The mini-sabbatical also supported teachers' reflection on their own learning and practice. We asked teachers to write journals on a regular basis, sometimes following specific prompts. Journal writing appeared to aid reflection and learning processes for some teachers, but not others. Some teachers wrote extensively and on a regular basis, while others appeared to write because they were given the assignment. As discussed earlier, journal writing was a particularly useful tool for recording the classroom activities and students' responses to the curriculum.
The mini-sabbatical curriculum also introduced teachers to the concept of action research (Bullough & Gitlin, 1995). Specifically, action research was presented as a way for teachers to examine their own practice during the teaching phase of the mini-sabbatical. We asked teachers to identify a concern or issue related to some aspect of their teaching (e.g., inability to give up control to students); to gather data about it (e.g., through videotaped replay of classes, student behavior, discussion with mini-sabbatical staff and peers); to reconsider the initial concern in light of the data, and possibly reformulate it; and develop a strategy for future practice. Most teachers' daily journals during the teaching phase of the mini-sabbatical indicate use of the action research principles. Some teachers, however, showed little sign that the action research approach appealed to them as a strategy for systematically understanding and monitoring their own practice. We conclude that the group collaboration was most valuable for promoting reflective practice, since it did not depend on teachers also taking the time to write in their journals. The value of collaboration through shared planning time or other means has been corroborated in many other studies of teaching.