This paper describes the experiences of three pre-service teachers as they engaged in teacher research as part of their teacher education program.
Specifically, this paper investigates the role of the teacher’s personal and academic history in the design of their teacher research projects; how their research worked to disrupt classroom cultures and practices. It also examines the ways in which the pre-service teachers interpreted their research in light of new contexts during their first year of teaching. The authors argue that the action research process fostered a deep engagement with certain ideas. This process allowed the pre-service teachers a space to develop these ideas fully and test nascent theories about teaching and learning. In conclusion, the authors contend that action research would be a powerful programmatic framework allowing multifaceted engagement with significant questions and problems of practice from initial methods courses through student-teaching.