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to Spring Innovator From the Dean: On Learning from Our Teaching
A new generation of education scholars has emerged—one that includes among its ranks talented and experienced public school teachers
who have also immersed themselves in research methods. These teachers-turned-researchers
are transforming teacher education programs, and establishing deep ties with
their colleagues in pre-K-12 contexts—in order to ask critical questions,
and to pursue inquiry that leads to improved student learning. This phenomenon
is not limited to the realm of pre-K through12th grade education, however;
scholars in higher education have also come to see the value of studying one’s
own practice and reflecting on student learning and achievement. A
key benefit is practical: by studying the impact of our teaching, we can improve
it, for the sakes of our students.
The University of Michigan School of Education is fortunate to have a significant number of such risk-taking scholars—early career faculty Robert Bain, Betsy Davis, and Lesley Rex have joined some of the pioneers of this movement, also on our faculty: Deborah Ball, Magdalene Lampert, and Annemarie Palincsar in Education Studies, and Patricia King and Constance Cook in Higher Education, among others. In this issue of Innovator, we highlight their contributions and explore the theme, “Learning From Our Teaching.”
It’s not easy to study teaching while one is immersed in doing teaching! In a chapter entitled “Working on the Inside: Using One’s Own Practice as a Site for Studying Teaching and Learning,” Deborah Ball notes that “researchers using this approach must be able to treat their experiments, settings, and work as matters for scrutiny. They must be able to view the teaching, the students, and the learning in the context of, but also apart from, their efforts and desires. For example, when examining videotape from his classroom, the researcher teacher must cultivate a stance of inquiry and curiosity and must overcome a natural urge to defend against questions others raise…At the same time, to silence the interior voice, to deny the personal is to undo the very project of first-person research, shutting out part of what is experienced on the inside.” (In Kelly, A. and Lesh, R. (Eds) Handbook of research design in mathematics and science education, 2000; p. 392) How does a teacher gain this kind of balanced perspective on her work?
For one thing, she begins to regard everything as data: lesson plans, student work, test scores, observational notes. For another, she begins to use some of the contemporary tools of research: video cameras, tape recorders, even transcription devices. And she enlists her colleagues and even her students as co-researchers—she begins to realize that if she opens her classroom door to other pairs of eyes, her own vision begins to improve.
Also in this issue of Innovator, we introduce you to the School’s new Director of Advancement, Stephen Bates. And we announce the launch of our fund-raising campaign: “A World of Difference,” which is part of the University’s campaign, “The Michigan Difference.” With your help and generosity, The University of Michigan School of Education will fulfill its rich potential, spreading its vision of research-based teaching and powerful student learning at all levels across the state and nation. Join us in extending educational opportunity to those most in need by contributing your ideas and your dollars.
