CHAPTER 1 An introduction to teacher research Introduction This book aims to provide a comprehensive resource for practitioners wanting to conduct good quality teacher research It builds on the view that several features must be present in any investigation whether primarily academic or practitioner in orientation for it to count as being bona fide research This chapter works toward identifying these necessary generic features of research by considering some trends and issues evident in teacher research over the past 30 years These make it timely and important to assert a strong bottom line for teacher research Teacher research is a strongly contested idea Key issues exist on which different people take competing positions We consider a range of these here At the same time there are some important points on which advocates of teacher research are generally agreed We will begin by looking at three points of broad agreement about teacher research Three points of general agreement about teacher research Three points of broad consensus among those who write about teacher research can be noted here CHAPTER 1 An introduction to teacher research Introduction This book aims to provide a comprehensive resource for practitioners wanting to conduct good quality teacher research It builds on the view that several features must be present in any investigation whether primarily academic or practitioner in orientation for it to count as ...being bona fide research This chapter works toward identifying these necessary generic features of research by considering some trends and issues evident in teacher research over the past 30 years These make it timely and important to assert a strong bottom line for teacher research Teacher research is a strongly contested idea Key issues exist on which different people take competing positions We consider a range of these here At the same time there are some important points on which advocates of teacher research are generally agreed We will begin by looking at three points of broad agreement about teacher research Three points of general agreement about teacher research Three points of broad consensus among those who write about teacher research can be noted here