Jamilah Mustafa
University of Malaya,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Date: 25 October 2001
Time: 3.30-4.00

The teacher as a researcher holds at least two main roles, that of a teacher and a researcher simultaneously, while other roles are adopted only when there is a need for them.  This dual role may seem superimposed on each other like a chameleon placed on a mirror.  The point about the chameleon and the mirror is that the lizard and the glass become one system – “lizardness” and “mirrorness” are encompassed into a larger essence – a “lizard glass” that acts differently than either the chameleon or the mirror.  Taking that as an operating metaphor, this paper seeks to highlight who the teacher-researcher is and what roles she or he plays in a classroom-based research especially in researching methodological innovation in the language classroom.
This paper also discusses other factors that affect the teacher-researcher in the classroom.  It touches on how the teacher-researcher manages his/her role in carrying out research on methodological innovation in the language classroom. It touches on role management and how the teacher researcher deals with reliability and subjectivity in his/her research.
The paper then builds on and extends on the benefits of teachers researching their own classrooms.