Team Collaborative Action

This paper explores the concept of combining collaborative action research, used in examining teacher behaviors, with group dynamics, used to facilitate new ideas and increase motivation. Specifically, the study examines the effort by one team of middle school teachers to conduct teacher team collaborative research. After reviewing the literature on the history and rationale of both group dynamics and action research, this paper outlines the foundation of the study in the principles of symbolic interactionism. The interactions of the team (with the researcher as collaborator), the understandings they came to through these interactions, and the impact of these understandings on their practice are all examined. Annotated scripts from team meetings are provided, illustrating the group's interaction and collaboration while the teacher-researchers were trying to develop components of a social skills curriculum fo