Knowing Teaching through Researching and Reflecting on Practice

Knowing Teaching through Researching and Reflecting on Practice

In the field of literacy teaching, effective teachers are recognised as those who know their students and build and adjust their classroom pedagogies so that students are able to achieve academic and social learning outcomes. This is most important in today’s world, where education is increasingly characterised by discourses of data, accountability and audit, and teaching is often described narrowly in technicist terms. It is through research and critical reflection that teachers come to know teaching and to produce knowledge from an insider position (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993). Such practice positions teachers as learners who develop strong theory-practice links, are producers as well as consumers of research knowledge, and expertly shape their practice to meet students’ learning needs. This chapter presents three cases of early childhood teachers working in schools in rural locations. The cases show three different examples of teachers investigating their practices and thus demonstrating how school and classroom change can occur through researching, reflecting on, and knowing teaching.