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Full-Text Articles in Education
Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells
Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
In this issue of Networks, there are articles by both classroom teachers and university-based practitioners. All are, in one way or another, concerned with the critical role of dialogue and discussion in effective learning and teaching. The issue concludes with the continuation of the exploration of the ethics of practitioner research that was introduced in the contribution to the previous issue by Jane Zeni.
From Desks To A Quest: Understanding The Process Of Teacher Research, Denise I. Dabisch
From Desks To A Quest: Understanding The Process Of Teacher Research, Denise I. Dabisch
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
I conducted my first teacher research study in the spring of 2000 as a requirement for a class I was taking at Arizona State University. This one teacher research study has profoundly changed what I think about teaching. Teaching for me, has become a quest: a never-ending pursuit for those things that matter most to my students and me as we work together in my classes. This essay is my story of how I went from seeking the answer to a rather simple question about my teaching practice to pursuing teaching as a quest. It is a story that shows …
Infusing Computer Technology: A Novice Teacher User Meets The Challenge With High School Esl Students, Shelia Baldwin
Infusing Computer Technology: A Novice Teacher User Meets The Challenge With High School Esl Students, Shelia Baldwin
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
This account is a continuing exploration of my integration of computer technology that expanded to include specifically the use of Hyperstudio, Power Point, and the Internet with ESL students in an American Culture Studies class, an ESL I Reading class, and a Reading remediation class.
The Inherent Desire To Learn: Intrinsically Motivating First Grade Students, Lara Hansen
The Inherent Desire To Learn: Intrinsically Motivating First Grade Students, Lara Hansen
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
It was a simple question, innocently asked by one of my first grade students that served as the inspiration and motivation for this study. My class was preparing to begin a project for a math unit. After I explained and discussed the directions, guidelines, and expectations for this project, Kate raised her hand and asked, "What do we get when we are done?" Acting confused (in reality I was not-- I knew exactly what she meant) I asked her to explain the meaning behind her question. Quite matter-of-factly she went on to make clear that she was simply curious as …
Promoting Research Use Among Undergraduate Students Through Service Learning, Laura Dreuth, Martha Dreuth-Fewell
Promoting Research Use Among Undergraduate Students Through Service Learning, Laura Dreuth, Martha Dreuth-Fewell
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
In this article, we, the authors, examine a model of service learning for pre-service counselors enrolled in a research methods class. In a review of the counseling and human services literature, we found many references to teaching research methods; only a few articles, however, demonstrated using service learning in counselor or human services education. The students in this project joined a public health department, eight rural elementary schools, and university-based researchers to study bullying and school safety. The undergraduate students supported this project by conducting behavioral observations and informal interviews in the local schools. Positive responses were received from undergraduate …
The Story Of Their Lives: Understanding Our Students' Literacy Practices And Events, Linda S. Bausch
The Story Of Their Lives: Understanding Our Students' Literacy Practices And Events, Linda S. Bausch
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
The relationship between teacher and student, teacher and class, and teacher, student and class has been acknowledged as one of the most influential structures in a students' life which can effect their identity, their cognition, and their fundamental humaneness within the societal structure of their culture. The foundation of this paper is to investigate and honor students' shared understanding of literacies both in and out of school, utilizing the knowledge they bring from sociocultural contexts. I believe this vision holds great promise as an avenue of extending the literacy paradigm currently available to children in school.
Teacher/Researchers In Early Childhood: Ethical Responsibilities To Children, Helen Hedges
Teacher/Researchers In Early Childhood: Ethical Responsibilities To Children, Helen Hedges
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
The 'teacher as researcher' model has been extensively described in other education sectors (eg. Fueyo & Koorland, 1997; Henson, 1996). This model considers the teacher as a researcher in terms of advancing systematic, professional inquiry (Carr & Kemmis, 1986) by focusing inquiry on teaching and learning practices (Keyes, 2000) and problem-solving (Henson, 1996). Knowledge generated by practitioners will be owned by them and perhaps be more likely than formal research to bring improvement to the profession. Teacher/researchers have a vested interest in the outcome of the research, and are likely to continue to review, evaluate and improve practice after the …
Preparing Multicultural Educators: What Works According To Practicing And Future Teachers, Laureen Fregeau
Preparing Multicultural Educators: What Works According To Practicing And Future Teachers, Laureen Fregeau
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
I have been preparing teachers and pre-service teachers to be multicultural educators since 1990. Each year I ask my students what works best for them. My course activities and assignments evolve each year with the help of student suggestions. This article offers a theoretical framework for the assignments and activities students selected; summarizes what assignments and classroom activities students identified as most effective and enjoyable; and, shares specifics of each type of assignment.
Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells
Editorial Introduction, Gordon Wells
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
This issue of Networks focuses on teacher research carried out by university teachers and teacher educators. In these articles, instead of carrying out research 'on' teachers - as university researchers have traditionally done - the authors turn the spotlight onto their own practice, investigating the manner in which they play out their roles and responsibilities as teachers of teachers. As each of these authors recognizes, if teacher educators are urging teachers to be reflective practitioners who carry out inquiries in order to improve and better understand their practice and the context in which it takes place, they themselves should 'walk …
Mentoring In Higher Education: A Self Study Of Faculty Socialization, Nancy Dubetz, Steve Turley
Mentoring In Higher Education: A Self Study Of Faculty Socialization, Nancy Dubetz, Steve Turley
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
Most professors typically have little formal preparation for their careers in academe and thus learn their craft by doing. Often those who seek support during this process look to experienced colleagues to mentor them. Mentoring, as experienced by most new faculty, tends to be individual, informal, and random. The role of the mentor for new faculty is often assumed by the department chair, though some junior faculty report that they use multiple mentors to help them with their varied responsibilities in teaching, scholarship, and university service. The mentor initiates the new faculty member into the customs and expectations of academic …
Combining Case Study Research And Critical Reflection In Foreign/Second Language Methodology, Marjorie Hall Haley
Combining Case Study Research And Critical Reflection In Foreign/Second Language Methodology, Marjorie Hall Haley
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
To date very little has been written about how foreign and second language teachers experience their pre-service teaching internships and the implications of these experiences on the quality of foreign and second language instruction in the US in K-12 settings. This article presents the case study of one student teacher intern involved in his 15-week experience in a linguistically and culturally diverse secondary school setting and how his case was used in a foreign/second language methodology course. It examines the extent and nature of the student's critical reflections in determining the basis of sound methodological and pedagogical approaches to second …
The Role Of Leadership In Action Research, Thomas G. Ryan
The Role Of Leadership In Action Research, Thomas G. Ryan
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
The image of a leader is often one of standing alone or above a number of followers. I rejected this traditional image and preferred to stand with others as I led fellow educators through a recent practical action research study. As we began our study the newness of each conversation and the resultant energy made leading somewhat confusing and invisible. Yet, the task of leading was something I could feel every time I looked into a group memberís face. At times the mental replay of this act of looking was a haunting memory and other times it was a source …
Book Review: M. Elizabeth Graue And Daniel J. Walsh (1998). Studying Children In Context: Theories, Methods, And Ethics.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Cathy Compton-Lilly
Book Review: M. Elizabeth Graue And Daniel J. Walsh (1998). Studying Children In Context: Theories, Methods, And Ethics.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Cathy Compton-Lilly
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
Garth Boomer once wrote, "To deliberately learn is to research." As a teacher, I know that most teachers are constantly involved in processes of deliberate learning. We learn about our students. We gain insights on how to present particular topics. We experiment with new ideas and we constantly assess and reevaluate our students alongside our teaching. During the last decades of the twentieth century the term "research has been expanded to include many of the activities that are routine to teachers such as student assessment, teacher self-reflection, documentation of classroom events, and student observation. Current thinking has redefined teaching as …
Book Review: Frank, Carolyn (1999) Ethnographic Eyes: A Teacher's Guide To Classroom Observation. Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Heinemann., Cathy Compton-Lilly
Book Review: Frank, Carolyn (1999) Ethnographic Eyes: A Teacher's Guide To Classroom Observation. Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Heinemann., Cathy Compton-Lilly
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
What might it mean for teachers to have "ethnographic eyes? Ethnography is generally defined as the study of culture. With teachers' eyes and attention focused on the cultures they encounter and help to create, teachers may find themselves learning about their students and rethinking their assumptions about teaching. Becoming an ethnographer provides teachers with an opportunity not only to learn the practices and procedures of teaching, but also to observe and make sense of their classroom observations and experiences.
The Irb, The Hsr -- And The Ethics Of Insider Research, Jane Zeni
The Irb, The Hsr -- And The Ethics Of Insider Research, Jane Zeni
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
This project began about eight years ago when I tried adapt the mandated "human subjects review" (HSR) by my university's Institutional Review Board (IRB) to the work I was doing as a researcher of my own practice and as a consultant to K-12 teacher researchers. After many roadblocks and revisions, I produced a guide intended, not for IRB review, but for discussion in action research groups and dissertation committees. It was first published in Educational Action Research (1998, vol 6, no. 1), then revised and updated as the Epilogue to the new book (Zeni, 2001). Despite its convoluted genealogy, the …