The Holy Curiosity of Inquiry: The Evolution of Teacher Practice Following District-Wide Professional Development

• In Event: Constructivism in Preservice Teacher Education and Classroom Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

This paper summarizes the impact of a series of professional development workshops held over a two-year period on the instructional behavior of an entire complement (n=53) of history and social studies teachers in a large mid-western school district. The workshops guided teachers through the design, development, and implementation of constructivist teaching practice. Initial examination of the data reveals quite strongly that teacher instruction in aggregate evolved from largely didactic, lecture-based approaches to a more student-centered, inquiry-based pedagogy.

Authors

• Alan Stephen Canestrari, Roger Williams University

• Bruce Alan Marlowe, Roger Williams University