Cathy Fleischer – författare

Once, teachers who knew their content area and knew how to teach it were respected as professionals. Now there is an additional type of competency required: in addition to content and pedagogical knowledge, educators need advocacy skills.In this groundbreaking collection, literacy educators describe how they are redefining what it means to be a teaching professional. Teachers share how they are trying to change the conversation surrounding literacy and literacy instruction by explaining to colleagues, administrators, parents and community members why they teach in particular research-based ways, so often contradicted by mandated curricula and standardised assessments. Teacher educators also share how they are introducing an advocacy approach to preservice and practising teachers, helping prepare teachers for this new professionalism. Both groups practice what the authors call “everyday advocacy”: the day-to-day actions teachers are taking to change the public narrative surrounding schools, teachers and learning.

This story of a teacher's growth as a researcher in the classroom reflects the larger issues of the debate about this kind of research during the last decade.In Composing Teacher-Research the author provides a much needed critical look at the teacher-research movement by recounting her own experiences over the past decade. Informed by readings in a number of disciplines and by her own classroom practice, Fleischer documents the shifts and changes she made as a teacher when she took on the additional role of researcher. The book presents four case studies of classrooms and students, at both the high school and college level, focusing on the ways students see their own literacy in and out of school. Fleischer not only reproduces these case studies as they were written at various points in her journey, but provides commentary through pre- and post-scripts in which she points out particular issues of concern for those who practice classroom research: what it means to represent others' experiences, how we can create research which is at the same time ethical and pedagogically sound, how the stakes for being a teacher-researcher have changed in a postmodern world.

Becoming a Writing Researcher effectively guides students through the stages of conducting qualitative writing research, from the initial step of seeing themselves as researchers, to identifying research questions, selecting appropriate tools, conducting the research, and interpreting and reporting the findings. Authors Ann M. Blakeslee and Cathy Fleischer describe various qualitative methods and provide readers with examples of real-world applications. Exercises and activities, as well as anecdotes from both novice and seasoned researchers, serve to acquaint readers thoroughly with the practice of carrying out research for scholarly or professional purposes. The textbook introduces students to research methods in a gradual and contextualized manner. Each chapter opens with a discussion of general issues regarding a particular portion of the research process, followed by a consideration of the various physical, conceptual, and strategic tools that allow a beginning researcher to conduct that part of the process. Sections within each chapter also cover:personal and theoretical perspectives and biases that influence specific stages of the research processethical issues associated with phases of the research processthe identity, ethos, and experiences of the researcher.Becoming a Writing Researcher is an essential text for all novice researchers, and is well suited for use in graduate-level research methods courses in composition and technical communication. It is also ideal for use in other disciplines with strong qualitative methodology research programs, including education.

Becoming a Writing Researcher effectively guides students through the stages of conducting qualitative writing research, from the initial step of seeing themselves as researchers, to identifying research questions, selecting appropriate methodological tools, conducting the research, and interpreting and reporting findings. Exercises and activities, as well as anecdotes and examples from both novice and seasoned researchers, serve to acquaint readers thoroughly with the practice of carrying out research for scholarly or professional purposes.This second edition introduces students to research methods in a gradual and contextualized manner. Each chapter offers a discussion of a particular portion of the research process, followed by consideration of physical, conceptual, and strategic tools that allow a master’s level researcher to conduct that part of the research. Sections within each chapter also cover issues of stance and positionality that impact the researcher and the resulting research.Becoming a Writing Researcher, second edition, is an essential text for all novice researchers and is particularly well suited for use in graduate-level research methods courses in writing studies and technical communications. It is also ideal for use in other disciplines with strong qualitative methodology research programs, including education.