1. What is practitioner research—and why co-author a whitepaper about it?

Meghan: We need to bring more teachers into conversations about improving social studies education. Practitioner research, including action research and self-study, provides a structure for engaging teachers as co-researchers. Here teachers engage in systematic and intentional reflection in action, collecting and analyzing data about their teaching practice in order to improve their teaching.

This whitepaper, Moving our Field Forward, outlines strategies for conducting practitioner research and provides examples from the field. We want to inspire more social studies teachers to conduct their own action research projects.  We also wanted to be very deliberate in making the whitepaper and its content accessible and readily available to teachers and other educators not currently associated with a university. The whitepaper is the result of a series presentations we delivered at the annual conferences of the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA) of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).

2. What kinds of conversations do you hope this whitepaper will begin among educators?

Chris: We hope this white paper encourages more teachers and teacher educators to engage in practitioner research. There are many different ways to learn how to do action research. Some teachers take courses during their teacher preparation or graduate programs, while other learn through professional development programs or teacher research groups. We see much of this work being done by English, science, and math teachers, which they present at their professional organizations' conferences. We hope that NCSS and CUFA will be a space for increasing the number of social studies teachers and teacher educators presenting their action research to their colleagues and the wider field.

3. What are some of the biggest needs in social studies education research now?

Meghan: Within the field of social studies education research, we are focused on understanding how inquiry-based approaches to teaching (such as the C3 Framework) improve student learning outcomes. We are also concerned with providing greater access to high quality social studies education to all students. Relevant issues include providing culturally relevant social studies education, integrating digital technology into instruction, and understanding the long-term effects of the marginalization of social studies at the elementary school level.  “Insider knowledge” or “craft knowledge” from teachers can help us better understand these issues and develop a theory of action to move our field forward.

4. What advice would you give to a researcher working in K-12 classrooms today?

Chris: With all the demands of the classrooms, it can be difficult for social studies teachers to find the time or energy to engage in research. However, for many teacher researchers, it is also what helped them see a larger purpose to their teaching. Through researching their own classrooms, teachers can step back and reflect on their practice, ask questions that are important to them, and find ways to better teach their students. It is often an important place for experienced teachers to challenge themselves and revive their professional enthusiasm.

5. What advice would you give to a K-12 educator working with researchers today?

Meghan: University-based researchers are eager to understand issues related to day-to-day practice and teachers are the best source of information about those issues.  By engaging in collaborative research, you have the opportunity to improve your practice as well as contribute to the knowledge base of our field.

6. What is one thing about practitioner research you want every reader to know?

Chris: Practitioner research is reflective and empowering. It can help teachers grapple with issues of practice in their classrooms, but also has a global purpose of sharing research findings with other teachers and teacher educators. It re-positions teachers and teacher educators as the generators of educational knowledge, who help inform educational change and help outsiders better understand the inside of the classroom.

7. What has been a major benefit of your NCSS membership?

Meghan: I have been a member of NCSS since I was a student teacher. Over time as a high school history teacher and now as a teacher educator, my membership has continued to provide access to the latest scholarship in our field through annual conferences and publications. It has also provided me an opportunity to go beyond my local work to consider national and international social studies issues and trends. 

8. What has been a major benefit of your CUFA membership?

Chris: The College and University Faculty Assembly is where the social studies research community comes together at NCSS. It has been an important space for me to grow as a researcher (first as a classroom teacher and now as a teacher educator) and collaborate with others in our field. Despite the associated group's name focusing on higher education, I hope more K-12 teachers decide to join CUFA and present their research there. It is the perfect place for social studies teachers to share action research.

Meghan Manfra (Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on the integration of technology in secondary social studies classrooms and action research as a professional development tool for teachers.  She is the author of the forthcoming book Action Research for Classrooms Schools, and Communities (Sage Press) and co-editor of the Handbook of Social Studies Research (Wiley Press). She has extensive background in educational research and evaluation, including serving as evaluator for the US DOE Teaching American History Grant program, History LINK (Durham and Franklin counties), and the assessment coordinator for education programs for the NSF Nanotechnology Engineering Research Center, ASSIST, at NC State University.  Dr. Manfra is a former high school teacher and a past chair of the Executive Board of the College and University Faculty Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies.

Christopher C. Martell is a Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director of Social Studies Education at Boston University. He teaches courses on social studies methods and action research. He was a high school social studies teacher for 11 years, including 8 years in the Framingham Public Schools, an urban district west of Boston. He is the editor of the book Social Studies Teacher Education: Critical Issues and Current Perspectives and has authored numerous research articles. His research examines critical race theory, culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy, and historical inquiry.