Learning from Young Children in the Classroom

This practical resource is a comprehensive introduction to envisioning and carrying out high-quality teacher research in early childhood settings. The text features original research projects by teachers working with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and primary-age children. With special attention given to multicultural and multilingual classrooms, the authors examine forms of children’s play, social interaction, and friendships, language and literacy learning, as well as work with parents and families. This how-to guide provides:

• Specific examples and strategies to help teachers start their own teacher research projects and collaborative groups.
• A history of teacher research with links to early childhood practice.
• Effective tools for identifying a research question, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination.
• Helpful illustrations and examples of children’s art.

Daniel R. Meier is Associate Professor of Elementary Education at San Francisco State University. He also serves, with Barbara Henderson, as co-editor of “Voices of Practitioners,” an online teacher research feature of NAEYC’s Young Children. His books include Learning in Small Moments, Scribble Scrabble, and The Young Child’s Memory for Words. Barbara Henderson is also Associate Professor of Elementary Education at San Francisco State University.

“The ultimate goal of all types of educational research is to improve practice so that it is increasingly effective in influencing children’s growth, development, and learning….The ideas, examples, stories, suggestions, and guidelines included here offer real promise for the improvements that we are all striving for so intensely.”
—From the Foreword by Lilian G. Katz

“These stories of teacher research contribute to a new image of schools as sites for intellectual and emotional engagement of adults as well as children. This book can serve as a catalyst for the sort of school reform that children of the 21st century want and deserve.”
—Rebecca S. New, Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Development, Tufts University