Action Research for Teachers: Traveling The Yellow Brick Road - Softcover

Arhar, Joanne M.; Holly, Mary Louise; Kasten, Wendy C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0137692250 ISBN 13: 9780137692255

Publisher: Pearson, 2000

Synopsis

Appropriate for courses in action research or for use as a supplement to any methods course.

This text serves as a practical guide for practicing teachers and student teachers to conduct action research in educational settings. Unique in its approach, this guide weaves wonderful metaphors from the Wizard of Oz throughout its entirety. It literally takes readers on an exciting journey with Dorothy and her friends to discover all facets of action research. It offers step-by-step guidance through the action research process, complete coverage of theories, and plenty of real-life examples to equip teachers with the tools they'll need to successfully conduct action research.

About this title

About the Author:

Joanne M. Arhar started her career as an English teacher at a high school in the Cleveland area. What was most rewarding was working collaboratively with colleagues on interdisciplinary projects. After twelve years, she decided to work as an administrator at both the middle and high school levels, developing curriculum, facilitating the change from a junior high to a middle school concept, and supporting teachers in interdisciplinary teaming. During her doctoral program at the University of Cincinnati, she studied the ways in which teams in both schools and industry developed to create a more supportive and productive working and learning environment. Following graduate school, she taught in the Educational Leadership department at the University of South Florida and later moved to Kent State University where she currently coordinates the Middle Childhood Education program and teaches courses in teaching studies, teacher action research, and middle grades education. Her scholarship continues to revolve around ways in which teachers can provide curricular leadership in an era of standards and accountability.

Mary Louise Holly is professor in the department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies, and director of Kent State University's Faculty Professional Development Center. Her career began in 1968 as an elementary school art consultant. She became a classroom teacher of young children, and later a professor of curriculum and teaching. Her study of professional development led her as a visiting scholar to two institutions known for action research: the Centre for Applied Research in Education at the University of East Anglia in England, and the School of Education at Deakin University in Australia. Early in her career Mary Lou began documenting and learning from her teaching using artistic and qualitative methods. This introduced her to action research and laid a foundation for later work with adults using life history and biographical methods. Related works include: Writing to Grow: Keeping a Personal-Professional Journal (Heinemann, 1989) and Perspectives on Teacher Professional Development with Caven McLoughlin (Falmer Press, 1989).

Wendy C. Kasten is a professor of Curriculum and Instruction in Literacy at Kent State University, teaching the action research course for the graduate program in reading specialization. At KSU since 1995, Kasten has taught elementary school in Maine, and higher education at the University of South Florida, University of Maine, and at Deakin University in Australia. She earned her PhD degree from the University of Arizona's program in Language and Literacy in 1984, where she was a graduate teaching and research assistant. Kasten is active in the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Reading Conference and the Whole Language Umbrella. She is the 1997-2001 President of the Center for the Expansion of Language and Thinking (CELT), an invitation-only collective of literacy educators in multiple countries who share holistic and constructivist views of learning. She is co-author of The Multi-age Classroom: A Family of Learners (with B. Clarke, 1993, Richard C. Owen Publishers) and Implementing Multi-age education: A Practical Guide (with E. Lolli,1998, Christopher-Gordon Publishers) and many chapters and articles on literacy topics. Her next book, A Children's Literature Text she is writing with Janice V Kristo, will be published by Merrill/Prentice-Hall.

From the Back Cover:

Using a metaphorical picture of self-reflection as an intriguing journey,Action Research for Teachers: Traveling the Yellow Brick Road is written to serve as a problem solving tool for literacy educators.  The authors begin by explaining the importance of action research as a critical phase of reflective practice. Detailed definitions of research stages are followed by concise ‘stepping stones” explaining in simple terms how to engage in each stage of action research.  Five case studies of practicing literacy teachers scaffold the action research process and illustrate how to integrate it into everyday teaching practice. New to this edition is a case study done solely within an electronic teaching and learning environment.

Highlighting instructional self-improvement, this text assists teachers in becoming adept at using students and colleagues as resources in their action research journey. The book provides a clear and thorough set of directives for determining a research plan, organizing the research, developing evaluation tools, and synthesizing the resulting data. Action Research for Teachers: Traveling the Yellow Brick Road is a linchpin in the instructional advancement of any reading professional.  

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0137692250
• ISBN 13: 9780137692255
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 346