The teacher guidance model for practitioner research: a longitudinal case study

This study investigated whether and how a teacher guidance model could be applied by researchers to guide Dutch elementary school teachers in learning to conduct practitioner research. The authors’ guidance model is inspired by the cognitive apprenticeship approach and comprises four phases with different guidance strategies to scaffold and fade support for teacher learning. Over the course of three years, two researchers facilitated four teacher teams (7–11 members per team) during three phases of the model. The researchers and teachers both appraised the guidance strategies; teachers also rated their proficiency in conducting practitioner research before and after each phase. Results showed that teachers’ confidence increased and that they considered the guidance strategies valuable. Thus, the teacher guidance model provides a good starting point for researchers aiming to support teachers in learning to conduct practitioner research. Future research should aim to refine the guidance strategies within the model.