NCSALL

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Practitioner Research, Practitioner Knowledge

The Connecting Practice, Policy, and Research initiative uses an inquiry approach to connecting practice and research. Practitioners learn about new research and then inquire about how this research might be used in their own practice. In study circles this inquiry might or might not lead to change in practice. In the Practitioner Research, Practitioner Knowledge projects the inquiry includes implementation of some change in practice and a report on that change.

Teachers in the Northwest Practitioner Knowledge Institute learned about ESL research, made a change in their own practice, documented what happened when they made the change, and shared this knowledge in final reports. They developed and documented “practitioner knowledge” developed from learning about others' research.

Teachers in the Minnesota Practitioner Research in Reading Project and the Practitioner Dissemination and Research Network learned about others' research and also conducted research of their own. After learning about new research findings in reading or learner persistence, these teachers developed a research question on one of these topics, planned an intervention or change in their own practice, collected data on what happened as a result, analyzed these data and reported their findings.

The primary purpose of practitioner knowledge projects and practitioner research is professional development for the practitioners taking part, but these approaches also contribute to the knowledge base available to other teachers and researchers. For more information about practitioner research see Practitioner Research as Staff Development: A Facilitator's Guide. [Opens in new window. Close to return.]

Click on a topic to learn more about the projects and to read the teachers' reports.