This Critical Practitioner Inquiry (CPI) Newsletter is a forum for exchanging ideas and experiences about CPI in different universities worldwide. This first edition of the newsletter contains the following articles: (1) Critical Practitioner Inquiry--Working Against the Grain (Lars Dahlstrom), which explains the concept of CPI; (2) Critical…

This paper looks at some of the commonly experienced challenges and rewards reported by teachers who have reflected in writing on their first experiences with the Project Approach. The work of two groups of teachers is reported here. One group consisted of 12 teachers in Texas, who implemented the Project Approach in their classrooms following a…

This paper discusses how deliberation and critical reflection contribute to the quality of teachers' work. The paper defines deliberation and notes factors that could interfere with the process. The paper then examines critical reflection theory, differentiating three types of assumptions, and highlighting four "lenses" that can help the…

Teacher's function as a researcher has been the subject of heated debates during the last two decades.The advocates argue that education can not be conceived as a scientific domain within the positivistic paradigm. They put emphasis on the intricacies and uncertainties associated with teaching circumstances and invite teachers to participate in…

Reflection requires time. In one class, students were asked to engage in a process of written reflection about the writing they had done immediately after they prepared their papers, as they sat in class preparing to hand in those papers. Reflective writing, which Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff call "process writing," appears throughout…

This paper presents the voices of California beginning teachers who completed focus group discussions on their perceptions of their own development as reflective practitioners, analyzing the nature and extent of teachers' thinking. Teachers were part of the California Formative Assessment and Support System for Teachers (CFASST), which is framed…

This report examines the feasibility of using a measurement instrument, the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), to catalyze teacher self-reflective change. RTOP was used in a summer course as a tool to help understand and even operationally define reform teaching. RTOP assesses four major pedagogical domains: (1) lesson design and…

This paper describes a collaborative action research study involving a university professor/researcher and novice teachers (final sample of seven) in classroom-based inquiry to enhance personal practice that would impact on student outcomes. As the teachers were coached and mentored through the various stages of the action research process to…

The hectic pace and rigid structures in many of today's schools make it difficult for educators to take time to reflect and learn. Experience is not enough. Reflection on experience is the pathway to improvement. Reflection provides a means for examining beliefs, assumptions, and practices. It can also result in the discovery of incongruities…

Describes and discusses the term "reflective practice," discussing John Dewey's and Donald Schon's statements on the term and levels or stages of reflective practice as understood by M. Van Mannen and by P. King and K. Kitchener. Discusses a teacher's reflective practices. (SR)

Examined the beliefs about knowing and learning among six toddler caregivers as well as their conceptions of good caregiving. Found that two caregivers held relativistic epistemological beliefs and four held multiplistic and mixed epistemological beliefs. The latter group lacked the same degree of reflectivity as the former group. Caregivers with…

Argues that schools will largely fail in their efforts to improve the moral and emotional growth of students if they do not attend to the moral and ethical development of teachers, especially urban teachers, who suffer from depression and disillusionment, the two primary causes of which are isolation and stress induced by problem students.…

Focus groups with beginning teachers examined their perceptions of their own development as reflective practitioners while participating in the California Formative Assessment and Support System for Teachers (CFASST). While teachers often expressed their proclivity to be reflective educators, CFASST's systematic structure and support allowed them…

Discusses some recent trends in teacher certification and professional development and the impact they have had on literacy instruction in schools. Argues for a multifaceted approach to meet the demand for high-quality teachers. Discusses alternative pathways to licensure. (SG)

An integrative approach views professional development for adult educators as learner centered and transformative; it should address motivation and technology. A new vision of professional development reconceptualizes the process to include understanding of contexts, active learning, reflection, and dialogue. (SK)