Inquiry as an End: A Review of Teachers' Work to Support Student Inquiry

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Professional Development on Student-Centered and Culturally Relevant Teaching

Abstract

This study examines multiple years of teacher work samples produced during a professional development program to clarify the inquiry outcomes identified by participants. The paper uses a schema derived from research (Levy, Thomas, Drago & Rex, 2013; Saunders-Stewart, Gyles, and Shore, 2012) to identify three primary categories of inquiry outcomes as engagement, as means to develop content and skills, and as an end in itself (Authors, 2014). In conjunction also with frameworks that characterize student inquiry (Bonnstetter, 1998; McDonald & Songer, 2008), the analysis aims to better understand the most elusive outcome, inquiry as ends. Results articulate descriptors to clarify this outcome in order to improve professional learning and research to evaluate such efforts.

Authors

• Christine D. Clayton, Pace University

• James F. Kilbane, Cleveland State University