Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research for the Next Generation

Marilyn Cochran-Smith · Susan L. Lytle

apr. 2015 · Teachers College Press

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In this long-awaited sequel to Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge, two leaders in the field of practitioner research offer a radically different view of the relationship of knowledge and practice and of the role of practitioners in educational change. In their new book, the authors put forward the notion of inquiry as stance as a challenge to the current arrangements and outcomes of schools and other educational contexts. They call for practitioner researchers in local settings across the United States and around the world to ally their work with others as part of larger social and intellectual movements for social change and social justice. Part I is a set of five essays that conceptualize inquiry as a stance and as a transformative theory of action that repositions the collective intellectual capacity of practitioners. Part II is a set of eight chapters written by eight differently positioned practitioners who are or were engaged in practitioner research in K–12 schools or teacher education. Part III offers a unique format for exploring inquiry as stance in the next generation—a readers’ theatre script that juxtaposes and co-mingles 20 practitioners’ voices in a performance-oriented format. Together the three parts of the book point to rich possibilities for practitioner inquiry in the next generation.

Contributors: Rebecca Akin, Gerald Campano, Delvin Dinkins, Kelly A. Harper, Gillian Maimon, Gary McPhail, Swati Mehta, Rob Simon,and Diane Waff

“Cochran-Smith and Lytle once again prove themselves to be among the best at melding theory and practice. Instead of merely making the case for practitioner inquiry they go the next step to show us exactly what this genre brings to our field—rigor, relevance, and passion. The interplay of conceptual clarity and powerful exemplars make this a text we will read well into the next decade.”
—Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“Once again, Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan Lytle point the way to new and hopeful understandings of practitioner research. Rather than blame teachers for all that is wrong with education, they and their fellow authors remind us that if school reform is to have any chance of fulfilling its stated goal of equal opportunity for all students, teachers must have a significant voice in research, policy, and practice. With its focus on social justice and its view of practitioner research as transformative, this is a powerful and welcome sequel to their classic Inside/Outside.”
—Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“Inquiry as Stance should be a blockbuster. This brilliant sequel re-calibrates relationships between practitioner inquiry and social justice.”
—Carole Edelsky, Professor Emerita, Arizona State University

“This optimistic and generous book is sure to become a central reference for teacher-researchers in K–16 schools and their colleagues and supporters throughout the system.”
—Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Director, National Programs and Site Development, National Writing Project, University of California, Berkeley

“This view of the intellectual and personal work of teaching is a major counter to the contemporary emphasis on testing and packaged curricula.”
—Cynthia Ballenger, reading specialist, Cambridge Public Schools

“Once again Cochran-Smith, Lytle, and their colleagues bring us an invaluable book on the enormous possibilities of practitioner research.”

—Luis C. Moll, College of Education, University of Arizona