PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - GRANDAU, LAURA
TI  - Learning from Self-Study: Gaining Knowledge about How Fourth Graders Move from Relational Description to Algebraic Generalization
AID  - 10.17763/haer.75.2.l10727jj72082n10
DP  - 2005 Jul 01
TA  - Harvard Educational Review
PG  - 202--221
VI  - 75
IP  - 2
4099  - http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/75/2/202.short
4100  - http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/75/2/202.full
SO  - herp2005 Jul 01; 75
AB  - In this article, Laura Grandau traces a self-study research project focused on teaching algebra to fourth-grade students. Facing a new curriculum and a new grade level, Grandau considers what good instruction and "good habits of practice" may be. Through journaling, videos, observations, analysis of students' verbal and written responses, and consultations with her "critical friend" Sean (also a teacher), Grandau develops a "critical distance" from her teaching. While doing this reflective work, she negotiates the ambiguities of teaching and learning. Although Grandau's work is of interest to teachers of mathematics, those in critical friend or peer mentoring relationships, and teacher researchers, it also serves as a model of how inquiry teaches, fostering growth in teachers, students, and communities of practice.