Action Research for Teachers: Traveling the Yellow Brick Road

Abstract

I. THE SCHOLAR'S JOURNEY. 1. Why Journey to Somewhere over the Rainbow Now? 2. How Do Educational Wizards Learn? With Professional Tools. II. DEFINING AND PUTTING ACTION RESEARCH IN CONTEXT. 3. The Bigger Picture: Paradigms, Theories, and Research. 4. Three Orientations to Knowledge and Methods of Research. 5. From a Meandering Path to the Yellow Brick Road: A Brief History of Action Research. III. EXPLORING RESEARCHER SELVES AND THE PROFESSION. 6. Journey of the Self: There's No Place Like Home. 7. The Developmental Journey: Self and Action Research. IV. DEVELOPING AN INQUIRING MIND. Case Studies. 8. From Curiosity to Research Questions. 9. Exploring and Problematizing Our Practice. V. DESIGNING AND PLANNING AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY. Case Studies. 10. From Research Questions to Planning a Study. 11. Elements of Design: Planning and Documenting the Action. 12. Elements of Design: Verification, Interpretation, and Portrayal. VI. ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING DATA: PLAYING WITH WHAT WE'VE GOT AND MAKING SENSE OF IT. Case Studies. 13. Unraveling and Putting Together the Stories. 14. Taking Action-What Will I Do Next? And How Will It Make Life Better? VII. WRITING AND SHARING THE RESEARCH STORY. Case Studies. 15. Writing as a Research Process: Whose Eyes Can See (and Tell) What? 16. Narrative Writing. 17. Report Formats. 18. Building Learning Communities: Sharing Our Research. Glossary. Appendix A: Increasing Social Interaction Between Students with Multiple Handicaps and Their Typical Peers: An Action Research Proposal. Appendix B: Organizing and Visually Displaying Data. Appendix C: Analyzing Student Writing and Mathematical Data. Appendix D: Creating a Democratic Classroom: An Action Research Study. References. Index.