Studying the teacher's life and work

Abstract

This paper is primarily concerned with exploring the question of which strategic focus might be employed when teachers (as researchers) and externally located researchers (normally residing in Faculties of Education) collaborate. The view is advanced that a narrow focus on “practice” in collaborating on research, a panacea that is politically and academically popular at the moment, will not take us too far. A much broader focus on the teacher's life and work is required and is herein advocated. In particular, the paper argues against the focus, currently employed by much of the literature on the teacher as researcher, upon practice. The paper takes a view contrary to this assumption because the parameters to practice whether they be biographical or political cover a very wide terrain. To narrow the focus to “practice as defined” is to make the focus of research a victim of historical circumstances, particularly current political tendencies. At the moment, the New Right is seeking to turn teacher's practice into that of a technician, a routinized and trivianized deliverer of predesigned packages. To accept those definitions, to focus on practice so defined, is therefore to accept a particular political compromise. It is argued that the way out of the cul-de-sac of practice as defined is to focus more broadly on the teacher's life and work. A range of strategies are identified and argued for. Work in this growing area is then reviewed.