Describes the "Book Club Plus Inquiry Group," a group of classroom teachers and university teacher educators in Michigan involved in practitioner research. Offers perspectives from the group on the question of what counts as teacher research. Concludes with a model of their conception. (SR)

Makes visible how a linguistically diverse group of teachers who were themselves fearful of writing and teaching writing became engaged in writing their own stories. Considers differences and similarities in diverse cultures among the teachers. Notes that as teachers explore the "inscape" of their own cultural and personal stories, memory bridges…

Shares how the author's process of self-study led to the development of a planning framework that protected her from mandated packaged teaching programs. Suggests tips for starting and sustaining teaching journals. Describes the steps she took to approach the structured teaching plan of her new school that differed greatly from her holistic…

Presents a case study of one fourth-grade teacher researcher. Documents the teacher's initial reticence toward teacher research, how being part of a group was central to her participation, and how her preferences for methods of data collection and methods for presenting teacher research findings differed from the preferred methods of the group…

Shares how a fourth-grade teacher learned to use whole-class "Spelling Meetings" as a focus of her spelling instruction. Describes initiating spelling notebooks, the first spelling meeting, and subsequent ones as both teacher and students found their way, making adjustments and finding new directions, and having students catch themselves using a…

Surveys parents to discover their perceptions of spelling and spelling instruction. Notes parents see spelling as critically important, want time in school devoted to spelling instruction, want to see a grade in spelling on students' report cards, and see reading and writing as the primary ways in which children learn to spell. Describes effects…

Writing is a powerful social tool that offers students opportunities to chisel their identities as they position themselves and others on issues and beliefs (Dyson, 1992). This article presents the story of how Mark, a fifth-grade student who resisted writing in certain classroom contexts, used positional writing practices to shape his identities.…

Tim O'Keefe, Rise Reinier and Kevin Gallagher, Bruce Morgan, Julia Lopez-Robertson, Donna Santman, JoAnn Wong-Kam, Sharon Hill, and Linda Christensen provide short essays describing their personal visions of possibility about literacy and how they maintain that passion and vision. Across a range of contexts, they reflect on the ways in which their…

Educational practice has focused primarily upon a transmission model of education dealing with dominant, mainstream, western ideology. This model often alienates student learners due to the absence of cultural relevance. This article focuses on a theoretical framework teachers in Hawaii are using to become transformative practitioners who promote…

Recounts the complications that arose when the author's teacher research began to focus on issues of institutional racism within the school in which she worked. Discusses the politics of studying one's own site, and the dilemmas and risks in that process. Explores the issues involved in teacher research that is oriented toward school change and…