Education Commons^™

Becoming Knowledgeable Agents Of Change: Early Career Teachers Enacting Inquiry-Oriented Professional Learning, Tracy Harper

Journal of Practitioner Research

In pursuit of more effective professional learning for early career teachers, this paper presents findings from a multiple case study of practitioner inquiry with beginning teachers. The study examined the lived experiences of Kelly, Sally, and Donna as they took up inquiry-oriented professional learning in their literacy classrooms. Over the course of a semester, the teachers identified a problem of practice, co-constructed professional learning plans, explored relevant professional learning, and implemented new literacy practices. The findings demonstrated that the individualized and responsive nature of inquiry-oriented professional learning supported the teachers in developing agency and self-efficacy as they addressed areas of …

Engaging Teacher Candidates In Teacher Inquiry: Questions And Responses, Hilarie B. Welsh

Journal of Practitioner Research

This article reports on transitioning the focus of a general secondary methods course to incorporate teacher inquiry. The author describes the shifted nature of the course, which led to empowered teacher candidates who benefited from engaging in teacher inquiry cycles even after graduation. The author then uses a question and response format to address common questions that arise in conversations about incorporating teacher inquiry for the first time.

Exploring Implicit Bias To Evaluate Teacher Candidates' Ethical Practice In The Internship, Jamie Silverman, Jessica Shiller

Journal of Practitioner Research

To create an equitable and ethical learning environment in the classroom requires teacher candidates (TCs) to develop positive relationships with students and to reflect on who they are. Using the elements of Richard Milner’s (2007) Framework of Researcher Racial and Cultural Positionality, this article presents an account of an innovative practice in how to engage secondary education TCs in a reflection of implicit biases, and how to interrupt them to become more ethical professionals. This article takes InTASC 9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice as a point of departure and describes how a new teacher mentor piloted a series of …

Practitioner Experiences In Teacher Education Partnerships: Examining Practice In An Accredited Professional Development School, Jennifer J. Roth, Derek Decker, Donna D. Cooner

Journal of Practitioner Research

In this qualitative study, practitioner researchers used focus group methodology to collect clinical partnership stakeholders’ descriptions of their understanding of rich practitioner practice and the benefits of clinical partnerships as defined by CAEP Standard 2. These descriptions provided the data that was analyzed through a deductive and inductive coding process. It was found that stakeholders described clinical experiences as crucial to teacher candidates’ development of knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions, and identified clinical experiences as the space where theory and practice intersect. Findings also showed that stakeholders identified collaboration, mutually beneficial, sustaining and generative, shared accountability, and positive impact as …

Networking Practitioner Research: Leveraging Digital Tools As Conduits For Collaborative Work, Nicholas E. Husbye, Julie Rust, Christy Wessel Powell, Sarah Vander Zanden, Beth Buchholz

Journal of Practitioner Research

Practitioner research is a powerful stance for understanding one’s own practice and reporting out to other practitioners for adaptations within their own contexts. This article focuses on how engagement in a longitudinal, digitally-mediated community of practice supports essential work in practitioner research in regards to collective work as teacher educators. Drawing upon our own experiences, we explore the affordances of four digitally mediated communication channels (video meetings, shared file systems, text messaging, and collaborative writing) and share a series of recommendations for teacher educators interested in sustaining long-term collaborations across digital spaces. When considering the transformative possibilities of digital networks, …

Clinical Field Experiences Of Nontraditional Pre-Service Teachers: Issues And Beliefs, Melanie Diloreto

Journal of Practitioner Research

According to the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE, 2010), effective teaching practices and good clinical experiences share a mutually beneficial relationship. Additionally, according to research reported by AACTE (2010), an important link exists between future P–12 student-achievement and effective clinical practices experienced by pre-service teachers. This case study sought to determine experiences deemed effective or important by nontraditional pre-service teachers while engaged in fieldwork completed in an elementary and/or middle school classroom setting. Four themes were derived from the qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews of four junior or senior teacher education students engaged in clinical field …

Coach And Evaluator: Exploring How To Negotiate Both Functions In The Role Of Supervisor, Andrea T. Scalzo Willson

Journal of Practitioner Research

The tensions of engaging in both coaching and evaluation have driven this inquiry examining my practice as a university supervisor. I explored the ways I define the tasks that allow me to supervise in ways that align with my beliefs, while at the same time perform my duty as an evaluator. In order to examine my practice and the ways that I engage in evaluation and coaching as a supervisor, I considered those tasks in which I enacted such practices. Further, I envisioned a “hybrid” practice where both roles have a place and function while improving pre-service teaching practice.

Was The Professional Development I Conducted In South Africa Evident In Teachers’ Practices Many Years Later?, Darlene Demarie

Journal of Practitioner Research

I conducted professional development by working alongside the teachers I hired at a child development center in South Africa. I spent one year and 9 months there while I was a Fulbright CORE Scholar from 2007 to 2009. After 8 years with only two short visits back, the digital tools (photographs and videos) I used and reviewed with teachers at the time of the professional development also helped me to assess the impact of that professional development. I saw how it influenced the teachers' practice and noted what was similar and what had changed over the years.

“Inquiry Is Confidence”: How Practitioner Inquiry Can Support New Teachers, Rachel Wolkenhauer, Angela Hooser

Journal of Practitioner Research

This paper focuses on the profile of “Hannah,” who was having a successful first year of teaching until February when her principal shifted gears. At this point administration expected, as Hannah quoted her principal, “to walk into your classroom, at any point of the day, and see you in front of the classroom and the kids sitting at desks answering bubble-in questions and not talking to each other.” Hannah teaches first grade. Rather than being discouraged by this, Hannah turned to her knowledge of practitioner inquiry to systematically study and stand behind the professional decisions she knew she needed to …

Book Review Of "Practitioner Research In Early Childhood: International Issues And Perspectives", Jennifer Ward

Journal of Practitioner Research

Book Review

Newman, L., & Woodrow, C. (Eds.) (2015). Practitioner research in early childhood: International issues and perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.