Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research in the Next Generation (Practitioners Inquiry)

Sequel to the bestseller Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge


''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


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 across 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 theater 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.