Research Notes: On the Purposes of Teacher Research

What is the true aim of teacher research? Contrary to the demands of the academy, it is "not primarily to ‘do research,' but, rather, to teach better." So argues Susan Lytle in "At Last: Practitioner Inquiry and the Practice of Teaching: Some Thoughts on Better."

Drawing on Atul Gawande's Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, Lytle takes a hard look at what becoming better requires. In his examination of work that involves "risk and responsibility," Gawande suggests three core requirements for success: diligence, doing right, and ingenuity. Lytle sees diligence-knowing one's field and using that knowledge to solve problems-in teachers' finding solutions through classroom practice, not necessarily through research. The notion of doing right-the expectation that the work coincides with one's moral judgments-can be seen in teachers' conviction that their work is just be about adequate yearly progress. Finally, Gawande's idea of ingenuity captures the need for meticulous documentation of results and, more important, the ability to measure oneself, to be open, and transparent about the work.

This article appears in Journal for Research in the Teaching of English, 42(3).