Chapter 1: Introduction to the 9–12 Volume

What is a teacher’s role in research? Certainly teachers have been the impetus of research studies throughout the history of educational research. They also have been referred to as consumers of research. It is unusual, however, for teachers to be considered producers of research. Yet it is not unusual for teachers to be engaged in inquiry. In fact, some would consider this a fair description of what it means to teach. The difference is that, for most teachers, the process as well as the product of their inquiry is tacit. It may not be well defined in terms of specific research questions or systematic in terms of data collection and analysis. Furthermore, their work may not be presented to colleagues for discussion and review or disseminated for publication. Those scholarly activities have typically not been part of the culture of teaching in most school systems in North America.