CSET Speaker Series: Pondering Excellence in Teaching

What kind of experiences have teachers had as they become teacher researchers in their schools? This is a question highly relevant to teachers who wish to reflect on their own practice. This is particularly applicable when considering teachers who aim to perform studies on broader school issues in order to support changes in their school. We have studied 30 research and development projects in the Netherlands in which teachers, school leaders and researchers collaborated. The talk will focus on teacher research in schools: is there a future for teacher researchers in the US and if so, what role is there for researchers at universities?  

Wouter Schenke is a visiting PhD student from the University of Amsterdam. He is now studying for three months at CSET, Stanford. His dissertation is on cross-professional collaboration among teachers, school leaders, and researchers in research and development projects in the Netherlands. Besides being a researcher, he was a geography teacher at a secondary school where he also coordinated a team of four teacher researchers.