Inquiry Into Inquiry: Preservice Teachers' Explorations Into Their Personal Inquiry Trajectories

• 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
Agentive teachers can address specific, contextualized student needs, reflect critically about practice, and make data-informed decisions (Author & Others, 2015). Inquiry (systematic cycle of generating questions, collecting and analyzing data, reflecting, and acting), embedded in preservice teaching programs, has potential to promote agency. Through inquiry-based practice, candidates learn elements of effective practice as they grapple with complexities of instructional decision-making, focus deeply on their learners, and develop pedagogical content knowledge (Author & Others 2012, 2015). Legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991), or generating and applying knowledge within a community of practice, enables preservice teachers to move beyond learning how to conduct inquiry as they begin to understand the importance of an ongoing inquiry stance (Author & Others, 2016). We contend that inquiry must be infused throughout a program rather than a single course, instantiated in various ways, and discussed metacognitively with candidates. To investigate inquiry stance development in preservice teachers, we asked: How do candidates in an inquiry-framed teacher education program understand their own developing inquiry trajectories focusing on their own beliefs, teaching outcomes, and abilities to meet student needs?

Methods & Data Sources
The current study includes a self-study by two novice teachers as well as a larger investigation of an entire cohort. Twenty-four novice K-6 teachers conducted their own inquiries based on individual “puzzles of practice” (POPs) in a graduate-level inquiry facilitation course (spring 2018). In the fall 2018 semester, students will have the opportunity to extend previous inquiries for deeper investigation or to investigate a different POP. Course-embedded data sources include written reflections, interviews, video or photo documentation, lessons plans and child outcomes, and student documentation of their inquiries (e.g., data analyses, background research). To date, data collection and analyses were completed in May for the semester-long initial inquiries. Data analyses for students’ extended inquiries will employ both coding a priori themes from the spring semester and the constant comparative method to find new emergent themes or extend previous findings.

Results & Significance
Two case students will present their inquiries and reflections on how inquiry has impacted their practice as novice teachers. The case students will also present self-studies on their own development of inquiry stance across the two semesters. These cases will be used to demonstrate or highlight themes from the larger analyses of the entire cohort across both courses. Initial findings from the first course revealed that students’ perspectives shifted toward inclusivity and funds of knowledge as they engaged in personal inquiries. Further, shifts varied for different students; some students began their inquiries with a deficit-leaning lens, demonstrated in POPs like “How do I get rid of helicopter parents?” or “How can I get parents to get involved?” These questions changed over the course of the semester-long inquiry to be more focused on “collaborating with parents” and “how the school can be more inviting to parents,” suggesting changes in perspectives. Analysis of the data from the fall course will extend the developmental trajectories of the students’ inquiry stance to span an entire year.

Authors

• Lisa H. Bennett, California State University - Fresno

• Cathy Yun, California State University - Fresno