Content area
Full text
Teacher research in early childhood education involves a systematic and sustained study of some aspect of teaching and learning with young children and their families. These teacher research studies are grounded in the daily lives of children and based on the insights of the teachers or caregivers who work with them.
With this article Young Children introduces an online feature, Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education. It will appear periodically in Beyond the Journal, Young Children on the Web, which includes articles and useful resources readers can download and print to read, share with colleagues and families, and use for staff development and college courses.
What is teacher research?
A preschool or primary grade teacher, an infant/ toddler caregiver, a family child care provider, or a home visitor begins an inquiry by asking a genuine question about the work in which she or he is engaged with children and families. The teacher examines a problem from many perspectives, collects and interprets data, and reflects on the findings. Thus teacher research in early childhood education provides unique insider perspectives on real issues in early care and education settings.
Children are at the forefront of teacher research. Children's voices are heard through their own words and gestures, photos, and drawings, or any other ways by which they are best portrayed. Unlike traditional university-based educational research, children and families are not just the subjects of this research; they are participants and often coresearchers. In this way teacher research is participatory, inclusive of differences, and democratic in nature.
Designing teacher research
Teacher research projects are designed to help teachers become more responsive to children. Teachers gain new ways of seeing children and develop deeper understandings of children's feelings and growth.
Research questions can begin simply enough: "Should we allow pretend gunplay in any circumstances?" "How can I use storytelling to build literacy among bilingual preschoolers?" "What is it about me or my caregiving that lets me build securely attached relationships with toddlers?" As teachers begin to observe closely, they see children's development played out in highly contextual situations, always influenced by the potentially overlapping cultures of their home and school lives.
Teacher research can appear in a variety of formats. The following five brief examples and one longer summary...