Preface About the Authors Part I: The Need for Practitioner Research 1. Educators as Researchers 2. Tailoring Research to Solve Problems 3. Collaborating to Improve Practice 4. Combining Rigor and Respect Part II: Doing Practitioner Research 5. Planning Your Research 6. Purposeful Information Gathering: Interviews and Questionnaires 7. Purposeful Information Gathering: Observations and Other Data Collection Methods 8. Purposeful Data Analysis 9. Communicating Your Research Part III: Practitioner Research and School Improvement 10. Integrating Practitioner Research Schoolwide References Index
Description
Viviane Robinson completed her doctorate at Harvard University and subsequently took a position in the School of Education at the University of Auckland where she is now Professor. She is passionate about doing research that makes a difference to practice, and it is this passion that motivated both this book and her previous, more theoret-ical volume, Problem-Based Methodology: Research for the Improvement of Practice (1993). She has considerable experi-ence in the formative evaluation of school reform initiatives and in teach-ing teachers how to research their own schools and classrooms. She has published extensively about how to understand and close the research-practice gap, and on organizational learning and school improvement. Viviane is the Academic Leader of the induction program for New Zealand's school principals and Director of a master's program in educa-tional management. Mei Kuin Lai completed her doctorate at the University of Auckland and has since worked as an education con-sultant to support practitioners (teachers, principals, administrators) and Ministry of Education officials as they develop inquiry as part of their daily lives. Her cur-rent role at the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland involves bringing the research and practice worlds together by supporting practitioners and educa-tion consultants in embedding inquiry into their current roles and by developing collaborative researcher-practitioner projects that improve teaching and learning. She has had extensive experience in training prac-titioners, particularly those involved in Ministry of Education School Improvement Initiatives, to effectively analyze and use data on student learning to improve school practices. Her work encompasses a variety of school settings across New Zealand, from multicultural urban settings to small rural communities. She is currently in charge of developing a train-ing program for education consultants (School Support Services Facilitators) at the Faculty of Education to develop inquiry as part of their roles.