Research Methods for the Self-Study of Practice

Series Editor’s Foreword

Contents

Contributors

Introduction

Deborah L. Tidwell, Melissa L. Heston and Linda M. Fitzgerald

Part I Self-Study Through the Use of Text

Co/autoethnography: Exploring Our Teaching Selves Collaboratively

Auto

Ethno

Co

Graphy

Co/Autoethnography

Co/Autoethnography Is Rooted in Collaboration

The Social Contexts for Co/Autoethnography

Recognizing Emerging Co/Autoethnographic Questions

Consistent Qualities of Co/Autoethnographic Method

Tailoring the Data Collection Methods to Meet the Needs of the Co/Autoethnographic Study

Co/Autoethnographic Data Analysis

Conclusion

Teaching and Learning Through Narrative Inquiry

Our Context

The Puzzles

Evolution of the Research Methodology

Foundational Theoretical Frameworks

The Role of Self-Study

The Concept of Teacher Knowledge

Narrative Inquiry

Narrative Inquiry, Story, and Self-Study

Story as a Research Device

Story in Teaching and Teacher Education

Stories of Experience with Family

Rosa's Story of Her Father

Esther's Story of Her Father

Annie's Story of Her Father

Nancy's Story of Her Father

Susan's Story of Her Father

Teresa's Story of Her Father

What We Have Learned

Conclusion

Passages: Improving Teacher Education Through Narrative Self-Study

Research Questions

Methodology

Teacher Knowledge

Narrative Inquiry

Narrative Self-Study

Beginning with Ourselves: The Personal Dimension in Narrative Self-Study

Storytelling

Autobiography

Metaphor

Rules and Practical Principles

Personal Philosophy of Teaching

Reflective Journals

Temporal, Social and Spatial Dimensions in Narrative Self-Study

Final Words: Continuing My Narrative Self-Study

Part II Self-Study Through Discourse and Dialogue

Talking Teaching and Learning: Using Dialogue in Self-Study

Beginnings: Catching Currents, Merging Streams

Dialogue as Self-Study Methodology

Starting the Dialogue Process

Ground Rules: Essentials for a Robust, Productive Dialogue

Recalibration Points

Effects of Recalibration Points on Teacher Education Practices

Melissa

Katheryn

Linda

Using Metaphor to Recalibrate Our Process

Cautionary Tales

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Appendix: Ground Rules

Name It and Claim It: The Methodology of Self-Study as Social Justice Teacher Education

Naming the Context

Naming the Questions

Naming the Methodology

Naming the Results

Student Teacher Outcomes

Overall

Hearing Students' Voices

Explicit Equity Curriculum

Inquiry as Stance

Role of Self-Study

Name It and Claim It

Many Miles and Many Emails: Using Electronic Technologies in Self-Study to Think About, Refine and Reframe Practice

Introduction: Finding a Place to Start

Self-Study as Tool for Researching Practice

Self-Study as a Methodology

Self-Study as Collaboration

ICTs as Tools for Self-Study

A Story of a Long-Distance Self-Study in Perpetual Motion

The Beginning

Emergence of a Focus

From an Emerging Focus to Principles of Practice

Moving Beyond the Articulation of Principles

Summary

The Use of ICT in Self-Study

Representing and Sharing Data

Retrieving, Accessing and Analyzing Data

Communicating and Editing Data

What Have We Learned? What Does It Mean?

Part III Self-Study Through Visual Representation

Faces and Spaces and Doing Research

Introduction

Methodology: Epistemology and Social Justice

The Context for the Study: Previous Studies in Nottingham

The Edinburgh Study

Methods Used and How They Evolved

Making Sense of It All A Messy Business

What We Learned

Diverse Space

Collaborative Space

Relevant Space

Powerful Space

Looking to the Future

Facing the Public: Using Photography for Self-Study and Social Action

Introduction: Visual Approaches to Self-Study and Social Action

Seeing for Ourselves: Curating Self-Study Photo Albums as Social (Action) Texts

Creating, Curating, and Using Photo Albums for Self-Study

Photovoice

Critical Memory Work with Photo Albums

Protocol for Creating and Curating Self-Study Albums

Example 1: Reconfiguring the Family Album: "And today I am a teacher"

Example 2: Photovoice: A School Principal Looks at Gender Violence in Her School

Methodological Considerations: Features of Curated Photo Albums as Self-Study

Self-Study and Change Revisited

Making Meaning of Practice through Visual Metaphor

The Emergence of Metaphoric Representations

How We Made Meaning from Our Drawings

What We have Learned from Using Metaphoric Representation

Suggestions for Self-Study Using Metaphoric Representations

Suggestions on How to Develop a Metaphoric Representation

Suggestions on How to Analyze a Metaphoric Representation

Creating Representations: Using Collage in Self-study

Our Context

The Development of our Approach

Literature Informing Our Thinking

Collage and Ontology

Processes in Creating Collage

Variations in Our Personal Collaging Processes

Conclusions

Part IV Self-Study on the Impact of Practiceon Students

How Do I Influence the Generation of Living Educational Theories for Personal and Social Accountability in Improving Practice? Using a Living Theory Methodology in Improving Educational Practice

The Context for the Study

The Research Question(s) that Emerged from the Context

The Evolution of the Methodology Over the Course of the Research

Using a Propositional Perspective in a Living Theory Methodology

Methodological Inventiveness

Action Reflection Cycles

Personal Validation

Social Validation

Using a Dialectical Perspective in a Living Theory Methodology

Using an Inclusional Perspective in a Living Theory Methodology

The Analyses Used to Glean Information from the Research Data

Influence

Narrative

Other Theoretical Perspectives

Concluding Insights

Assumption Interrogation: An Insight into a Self-Study Researcher0s Pedagogical Frame

Introduction

Why Self-Study Methodology?

The Learning Context

Theoretical Position

Roundtable Reflection: Learning Through Reflective Inquiry

Conducting Roundtable Sessions

A Triad of Written Reflection Tools

Description and Analysis of a Data Thread

Freewrites and Critical Incident Questionnaires

Learning Through Self-Study

Conclusion

Teacher Education for Literacy Teaching: Research at the Personal, Institutional, and Collective Levels

Literature Review

Context of the Study

Research Process

Research During the Preservice Program

Surveying and Interviewing the Student Teachers

Interviewing the Instructors

Studying the Beginning Teachers

Developing Interview Questions

Problems with the Interview Questions

Conducting Observations in Classrooms

Analyzing the Data on the New Teachers

Initial Findings: Seven Priorities for Teacher Education

Questions that Emerged

Questions Regarding the Findings

Disseminating Our Findings in Our Institution

Dealing with Sensitive Findings

Questions Regarding the Research Methodology

Influence of Self-Study

Working with Our Cohort of Teachers

Applying Our Learning to Our Work as Teacher Educators

Concluding Comments

Appendix

Author Index

Subject Index