Learning from Self-Study: Gaining Knowledge about How Fourth Graders Move from Relational Description to Algebraic Generalization
- 1 July 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Harvard Education Publishing Group in Harvard Educational Review
- Vol. 75 (2), 202-221
- https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.75.2.l10727jj72082n10
Abstract
In this article, Laura Grandau traces a self-study research project-focused on teaching algebra to fourth-grade students. Facing a new curriculum and a new grade level, Grandau considers what good instruction and "good habits of practice" may be. Through journaling, videos, observations, analysis of students' verbal and written responses, and consultations with her "critical friend" Sean (also a teacher), Grandau develops a "critical distance" from her teaching. Mile doing this reflective work, she negotiates the ambiguities of teaching and learning. Although Grandau's work is of interest to teachers of mathematics, those in critical friend or peer mentoring relationships, and teacher researchers, it also serves as a model of how inquiry teaches, fostering growth in teachers, students, and communities of practice.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Teacher research as professional development for P–12 educators in the USA[1]Educational Action Research, 2003
- American Educational Research AssociationEducational Researcher, 1999
- Communities for Teacher Research: Fringe or Forefront?American Journal of Education, 1992