In Part 1, we’ll begin by diving into what teacher research is, how and what we observe, what makes a researchable question, and how we can go about forming a specific question for research with other colleagues and families. At the end of this session, participants will have a process that they can utilize with families to create a researchable question for their programs.

Once we have a question ready to study, we are ready to listen and look closely. In Part 2, we’ll look at multiple ways to document children’s thinking and ideas in response to our research question. This includes creating a research board, a parent/caregiver documentation invitation, and sharing secondary research on our topic with families. We’ll then think about how to look for big ideas and overarching themes in the documentation that we are capturing as a way of pulling our research together. At the end of this session, participants will have tangible ideas for documenting answers to their research question with families. 

Once we’ve spent time listening, observing, gathering artefacts of children’s thinking and ideas, studying and thinking together, we have the opportunity to celebrate all that we’ve learned and share this learning with others outside of our programs. In Part 3, we’ll look at how we can create captivating and meaningful displays and other artefacts of our research findings that include photos, children’s work, our written observations and interpretations, and more.