In this paper, we investigate the content and structure of teachers' pedagogical values. We have used the process of value clarification with 24 teachers to encourage them to recognize and articulate their own values and beliefs related to their professional morality and to their school community. This paper examines both the normative and…

The educational challenges faced today are driving us toward a new step in the evolution of educational theory and practice. Educators are called to go beyond simply presenting alternatives, to integrating the best of mainstream and alternative approaches and taking them to the next level. "Integral Education" accomplishes this by…

The third annual conference of the National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) was held at Trinity College Dublin on 11-12 November 2009, and was attended by over 300 delegates. The theme--"Research-Teaching Linkages: Practice and Policy"--was timely and generated some fascinating papers, workshops and…

This case study discusses a collaborative three year project involving two school clusters located in the North Island and South Island of New Zealand. The project was named "Project ACTIVate" and its main thrust was to study how the use of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) combined with teaching, learning and research across schools. The…

Ubiquitous computing and mobile technologies provide a new perspective for designing innovative outdoor learning experiences. The purpose of this study is to propose a formative assessment design for integrating PDAs into ecology observations. Three learning activities were conducted in this study. An action research approach was applied to…

The paper will present findings from a Social Science and Humanities Research (SSHRC) funded participatory evaluation conducted over the past four years in the Cree nation of Wemindji in Quebec, Canada. COOL (Challenging Our Own Limits) or "Nigawchiisuun" in Cree, was launched in 2003 as part of a broader program of governance…

Appropriate classroom assessment now tends to utilize formative measures with greater frequency, especially in the early grades and with learner groups at risk of not passing state-mandated standardized tests. Within the authentic context of an action research project, teacher candidates were given handheld computers equipped with data-collection…

An action research project set out to increase students' writing fluency and investigate whether writing fluency varies as a function of writing prompts and directions given to students. Subjects were 62 students in a first-grade class, a second-grade class, and a fifth/sixth-grade Special Day class (all in this class are learning disabled) in a…

Qualitative research is research that attempts not only to understand the world, but also to understand it through the eyes of the participants whose world it is. Consequently, qualitative research must occur in a natural setting. The study begins, not with hypotheses to be proved or disproved, but with a flexible plan to explore a phenomenon.…

A new paradigm of educational research is presented that is grounded in the living educational theories that educational action researchers produce for their own professional learning. In this new paradigm there is no one theoretical framework. Each individual action researcher is creating his or her own living theory in the explanations for their…

Program development evaluation should focus on articulating theoretical rationales for program design and activities. To assist the managers of 17 school-based delinquency prevention projects (School Action Effectiveness Study) in developing theories of action, the Program Development Evaluation (PDE) method was utilized. To construct the…

Dropout classification systems must be standardized, updated, and simplified to accurately reflect conditions of student departures from school; current, nonstandardized systems allow gathered data to be biased and of poor quality. Improvements will inform administrators of the specific causes behind students' early withdrawals--whether students…

A study examined the impact of assuming the role of action researcher in one's own classroom as an example of inquiry-oriented, professional staff development. The study was a part of a comprehensive, longitudinal investigation of the impact of certain professional development experiences on K-12 classroom teachers. A review of the literature and…

Action research is the process by which practitioners (such as teachers and principals) attempt to study their problems in context in order to more accurately evaluate them and to make informed decisions. The humanistic research approach not only revives useful action research strategies, but refines and revises them with the intent of making…

An action research study that offered students in sixth form, college of education, and university a framework and context for exploring and reviewing their reading-for-learning competencies led to significant improvement on a battery of measures. This paper draws attention to and makes explicit the psychosocial events within the action research…