School initiatives as means for teachers' inquiries and considerations of changes toward their own instructional practices.

Abstract

A naturalistic research method, phenomenology, permitted this researcher to examine the perspectives of these five participants. The qualitative nature of the study provided a forum to gather participant data. Through open-ended interview questions, the participants revealed themes associated with student academic achievement, their own learning, and the importance of positive relationships among colleagues and students.

The purpose of this study is to understand how teachers, who teach in schools that practice learning-centered principles, describe the phenomenon of externally imposed school initiatives, the instructional practice(s) as a result of the reforms, the culture of school change, and the participants' roles as adult learners. As a result of the influences directed towards their school, this investigation considers the perspectives of five elementary teachers whose school accepted various instructional proposals. In addition, an interest regarding the specific moments of teachers' lives that led to their decisions to act upon the reform measures accompanied this researcher's pursuit. Thus, this investigator is provided with knowledge from the perspectives of five public school practitioners who constructed meaning from their school reform experiences. As a result of this query, information related to teaching, learning, and the influences of external initiatives upon schools can be applied to current educational settings.