Understanding the Trajectory of Preservice Teachers' Development of an Inquiry Stance

• In Event: 66.087 - MTCC Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: 66.087-2 - Empowering Teachers to Conduct Research in Their Classrooms: An Investigation of Teacher Inquiry Across Three Teacher Preparation/Professional Development Programs

Abstract

Purpose & Theoretical Framework
Previous research highlights the value for practicing teachers of engaging in teacher inquiry, leading to the development of what Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009) refer to as an inquiry stance. Additional research has shown the promise of infusing teacher inquiry within preservice preparation as a way to develop new teachers’ knowledge for teaching (Author, 2012; Borko, Whitcomb, & Byrnes, 2008). In doing so, the preservice teachers learn to define data as more than just test scores and to use that data to disrupt the mandated standardized curricula (Author, 2013; Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, Gatlin, & Heilig, 2005). Not surprisingly, the degree to which preservice teachers develop an inquiry stance can vary widely. The purpose of this study is to examine variations in the development of an inquiry stance in two preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program infused with a teacher inquiry focus.

Methods & Data Sources
This study is situated at a state university with a large teacher education program, preparing approximately 300 elementary teachers through a post-baccalaureate program annually. In the 2017-2018 academic year, the program introduced a mandatory three-course inquiry series. Using a case study approach (Yin, 2003), this study draws on data collected from two pre-service elementary teachers in the second and third courses of the series. These two cases were selected because they represent a range in how pre-service teachers construct inquiry stances.

The pre-service teachers were part of a teacher education residency cohort situated in a district where 20% of the population identified as English learners, 70% received free or reduced-price meals, and approximately two-thirds identified as Latinx. Data collected from the pre-service teachers included: surveys completed at the beginning and end of each semester, end-of-class reflections, and all completed coursework. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Merriam, 2009) for inductive themes related to the pre-service teachers’ development of an inquiry stance for teaching.

Results & Significance
Findings reveal that both pre-service teachers came to understand the importance of adopting an inquiry stance to inform their teaching. However, the depth to which they did so varied. Critical to the pre-service teachers’ development of an inquiry stance was their understanding of how to collect meaningful data and how to analyze that data in purposeful ways. Whereas one teacher was thoughtful about how she collected specific data, the other relied on data and analytic tools of convenience. The result was that the first preservice teacher came to see the affordances of using inquiry to inform her instruction which led to her development of an inquiry stance, whereas the second teacher saw inquiry more as a mandated part of her preparation program.

Findings from this study have important implications for inquiry-focused teacher education programs, highlighting the need for careful instruction in: (1) selection an inquiry focus, (2) types of data to collect, and (3) how to carefully analyze that data. Only with careful instruction in each of these areas will preservice teachers understand the affordance of engaging in such a process and begin to adopt an inquiry stance.

Author

• Juliet Michelsen Wahleithner, California State University - Fresno