We are pleased to present this second volume of the work of action researchers in the Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB). It is a significant contribution to the knowledge base of teaching and learning and builds on Passion in Professional Practice, Volume One (Delong, 2001). Some of these articles have been or will be published in the Ontario Action Researcher www.nipissingu.ca/oar, a refereed journal that Jackie and Ron Wideman created in 1997 and in which Cheryl and Kurt Classen are the current editors. Some of the writers have or will be presenting their research at the annual Ontario Educational Research Council (OERC) Conference www.oerc.net, an organization in which both of us are executive members.

Our inspiration for the action research process has come from Jack Whitehead at the University of Bath www.actionresearch.net who has inspired us to create a practitioner knowledge base. Jack's "living educational theory" (1998) model of action research puts the practitioner at the centre by asking the question, 'How can I improve my practice? 'We support this particular model of action research because:

• Teachers feel control over their own learning -- it is their question and they feel passionately about it.
• Teachers are engaged because the research is designed to improve the learning of their students in their classroom.
• By supporting teachers to research their practice, we are supporting improvement for the students in GEDSB classrooms.
• Teachers changing their practice is inherent in the process of the research and not dependent on the publication of findings.
• The theory-practice gap is removed as teachers create their own theories from their practice.
• Teachers who have developed their own theories about teaching and learning are interested then in the research of others.
• The people who know the classroom best are creating the evidential base of teaching and learning.

We have used Jean McNiff's publications to help support teachers in conducting research and include her succinct booklet Action Research For Professional Development: Concise Advice for New Action Researchers (1997, 2002) www.jeanmcniff.com to frame the model of action research that we support. The action research projects represent varying levels of experience with action research, some completing second and third projects and some working through their first. Having said that, the increasing level of sophistication of the teacher research is remarkable since the first publications of Act, Reflect, Revise, Revitalize (Halsall & Hossack, 1996) and Action Research: School Improvement Through Research-Based Professionalism (Delong & Wideman, 1997). The voices of the teachers are clear and confidant! The quality of the teacher research is a credit to the teachers themselves. It is also attributable to the facilitators of the projects, Diane Morgan, James Ellsworth, Bill Valoppi, Christine Stewart and the network leaders, Cheryl Black, Heather Knill-Griesser, Dave Abbey, Lynn Abbey and Paula Rasokas. We are fortunate that the Educational Change Fund has provided the budget for the resources to support these research projects. Without the support and encouragement for reflection and inquiry of Peter Moffatt, Director of Education, this work would not have been possible. At the2001 OERC Conference in Brantford, Peter Moffatt said, "We now have a critical mass of teacher researchers in the Grand Erie District School Board." That is pretty exciting!

Jackie Delong and Cheryl Black, GEDSB, 2002.