TITLE Voyage of Discovery: What Happens When Inservice Teachers Explore Teaching for Understanding through Collaborative

This study explored elementary school teachers ' perspectives on their evolving understanding of themselves and children as learners while they were co-researchers in inquiry about children's thinking. Through collaborative inquiry, professional reading, classroom experimentation, shared stories, and personal reflection, participants created a professional learning community and increased their focus on teaching for understanding, assumed more social constructivist stances, and modified classroom practices. Data collection included interviews, journals, field notes, research meeting conversations, and passages and comments from books and articles that participants read. Data analysis indicated that teachers began de-emphasizing test results and emphasizing student learning and understanding. They rethought how things were done in the classroom, viewed schedules and plans as fluid and flexible frameworks, and thought creatively about ways to structure classroom practice. They perceived that shifts in their thinkin