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Full-Text Articles in Education
Editorial Introduction, Suzanne Porath
Editorial Introduction, Suzanne Porath
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
At the heart of action research and teacher inquiry is a deep desire to improve one’s practice. This issue of Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research highlights educators at a variety of levels reflecting on their work, asking hard questions, examining data, drawing conclusions, and making improvements to their practice.
Reflective Written Pieces: Inquiry Into The Practices Of Pre-Service Literacy Teachers, Janet Mcintosh
Reflective Written Pieces: Inquiry Into The Practices Of Pre-Service Literacy Teachers, Janet Mcintosh
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
The purpose of this action research project was to explore whether a reflective writing strategy, developed and used with pre-service teachers in a literacy methods course, assisted them with integrating theory and practice. The teacher educator analyzed the written reflective pieces and determined common categories. Study findings revealed some themes: meeting student needs, classroom strategies, field link experiences, personal student experiences, and growth statements. Pre-service teachers explored what their current knowledge was and how it had changed through the time spent reading and writing in the course; imbedded within the reflection pieces were references to practicum experiences with students in …
Engaging Secondary Students In Collaborative Action-Oriented Inquiry: Challenges And Opportunities, J. Spencer Clark
Engaging Secondary Students In Collaborative Action-Oriented Inquiry: Challenges And Opportunities, J. Spencer Clark
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
I recently helped facilitate a collaborative problem-based inquiry project with eighty-three secondary students. The students attended a large high school situated in a medium size town, surrounded by farmland and smaller rural towns. Demographically, nearly half of the students identified as Latina/o, while the slight majority of the students were White. The two groups of students also identified with the two dominant religious communities in the area: Catholic and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The students were all seniors in an advanced American Government course.
Increasing Active Participation And Engagement Of Students In Circle Formations, Justin St. Onge, Karla Eitel
Increasing Active Participation And Engagement Of Students In Circle Formations, Justin St. Onge, Karla Eitel
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
Participation and engagement are important factors in students’ academic achievement and in increasing interest and motivation in the learning process. This study evaluates participation and engagement in circle formations in both outdoor and indoor education settings. Over a four-week study period, four instructors collected data on different circle formations. The four circle formations tested are: instructor and students standing (allstanding); instructor and students sitting (all-sitting); instructor standing with students sitting; instructor sitting with students standing. Results from 86 observation forms show that students had the greatest active participation and engagement in the all-sitting circle formation. The traditional learning arrangement, with …
An Action Research Project By Teacher Candidates And Their Instructor Into Using Math Inquiry: Learning About Relations Between Theory And Practice, Paul Betts, Michelle Mclarty, Krysta Dickson
An Action Research Project By Teacher Candidates And Their Instructor Into Using Math Inquiry: Learning About Relations Between Theory And Practice, Paul Betts, Michelle Mclarty, Krysta Dickson
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
This paper reports on what two teacher candidates and their instructor learned from an action research project into the use of inquiry to teach mathematics. We use a model of the relation between theory and practice in teacher education to interpret what we learned about inquiry. This model describes three modes for teacher candidates to learn about teaching: (1) applying theory to practice; (2) interpreting theory and practice, and (3) building/refining personal, practical and professional theories. We learned to (1) apply the 4D-Cycle Model of inquiry, (2) interpret what it means for inquiry to be flexible, and (3) build a …
Fifth Graders’ Interpretations Of The Red Tree, Diane Barone, Rebecca Barone
Fifth Graders’ Interpretations Of The Red Tree, Diane Barone, Rebecca Barone
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
Fifth graders responded to a video of a picturebook, The Red Tree by Shaun Tan. They had not experienced explicit instruction in visual literacy and their responses served as a foundation for basic understanding of their analysis. We learned that they focused on four major areas: emotional aspects; visual qualities, summaries of the story; and a text focus. They understood the character’s emotions and were able to interpret many of Tan’s images.
Self-Reflections On Differentiation: Understanding How We Teach In Higher Education, Nykela Jackson, Lesley Evans
Self-Reflections On Differentiation: Understanding How We Teach In Higher Education, Nykela Jackson, Lesley Evans
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
Teachers are called to accommodate the individualized learning needs of a wide range of students. To support prospective and current teachers with this challenge, it is imperative to help them not only understand the theory of differentiated instruction, but how to implement it into practice. Building upon past research in the realm of higher education, this study sought to identify the past teaching experiences and expectations of two former K-12 teachers that formed the philosophy and practices that they bring to teacher preparation courses. Framed by interview questions used in past research with faculty, the two researchers self-reflected on their …
A Teacher's Inquiry Into Bringing In Biliteracy In A Fifth-Grade English-Only Classroom, Stephanie Lynn Abraham
A Teacher's Inquiry Into Bringing In Biliteracy In A Fifth-Grade English-Only Classroom, Stephanie Lynn Abraham
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
This teacher inquiry project explored how I, a non-Spanish speaking teacher at the time, implemented critical, bilingual pedagogies to foster biliteracy development among my fifth-grade students. One, the project showed that students could further their biliteracy by incorporating their funds of knowledge through a family stories writing project. Two, many students were anxious about reading in Spanish, and dual poetry alleviated this due to its compactness and linguistic scaffolding. Finally, the project showed the continual issues of unequal power relations concerning bilingualism and biliteracy in US classrooms by showing how I failed to include languages other than Spanish in this …
Puzzling Pieces And Spiders' Webs: A Narrative About My Personal Journey To Teaching, Stephanie Burns
Puzzling Pieces And Spiders' Webs: A Narrative About My Personal Journey To Teaching, Stephanie Burns
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
I wrote the following paper upon completing my semester as a Student Teacher at an elementary school in a mid-size Midwestern university town. The goal in writing and presenting this paper was to select a focus area of growth throughout my time in the education program, considering how I’ve developed, what I’ve learned and where I hope to go as I continue forward on my journey of teaching and learning.
Redefining Teaching Itself: A Book Review Of The Reflective Educator's Guide To Classroom Research 3rd Edition., Suzanne Porath
Redefining Teaching Itself: A Book Review Of The Reflective Educator's Guide To Classroom Research 3rd Edition., Suzanne Porath
Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research
The journey metaphor is a typical representation of teacher research and the authors of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research evoke the metaphor, with images of paths, maps and compasses, because it visibly represents the feeling of starting an action research project. The authors make a point to favor the term “inquiry” over “research” to negate the typical associations with the term research.