the book is divided into five sections that reflect critical components of action research: developing a research question, designing a plan, engaging student voice, implementing the research process, analyzing data and sharing results. Relevant for both novice and seasoned action researchers, Surviving and Thriving is perfect for use in graduate education coursework, among professional learning communities, or by teachers embarking on action research independently. The text design, which includes introductory statements and guiding questions for each section, allows the book to stand alone as a guide for action research or it can serve as an outstanding complement to a more traditional, procedurally focused action research methods textbook.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433129889
Publisher:	Peter Lang Publishing Inc.
Publication date:	04/23/2015
Series:	Educational Psychology Series: Critical Pedagogical Perspectives
Pages:	209
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Heather Lattimer, EdD, is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Learning and Teaching at the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. She has earned degrees from Harvard College, Stanford University, and the University of California, San Diego.
Stacey Caillier, PhD, is Director of the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. She has earned degrees from Willamette University and the University of California, Davis.

Table of Contents

Content: Callie Sprague: Fierce Wonderings: Finding Your Research Passion? Linnea Rademaker/Catherine Henry/Laurel Gustafson: Starting with a Problem: Using Action Research to Respond to Challenges in the Classroom? Margit Boyesen: Do I Really Want iPads? How Critical Questions About a School Reform Can Drive Action Research? JoHanna Simko: Building on Success: Recalling the Past to Inspire Action Research in a New Context? Qudsia Kalsoom: My Journey toward a Workable Action Research Question? Jocelyn Peck: Moving from «Noticings» to Research Questions? Ashley Vasquez: Goals, Questions, and Anxiety: Initiating the Research Process? Juli Ruff: Taming the Beast: Researching and Writing a Literature Review? Bryan Meyer: Emergent Research: Building the Plane While Flying It? Bernice Alota: Making Time for Action Research? Sarah Strong: Data Collection: How My Research Methods Became My Greatest Assessment Tools? Cady Staff: The Stories at the Heart of Our Research? Stephen F. Hamilton: What Makes Action Research Good Research?? Melissa Han: Learning to Listen? Jessica De Young Kander: Letting Students See behind the Curtain: Transparency, Teacher as Learner, and the IRB? Tony Spitzberg: It’s Not about the Technique: Learning That Teaching Is More Heart Than Strategy? Makeba Jones: Youth-Led Action Research: A Lesson in Letting Go of Control? Stacey Williams: Power Sharing or Power Hoarding? Reflections on My Position Within the Research? Sam Gladwell: Embracing Disequilibrium ? Laura McNaughton: Letting Go: Heeding My Own Advice and Letting Go of Expectations? Melissa King: Paradigm Shifts and Possibilities: My Exodus from the Land of the Linear? Janet Ilko: «Can’t We Just Do a Worksheet?»: Persevering through Challenges When Implementing Action Research? Linnea Rademaker/Catherine Henry/Laurel Gustafson: Hidden Gems: Finding Unanticipated Outcomes Through Collaborative Action Research? Daisy Sharrock: Tackling the Ambiguities of Action Research: Advice for the Goal-Oriented Practitioner on How to Stay Sane.? Jennifer Harris Edstrom: Raise Your Voice: Writing for Change, Writing to Be Heard? Alyssa Robledo-Graham: Challenging Assumptions: A Student Teacher’s Action Research Prompts Veterans to Rethink Their Beliefs About K-12 Student Potential - Reflections from a Social Justice Educator? Veronica Garcia: Empowering Students as Change Agents – Robert Meza-Ehlert: Growing Our Practice: AR in a Professional Learning Community? Frank Cornelissen: Getting Your Knowledge «Out There»: Finding Your Knowledge Ambassadors, or How They Find You? Noriyuki Inoue: Confessions of an Educational Researcher: Overcoming Cognitive Dissonance about Action Research.

Editorial Reviews

«Classroom teachers who are intimately involved in the action research process. The honesty, insight, and passion come through in each of these narratives, and collectively they articulate how action research can be used to facilitate teacher empowerment and academic development. What a robust and practical resource for educators, school and district leaders, and teacher preparation programs!» (Ernest Morrell, Teachers College, Columbia University)
«This is an important and inspiring collection of essays that every educator should read. To continuously improve learning and teaching, we need far fewer edicts from policymakers and academics and far more teacher action research.» (Tony Wagner, Author of Creating Innovators
and The Global Achievement Gap)
«It is not often that I read any book from cover to cover in one sitting, but I did just that. Lattimer and Caillier have organized insightful reflections into a shared learning journey from finding research questions that are ‘meaningful, measureable, and manageable’ to learning how to navigate the intersections of practice, theory, and research.» (Margaret Riel, Director of the Center for Collaborative Action Research, Pepperdine University; Past Chair of the Action Research SIG with AERA, and Co-founder of the Action Research Network of the Americas)

«Classroom teachers who are intimately involved in the action research process. The honesty, insight, and passion come through in each of these narratives, and collectively they articulate how action research can be used to facilitate teacher empowerment and academic development. What a robust and practical resource for educators, school and district leaders, and teacher preparation programs!» (Ernest Morrell, Teachers College, Columbia University)
«This is an important and inspiring collection of essays that every educator should read. To continuously improve learning and teaching, we need far fewer edicts from policymakers and academics and far more teacher action research.» (Tony Wagner, Author of Creating Innovators and The Global Achievement Gap)
«It is not often that I read any book from cover to cover in one sitting, but I did just that. Lattimer and Caillier have organized insightful reflections into a shared learning journey from finding research questions that are ‘meaningful, measureable, and manageable’ to learning how to navigate the intersections of practice, theory, and research.» (Margaret Riel, Director of the Center for Collaborative Action Research, Pepperdine University; Past Chair of the Action Research SIG with AERA, and Co-founder of the Action Research Network of the Americas)

From the Publisher