Narrative in teaching and learning - Teacher as researcher

Being a teacher never struck me as being a researcher also. Now that I think about it however, it does make sense that a teacher can also be a researcher. I'll try to place this in different contexts to clarify why I agree with the statement of "teacher as researcher".

Inside the school, teachers play many roles. Teachers have to co-operate with other teachers and administrators to ensure that the school runs smoothly. Teachers also have to work with other teachers to ensure a good working environment. Teachers sometimes have to act as mediators between students and administrators as well. Teachers also have to act as researchers with other teachers to find out what are the best classroom management strategies through guess-and-test. By way of research, teachers can find out the best possible classroom management skills for different types of students through discussion with other teachers.

Inside the classroom, teachers are constantly researching as well. Teachers have to find the best options for each student because each student has different needs. As a researcher in the classroom, teachers have to use different strategies to make sure each student is cared for and that each student is learning at the best of their abilities. Teachers have to research which methods best suits which students for a good growing and learning environment. I'm sure even expert teachers are still constantly researching for better ways of managing their classroom because bettering one's classroom management requires continuous research because each year the students and the environment changes.

Outside school, teachers have to be researchers in order to better themselves as a teacher. I would like to think of this as the phrase, "One can never be good enough". As a student at SFU and a daughter in my family of four, there has rarely been times where I have said to myself that I have done well or good enough. Most of the time, there are always improvements to be made. This goes for teaching as well. Even though I'm not quite a teacher yet, I believe that all teachers should always look for ways to improve their teaching so that students can get the most out of school. Outside of school, teachers have to constantly re-adjust their attitudes and their teaching to make sure it is the best that the students are receiving. To do so, teachers need to research. Teachers can do so by researching better ways or methods to teach (or examples of successful teaching), ask expert teachers for suggestions and improvements, and even go to students and ask them what it is that they like or not like about the teacher's teaching in the classroom.

I believe that researching should be a constant act that a teacher does because let's not forget, teaching is a profession that requires a lot of time and dedication. Teachers teach for different reasons but most importantly, the students are what will constitute our future society. By researching, teachers show that they are taking their profession seriously and knows that students can benefited by their research.