Unexpected Outcomes: Classroom-Based Research and Social Justice

• In Event: 66.058 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 66.058-17 - Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools

Abstract

Classroom-based research provides teachers an opportunity to systematically engage in critically reflective practice focused on enhancing teaching practice and improving student learning. Within urban school settings, findings often direct teachers beyond the classroom to issues of equity and social justice. This paper analyzes findings from 19 classroom-based research assignments completed in urban schools focused on teaching and learning outcomes. The results indicate teachers implicitly recognize the impact of curricular and policy directives on student outcomes and instructional practice related to issues of equity and social justice. This suggests teacher education programs need to assist preservice and inservice teachers in making explicit these tacit notions in the implications of classroom-based research in order to address inequities in urban schools.

Author

• Ronald Beebe, University of Houston - Downtown