This article identifies personal practical theories (PPT) held by a teacher educator and several of his students in a graduate curriculum course. Implications of including action research in graduate coursework for inservice teachers, student projects, and a curriculum development model are discussed. (IAH)

Explores how a commitment to privacy inhibits the ability of teachers to learn from each other, to reflect on their own practices, or to engage in classroom-based research. Reports on a case study involving interviews with two teachers. Analyzes their commitment to privacy as a function of adaptation to school conditions. (KO)

A Kentucky kindergarten teacher describes the conceptualization, planning, and implementation of a writing program she designed for her students. She discusses the impact of writing activities on reading, phonics, and spelling development. Included are samples of pupil writing and an explanatory letter to parents explaining the program. (IAH)

An eighth-grade language-arts teacher describes action research she conducted with her class of "bums." She sought to determine what environmental factors in the classroom might influence motivation and what types of rewards are effective. (IAH)

The potential contribution of action research to professionalizing teaching is discussed and related to three types of collaboration which are distinguished by roles of participants, degree of institutional support, topics addressed, and type of focus. Also considered is the potential role of action research in encouraging reflective practice.…

Reports a participatory action research (PAR) project carried out by the FAGOR group of the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque provinces of Spain. Finds the experience to be most stimulating and intellectually engaging while noting that it is both emotionally and physically exhausting. Points out that PAR's impact has been uneven. (KO)

Focuses on the international industry of merchant shipping to explore strategies used to promote organizational change over the past 20 years. This case study emphasizes the advantages of melding knowledge and action in participatory action. Points out the importance of the design and management of industry-level forums in assuring the success.…

Classroom action research provides preservice and inservice teachers with a valuable form of teacher-centered professional development. Results of a case study are related; action research was applied to the question of student cooperation in an elementary classroom. The research format includes four stages: plan, act, observe, reflect. (IAH)

Describes how action research as a model for professional development helped teachers enrolled in a graduate course at the University of Nevada Las Vegas gain insight into the process of school change and provided them with opportunities to facilitate change involving the implementation of technology in specific school contexts. (Contains 26…

Describes a five-year research and development project that led to the creation of a decoding program for poor readers in grades one through eight. Uses action research as a means of developing the program and modifying the research. Finds that the word identification program enabled students to become better decoders and allowed them to make…

Reviews three books that encourage practioners to be researchers of their own practice. Discusses absolutist and relativist approaches to research by examining assumptions related to questions the research generates. Recommends unification of practitioner and researcher roles through a dialectic, critical, reflective orientation that strives for…

An overview is presented on action research and practical inquiry, with attention to the initial phase of starting this approach, gathering data, analyzing the results, sharing findings, and judging the quality of action research and practical inquiry. Gifted education practitioners are encouraged to share action research findings. (SW)

Specific points of question and concern are presented in response to Stephen Fawcett's paper on community research and action values (EC 602 711). These include who decides on community intervention priorities? who should be the target of preventive interventions? and what about problems that cannot be solved with local resources? (JDD)

Describes the Information Technology (IT) in Mathematics Project in Great Britain, which surveyed the extent to which IT was used in the teaching of mathematics and examined the extent to which IT skills could or should be taught within mathematics. Experiences with spreadsheets and LOGO are described. (seven references) (LRW)

The Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics studied underrepresentation of women in scientific, technical, and vocational training in nine African countries, identifying barriers and targeting four areas for change: national policy, elementary/secondary education, vocational-technical training systems, and private sector employment. (SK)