'Is action research easy? No! Is it achievable? Based on the strength of this text, the answer is an unqualified 'yes'. The book is an accessible, thorough and comprehensive guide to both the processes and heavyweight issues involved in action research' - Learning & Teaching Update 'Both the style and the content of this book would seem to make it an excellent core text for PGCE or undergraduate level courses in teacher or student teacher research...It offers an easy-to-follow research approach that allows true reflection on practice' - ESCalate Action Research in the Classroom is an essential guide for any teacher or student-teacher interested in doing research in the classroom. The authors map out an easy-to-follow action research approach that will help teachers improve on their professional practice and evaluate the needs of their pupils and schools for themselves. The process of professional enquiry is an approach that helps teachers to respond to challenges and actively engage with the complexity of their working lives. This book sets out to enhance teachers' problem-solving skills and locate their own activity in a wider context, leading to opportunities to develop practice. Numerous practical tips and examples of real-life action research projects from a range of types of schools make Action Research in the Classroom a must-have text for all teachers and students of education.

Table of Contents

Introduction Action Research and Professional Enquiry Deciding on a Research(able) Question and Choosing Complementary Research Tools Collecting Data from Pupils Collecting Data from Teachers Collecting Data from Parents and Other Adults Interpreting Your Data Sharing Your Findings Moving Forward Classroom Enquiry and Professional Development

Author Biography

I am Professor of Pedagogy, Policy and Innovation in the School of Education and my teaching and research focuses on the role of inquiry in teachers' professional learning. I am interested in the role of universities, and teacher educators in particular, in the creation and translation of knowledge about teaching and learning. This interest is linked to the wider issue of the relationship between theory and practice in professional development. Expertise: qualitative and quantitative measures, research design, narrative interviewing, questionnaire design, analytic frameworks, research management. Research interests: early literacy and language development, parental involvement, adult literacy and family literacy, teacher development and identity, learning and meta-cognition.