This is a book designed with the teacher educator in mind. It provides in depth examination of specific methods used effectively in self-study research. The chapters are written by researchers engaged in self-study of their practice.

Offer novice and experienced teachers guidelines for the "how" and "why" to do self-study teacher research Designed to help teachers plan, implement, and assess a manageable self-study research project, this unique textbook covers the foundation, history, theoretical underpinnings, and methods of self-study research. Written in a reader-friendly style and filled with interactive activities and examples, this book helps teachers every step of the way as they plan and conduct their studies. Author Anastasia Samaras encourages readers to think deeply about both the "how" and the "why" of this essential professional development tool as they pose questions and formulate personal theories to improve professional practice. Key Features A Self-Study Project Planner assists teachers in understanding both the details and process of conducting self-study research. A Critical Friends Portfolio includes innovative critical collaborative inquiries to support the completion of a high quality final research project. Advice from the most senior self-study academics working in the U.S. and internationally is included, along with descriptions of the self-study methodology that has been refined over time. Examples demonstrate the connections between self-study research, teachers′ professional growth, and their students′ learning. Tables, charts, and visuals help readers see the big picture and stay organized. Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries! A Student Study Site offers a wealth of resources, including additional examples and activities, web-based resources, study questions, and key terms. Intended Audience Self-Study Teacher Research: Improving Your Practice Through Collaborative Inquiry is intended as a core textbook for a wide variety of courses in the education curriculum, including Action Research, Qualitative Research Methods, Research Methods in Education, and the capstone/teacher researcher course required of all early childhood, elementary, and secondary education majors.

Teacher educators live hectic lives at institutional and discipline boundaries. Our greatest potential for influence is through developing relationships with others in our practice. Our work is fundamentally relational and emotional. We are obligated to the teachers we teach and the public students they teach. Our practice exists in the midst of experience, conflicting and often hostile boundaries, and between what we know from research and what we understand from practice. Self-study of practice invites researchers to embrace the hectic and fragmented territory of practice as the space for study. This book educates those who would like to explore practice in the methodology of self-study. It provides both a pragmatic and theoretic guide. It grounds the research in ontology and establishes dialogue as the inquiry process. It supports researchers through the use of frameworks to guide research and explication of strategies for conducting it.

Study Research Methodologies for Teacher Educators is a comprehensive text that delineates a range of research methodologies. This edited volume, with many chapters written by self-study scholars who are noted in the field for particular methodological and epistemological perspectives, helps fill the gap in the literature on self-study research methods.

Self-Study of Teaching Practices is an excellent introduction to the field of self-study research and practice. This student- and teacher-friendly primer provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of the self-study literature, complete with guidelines and examples of cutting-edge self-study methods. It addresses four central areas of self-study of teaching practices: purposes, foundations, nature, and guidelines for practice. School-based and university-based teachers interested in rethinking and reframing their instructional methods will benefit from reading this book and assigning it in the classroom. This primer, which includes glossaries and references, is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate education students searching for guidelines to develop and improve their teaching practice.

Research Methods in Education introduces research methods as an integrated set of techniques for investigating questions about the educational world. This lively, innovative text helps students connect technique and substance, appreciate the value of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and make ethical research decisions. It weaves actual research "stories" into the presentation of research topics, and it emphasizes validity, authenticity, and practical significance as overarching research goals. The text is divided into three sections: Foundations of Research (5 chapters), Research Design and Data Collection (7 chapters), and Analyzing and Reporting Data (3 chapters). This tripartite conceptual framework honors traditional quantitative approaches while reflecting the growing popularity of qualitative studies, mixed method designs, and school-based techniques. This approach provides a comprehensive, conceptually unified, and well-written introduction to the exciting but complex field of educational research.

The International Handbook on Self-study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices is of interest to teacher educators, teacher researchers and practitioner researchers. This volume: -offers an encyclopaedic review of the field of self-study; -examines in detail self-study in a range of teaching and teacher education contexts; -outlines a full understanding of the nature and development of self-study; -explores the development of a professional knowledge base for teaching through self-study; -purposefully represents self-study through research and practice; -illustrates examples of self-study in teaching and teacher education.

Case Study Research in Practice explores the theory and practice of case study research. Helen Simons draws on her extensive experience of teaching and conducting case study to provide a comprehensive and practical account of how to design, conduct and communicate case study research. It addresses questions often raised by students and common misconceptions about case research. In four sections the book covers - Rationale, concept and design of case study research - Methods, ethics and reflexivity in case study - Interpreting, analyzing and reporting the case - Generalizing and theorizing in case study research Rich with 'tales from the field' and summary memos as an aide-memoire to future action, the book provides fresh insights and challenges for researchers to guide their practice of case study research. This is an ideal text for those studying and conducting case study research in education, health and social care, and related social science disciplines. Helen Simons is Professor Emeritus of Education University of Southampton

Self-study is inherently collaborative. Such collaboration provides transparency, validity, rigor and trustworthiness in conducting self-study. However, the ways in which these collaborations are enacted have not been sufficiently addressed in the self-study literature. This book addresses these gaps in the literature by placing critical friendship, collaborative self-study and community of practice at the forefront of the self-study of teaching. It highlights these forms of collaboration, how the collaboration was developed and enacted, the challenges and tensions that existed in the collaboration, and how practice and identity developed through the use of these forms of collaboration. The chapters serve as exemplars of enacting these forms of collaboration and provide researchers with an additional base of literature to draw upon in their scholarly writing, teaching of self-study, and their enactment of collaborative self-study spaces.

A consideration of how self-study using arts-based methods can enable purposeful reflection toward understanding and envisioning professional practice. Professional practice is increasingly becoming more complex, demanding, dynamic, and diverse, and the fluctuating nature of professional practice necessitates the pursuit of discernment and clarity through ongoing reflective practice. Ideal for visual arts practitioners of all levels, this book presents a self-study model grounded in compelling research that highlights arts-based methods for examining four areas of professional practice: professional identities, work cultures, change and transitions, and new pathways. Each chapter focuses on a component of the self-study model and an area of professional practice. Additional chapters are devoted to artistic materials and research methods for interpreting self-study artifacts with the aim of goal setting. Throughout the text, charts and end-of-chapter prompts summarize key points, and images by visual arts practitioners represent a wide range of artistic media, methods, and approaches appropriate for self-study. The appendices provide additional resources for enhanced understanding of chapter concepts and key terms, guidelines, and rubrics for writing reflections, creating visual responses, and using a visual journal in the self-study process.