In this long-awaited sequel to ""Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge"", two leaders in the field of practitioner research offer a radically different view of the relationship of knowledge and practice and of the role of practitioners in educational change. In their new book, the authors put forward the notion of inquiry as stance as a challenge to the current arrangements and outcomes of schools and other educational contexts. They call for practitioner researchers in local settings across the United States and across the world to ally their work with others, as part of larger social and intellectual movements for social change and social justice.

The central concern of Inside/Outside is the assumption that pedagogical knowledge is generated ""outside-in""; that is, from the university, to be applied at schools. The first half of this book provides a thoughtful and thought-provoking conceptual framework for reading and understanding teacher research, exploring its history, potential and relationship to university-based research. Cochran-Smith and Lytle argue that teacher research can transform, not simply add to, the present knowledge base in the field, linking research with practice and inquiry with reform. By doing so, they intend to add dimension and energy to the national momentum in this area. In the second half of this volume, the voices of teacher researchers contrast, engage, and combine with one another as contributors explore the meaning and significance of their approaches and findings. These authors - who vary in experience and institutional context as well as in the areas they teach - not only try to enrich the broader frameworks proposed in the first section of Inside/Outside, but also enter into the ""national conversation about school reform, teacher professionalism, multicultural curriculum and pedagogy, and language and literacy education"". Together, the two parts of Inside/Out make the case that the relationship of research and teaching is distinctly non-linear and that important knowledge about teaching is generated both inside and outside classrooms. Understanding this relationship has significant implications for the development of further knowledge and for the transformation of our schools. This book should be valuable as a text for both graduate and undergraduate courses in educational research, as well as graduate courses in language and literacy. It should be of interest to a broad spectrum of individuals, including preservice teachers, practitioners, researchers, administrators and curriculum specialists.

This groundbreaking volume encourages today's educational leaders to reposition the way they think about leadership and its challenges. Experienced school and district leaders reveal how they conceptualize their roles; how they learn by posing and solving problems of practice; and how they cope with increasing expectations and complexity in their work. This compilation of compelling narratives demonstrates the power and efficacy of what can happen when school, district, and other educational leaders position themselves as inquirers, bringing forth broader social justice and equity implications. Readers see how leadership can illuminate and improve many aspects of institutional life and create intellectually demanding and rich learning environments for both adults and children. At its heart, Repositioning Educational Leadership is an invitation to practitioners and scholars to make space for new critical questions and perspectives. This book nurtures an expanded discourse about leadership, generated by leaders themselves, and arising from some of the most vexing and often invisible aspects of their important work.