A teacher with a new Ph.D. recounts her experience in returning to her previous role as a full-time teacher as she attempts also to conduct a teacher research program. She recounts her previous unsatisfactory experience co-teaching on a part-time basis while doing graduate research and her realization of the need to be the real teacher to conduct such research. In her role as teacher of a combined kindergarten/first grade class, she identifies tensions between the explicit expectations of teachers held by universities and school districts and the implicit understanding parents have of teachers' responsibilities to their children. She found that the demands and expectations of being a full-time teacher impinged greatly on her ability to function as a researcher. Of particular importance were parental concerns when research activities drew time away from the classroom. Major barriers to teacher research are institutional constraints, time limitations, and parental expectations. In order to enable "real" teachers to engage in teacher research, she stresses the need for both the explicit and the implicit understanding of the job of teacher to be broadened to make room for this aspect of reflective professional practice. (ND)