Living the Questions: A Guide for Teacher-Researchers

by Ruth Shagoury Hubbard, Brenda Miller Power

Most of all, teacher research is a gift: to the profession, in helping us change the way we see old problems and bringing us new solutions; to research communities, in showing us new research strategies and how to take risks in writing up research; to ourselves, in reminding us of the energy and passion in learning that made us teachers in the first place. It is a gift that we're all working hard for...
from Living the Questions

Teachers know that the research they undertake in their own classrooms is a powerful tool for many purposes—from finding the best way to teach a subject, to organizing student work and activities, to assessing children's learning. And like traditional approaches to inquiry, teacher research is more than a way of thinking: it involves specific procedures and practices that lead to positive changes in teaching and learning.

Living the Questions is the definitive resource for the methods of teacher research. With a consistent tone that is eloquent and passionate, this guide for novice and veteran teacher-researchers will challenge and inspire educators at all levels to see the potential for inquiry in their lives.

Part research text, part contributed collection, Living the Questions includes:


research strategies illustrated in hands-on workshops;
sample projects from twenty-eight contributing teachers in grades K-college;
guidelines for setting up schoolwide inquiry groups;
practical strategies for managing time and resources in research projects;
innovative ideas for enlisting students and colleagues as co-researchers;
ethical considerations in teacher research projects;
advice from veteran teacher-researchers on building regional and national support networks;
suggestions for getting research published;
internet resources for teacher-researchers;
the role of administrators in fostering teacher research.
Teachers, school inquiry groups, and professors of research courses in education will find Living the Questions a rich source of ideas and processes for developing inquiry skills. This book will also help educators at all levels understand how and why teacher research is transforming the lives of so many teachers.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Grad School

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

See Ruth Shagoury

Reviews

[Syd]

Read for my master's research class. Actually conducting the research study next semester 😨

[Rachel]

I enjoyed it. Seeing other teacher-researchers' diaries was helpful.

[NAOMI POINDEXTER]

Used in Teacher Research class

[Eliana]

Did not read this book in full, but read portions for my grad class. I thought it was good to discuss teacher inquiry, but it did not feel as generative as other pedagogical texts I have read.

[Kim]

Reading for my final master's course.

[Mrs V's Reviews]

I read the second edition (but I could not find it listed here) and blogged about it here:
http://www.snapshotsofmrsv.blogspot.c...

[Natalie]

Read exactly one chapter of this for grad school and I don't even remember what it said.

[Jennifer]

It was a very dry read, and I wouldn't have finished it if it weren't required for professional development.