The deeper I get into the graduate program, the more I understand as I have never understood before the existing hierarchies in educational and literary studies. But never in my wildest dreams did I think that a hierarchy which privileged researchers over teachers existed. How can the research and theory be divorced from the actual practice of teaching? I was surprised that Ray in Composition from the Teacher-Research Point of View found herself in the position of having to ask this question. I agree with her conclusion that we should question such a separation.  Teachers who are also researchers become catalysts using practical experience to challenge and change theory as well as add validity to a theoretical body of knowledge. They are in the best position to perpetuate change from the “inside out” beginning in the classroom and eventually moving to the administration (173). In my opinion research or theory that divorces itself from the actual act and art of teaching also rejects the very activities that can prove research outcomes.

Of course I do see how some can say that one cannot be both teacher and researcher.  Ray contends that adding to the supposed necessity for a teacher /researcher division is the traditional privileging of quantitative over qualitative data. Non-teacher researchers also make assumptions about the importance of control, objectivity, the ability to generalize and remain distinct and distant from research subjects (175). Taking these factors into consideration, I do understand how non-teacher researchers may contend that research a teacher conducts in a classroom may be too specific or particular or too biased to apply across many classrooms. But it’s a mistake to discount this research. The validity a teacher can bring by pulling from practical experiences outweighs any issues of possible bias or contextualization. And because a teacher has to be cognizant of these biases they, perhaps more than a supposed objective researcher, may have a better understanding of how these biases affect results.  

Though I would have liked to hear more from Ray about how teacher-research broadens the theoretical body of knowledge or examples of how this research actually changed accepted theories on teaching, I agree that we have to erase the researcher / teacher hierarchy and create a collaborative relationship between the two fields.  Doing so can only add more creditability to theory.