http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/12037621

Developing hypotheses about classrooms from teachers' practical constructs an account of the work of the Ford Teaching Project

This study reports on attempts to involve forty British teachers in a program of research into implementing inquiry/discovery approaches to teaching in classrooms, following the failure of a previous curriculum reform movement at the implementation stage. It was hypothesized that a fundamental problem of curriculum reform lies in the clash between reform theory and theory implicit (often unconsciously) in teachers' practice, and that fundamental change in classroom practice can only be brought about if teachers become conscious of the theories that guide their practice and are able to reflect critically about them. Organizational structure of the study is described, including (1) a focus on practitioner-defined, practical problems; (2) collaboration between researchers and practitioners; and (3) a concern for generalizability. A second-order, action research role for the investigators is also presented: how can one initiate teachers into the activity of reflecting about their practice? Theoretical concepts of classroom structure used by the teachers were clarified and explicitly formulated, and used as the basis for teacher-teacher/teacher-researcher discussion. The criteria for testing practical theories of inquiry/discovery teaching are also outlined. Triangulation (observation from the viewpoint of three separate groups) was chosen as the main strategy for teacher monitoring, and its use is illustrated. Six hypotheses relating to teacher self-observation/self-criticism/change developed during the project are presented, as are as forty-three hypotheses on the second-order action research role of the research team. (Mjb).

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