sorts of ways. You can take notes on dialogues, take notes on conversations, make diagrams of what happens 

to certain groups, of what a student or group of students does at certain times, during certain intervals (e.g. 

every five minutes), note down the questions a teacher asks, of the answers ... Notes reflect what you observe 

and do not interpret what you see. They focus on mapping out what is happening and are without comment 

or judgement why this is happening.

this by means of student work, workbooks, schoolbooks, manuals, action plans, memos, newsletters, progress 

reports,  diaries,  lesson  preparations,  correspondence  to  and  from  parents,  to  therapists  and  specialised  care  

workers. The amount of documents and students’ work that passes through the teachers’ hand is enormous. 

If you go through each document separately, it usually has little meaning. If you take several documents and 

student work together, it becomes more meaningful. 

When documents, student work and teacher research are intertwined, the documents/pupil work takes on a 

deeper meaning. As a teacher - researcher you select the documents you can use to conduct your research. 

The systematic collection of documents and student work gives you the opportunity to look at the documents 

and analyse them systematically.

down what is said in the classroom. 

You can go a step further by interviewing. This can be spontaneous or more planned. 

daily practice there are often classroom interviews. (with the whole class or in small groups) Group interviews 

can be used as a tool to better understand the views, opinions of the students. 

For example, a group interview can give more insight into how students experience a new instruction/work 

format.

says: “a picture says more than 1000 words”. Taking pictures is another great way to capture what happens in 

class, at school.

step further. Video captures an action in the classroom over a longer period of time. 

Because teachers often collect the best data through watching and listening, video is a powerful way of collect

-

ing data. Through video, teachers can collect information, better understand behaviour, map a process, study 

the learning situation and make results visible. By recording and watching your own lesson you can observe 

your own practice, observe your own skills, knowledge, attitudes. You can check how people interact with each 

other in class, you can look at non-verbal behaviour, you can check if your instruction is clear and you can map 

the influence of the environment. 

understanding what happens spontaneously in your practice. Collecting data via the following six strategies is 

powerful because you can talk about it afterwards. As a teacher you gain access to thinking. 

Thinking is a challenge for any researcher. One of the ways to grasp the thinking is to reflect in a diary. A diary is 

a tool for teachers to reflect on thought processes. Not only the teacher, but also the students can keep a diary.

an investigation. Weblogs are easy to create and maintain. You can publish online immediately. Weblogs are like 

an online diary in chronological order, which is very useful. Colleagues can comment online. Besides text, you 

can also post photos and videos, you can link weblogs with other weblogs and you can comment interactively. 

So you can get online feedback from other teachers, researchers ...

Surveys are the most widely used form for teacher-researchers. Surveys give students, teachers, parents ... the 

opportunity to share their ideas, opinions about what is happening (teaching practice, instruction, strategies 

used ...) with the teacher-researcher. 

er-researchers.

friends who give you feedback. Working with critical friends is done through professional learning communi-

ties. A professional learning community is a group of teachers who meet regularly to optimise their practice.

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search. Literature offers the opportunity to think about your work as a teacher-researcher. Through literature 

you come into contact with the findings and data of others. 

No teacher teaches in a vacuum. When we teach, it is within a certain context (school, class, year, environment 

...) The context often determines what we do and understand as a teacher. 

At the same time, the research of teachers is situated within the knowledge that already exists. Think of books, 

magazines, newspapers, websites ...

Studying  existing  knowledge  is  an  essential  part  of  your  research.  Finding  the  right  articles  is  not  that  easy.  

Counsellors can help you with this. Usually teacher-researchers consult literature on two occasions: 

1.

When the

y define their research question - at the start of the research.

2.

I

f their research leads to new results. They then use literature to be better informed about what knowledge 

exists in relation to their research.