Transform your teaching and shape education through the power of inquiry.
Grounded in real-world examples and more than 30 years of research in professional development, the fifth edition of The Reflective Educators Guide to Practitioner Inquiry addresses how inquiry fosters curiosity, reflection, and practical action to enhance effective classroom learning. This latest edition invites educators to view inquiry as a process, a product, and a stance.
The book offers new sections on the relationship between AI and teacher inquiry and the ways in which inquiry is changing with the times. Additional features and updates include:
The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry, fifth edition, empowers educators at every stage in their careers to investigate their practice, drive sustained professional growth, and harness inquiry’s potential to create classrooms where both students and teachers thrive.
Nancy Fichtman Dana is currently professor of education in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher in Hannibal Central Schools, New York. Since earning her PhD from Florida State University in 1991, she has been a passionate advocate for teacher inquiry and has worked extensively in supporting schools, districts and universities in implementing powerful programs of job-embedded professional development through inquiry across the United States and in several countries, including China, South Korea, Belgium, Portugal, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and Estonia. She has published ten books and over 100 articles in professional journals and edited books focused on her research exploring teacher and principal professional development and practitioner inquiry. Dana has received many honors, including the Association of Teacher Educator’s Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award and the National Staff Development Council (now Learning Forward) Book of the Year Award, both honoring Dana and Yendol-Hoppey’s work related to practitioner inquiry.
Diane Yendol-Hoppey is a professor of education and dean in the College of Education and Human Services at the University of North Florida. Prior to her appointment at the University of North Florida, she served as the associate dean of educator preparation and partnerships at the University of South Florida, director of the Benedum Collaborative at West Virginia University and taught for many years at the University of Florida where she was the evaluator of numerous district, state, and national professional development efforts. Before beginning her work in higher education, Diane spent 13 years as an elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction from The Pennsylvania State University. Diane’s current work explores national and international research focusing on teacher education clinical practice, job-embedded professional learning, and teacher leadership. Diane received the AERA Division K Early Career Research Award for her ongoing commitment to researching innovative approaches to professional development. She has published six books and over 60 articles in professional journals.
Logan Rutten is Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Professional Practice at the University of North Dakota. Dr. Rutten is a community-engaged scholar who studies and teaches practitioner inquiry as a form of professional learning for educators across the career span and particularly within school-university partnerships. His scholarship features sustained collaborations with teachers and educational administrators serving K-12 students hailing from rural, urban, and suburban communities across the United States, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and the Navajo Nation. Dr. Rutten’s current research program tackles a continually evolving question: Amid turbulent times, how can we support K-12 students in rural schools in learning to address the difficult school, community, and civic topics/issues that matter most to them?
Dr. Rutten’s publications, often co-authored with school- and community-based partners, appear in top-ranked journals such as Journal of Teacher Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Action in Teacher Education, Teacher Development, School-University Partnerships, and the Journal of Educational Supervision. To date, his scholarly collaborations have generated $1.1 million in external funding.
At present, Dr. Rutten is co-leading the grant-funded projects Enhancing Navajo Nation Youth Academic Achievement Through Diné Character Education (Brady Education Foundation), Professional Learning About Constructing Assessment for Indigenous Knowledges (W. K. Kellogg Foundation), and Making Holocaust and Genocide Education Relevant Through Inquiry and Classroom Application (National Endowment for the Humanities).
A graduate of the Bismarck Public Schools (Bismarck, North Dakota), Dr. Rutten earned a B.A., summa cum laude, at Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) in K-12 Music Education and K-12 Latin Education. He later earned an M.Ed. and Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pennsylvania). With over a decade of professional experience, he has taught students in Kindergarten through 12th grade in public, charter, and virtual school settings and a range of courses and workshops for undergraduates, graduate students, and inservice educators.
Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors List of Exhibits and Figures List of AI Moments How to Use the Inquiry Books 1. Teacher Inquiry Defined 2. The Passions That Drive Your Journey: Finding a Wondering 3. Data Collection: Making Inquiry a Part of Your Teaching Practice 4. Developing a Research Plan: Mapping Out Your Inquiry Journey 5. Finding Your Findings: Data Analysis 6. Sharing Your Inquiry Journey: Presenting and Publishing 7. Contributing to the Creation of More Equitable Schools and Classrooms: The Why of Inquiry 8. On Your Way: Becoming the Best Teacher and Researcher You Can Be References Index
"There’s a reason this book is now in its 5th edition. With its many updates that speak to current educational and societal challenges, this book is a must-read for every teacher, teacher educator, and school leader who is interested in how practitioner inquiry enriches professional practice. Highly practical, but also grounded in scholarship, the book offers compelling reflective exercises and a thoughtful step-by-step guide that explore both the ′how′ and, as importantly, the ′why′ of practitioner research." -Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools, Emerita
The 5th edition of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry builds upon the years of "teaching as inquiry" research presented in earlier editions. The authors challenge readers to systemically examine their own practice to transform their teaching and their classrooms. This edition offers a balanced combination of theorical constructs and practical applications including chapter exercises, discussion topics, and online resources. It is a perfect resource for novice and veteran teachers to take a deeper dive into reflective practice and research. -JoAnne Ferrara
"The 5th edition of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry offers a compelling framework for identifying persistent, contextualized challenges and using systematic, intentional investigation to drive continuous improvement in teaching and learning. Packed with practical tools, real-world examples, and reflections on the inquiry process, this book empowers teachers to approach their work with a mindset of curiosity, adaptability, and lifelong professional growth." -Jill Perry, Professor of Practice and Executive Director
"This 5th edition of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry is posed to make a lasting impact on the field of education as it reframes classroom research to practitioner inquiry, adding agency prominently into the role and practice of reflective educators. Emphasizing the process of inquiry as central to the purpose of practitioner inquiry, Dana, Yendol-Hoppey, and Rutten highlight the interplay of inquiry as a process, a product, and a stance toward knowledge and practice for the education profession. This revised edition provides a framework for engaging the process of inquiry, using the product of inquiry to make an impact on education practice, and living an inquiry stance toward teaching to enable a way of being for reflective educators and transformative educational work."
-Jennifer L. Snow, Professor and Program Area Coordinator
"The Reflective Educator′s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry is a masterful bridge between research and practice, equipping educators with the tools and mindset to cultivate continuous, data-driven improvements that elevate student-centered teaching." -Aimee H. Barber, Ed.D., Assistant Professor
"Since its first edition, I have relied on The Reflective Educator’s Guide as my essential resource for guiding teachers through the inquiry process. Dana, Yendol-Hoppey, and Rutten masterfully scaffold this process, using vivid examples to illuminate each phase of the inquiry cycle and bring it to life. These examples demonstrate how practitioner research can seamlessly integrate into teachers’ daily practice. I am especially thrilled that this edition introduces new content on developing a research plan, offering a detailed roadmap to help teachers navigate inquiry planning stages with greater depth and purpose. The updated examples, addressing timely topics like Artificial Intelligence, make this edition particularly relevant to today’s educators. At a time when external forces increasingly diminish teachers′ autonomy, classroom research offers a powerful means of reclaiming agency and ensuring effective teaching practices for their students." -Jennifer Jacobs, Associate Professor/Director, Office of Clinical Education
"The fifth edition of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry highlights the transformative power of practitioner inquiry in education, serving as both a guide and inspiration for educators seeking to deepen their impact. By fostering curiosity, reflection, and action, it equips teachers to navigate complexities, elevate their practice, and champion equity in classrooms and communities." -Frannie Tunseth, Classroom Teacher & Teacher Educator
"As an instructional coach, I’ve used The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry to guide my own action research as well as facilitate the professional development of others. Learning how to systematically investigate my own practice through inquiry has been transformative. A powerful and impactful learning experience always results." -Kerri Bartholomew, Instructional Coach
"The 5th edition is more than an update. Dana, Yendol-Hoppey, and Rutten’s latest is a manifesto for teacher inquiry: laying out its history, describing the dramatic changes to the contexts of teaching since the 4th edition, and providing the purpose for teacher inquiry as a tool to create more just and more equitable schooling experiences. I predict this edition will become a seminal work in our field." -Rachelle Meyer Rogers, Clinical Professor, Past-President of The Association of Teacher Educators
"This book, coupled with its extensive online resources for each chapter, makes coaching, facilitating, and teaching inquiry a truly enriching experience. I have used this book with teacher candidates, teacher leaders, administrators, and graduate students because it provides step-by-step guidance on planning an inquiry and walks readers through the process, providing real-world examples and guides for all audiences." -Jamey B. Burns, Director of Professional Learning & Clinical Practices, Project PREP
"The fifth edition of The Reflective Educator′s Guide to Practitioner Inquiry has me eager to work alongside teachers as they engage in inquiry! Its progression is sequenced in such a way that allows for teachers to inquiry independently or within a community of practitioners. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to address difficult (and sometimes contested) issues in the classroom while also developing in professional practice." -Lisa Vojacek, School-Based Instructional Coach
