The Teacher in Teacher-Practitioner Research: Three Principles of Inquiry

This chapter will distil three underlying principles of teacher practitioner research: autonomy; disturbance; and dialogue. These principles have emerged from a range of projects we have undertaken in partnership with teachers at all levels of education. This distillation is not so much about the details of the ‘how’ of teachers’ research into learning and teaching in their own contexts - we (and many others) have written about this elsewhere – but rather about where the questions come from and how meaning is created and communicated. It is about the robust voices of teachers, and the diversity and richness of their research as harnessed through the process of practitioner enquiry. We will therefore explore how meaning is created and communicated by teachers involved and use the principles as a lynch-pin through which we explore their professional learning. The chapter will include some background to explain how we have worked with teachers, as well as narrative, case examples and analysis to illustrate important aspects of an inquiry approach. Most importantly, we’ll include as many voices from our partnerships as possible to reflect the collaboration that made this learning possible.