How Do Questions Shape Design? Preparing Preservice Teachers to Plan for Inquiry-Oriented Instruction

• In Event: Preservice Instructional Teaching Practices

Abstract

The questions that teachers use to orient instructional units are consequential for student learning. This paper shares an analysis of preservice teacher-created compelling questions (CQs) and how they progressed during a scaffolded, semester-long planning assignment in an elementary social studies methods course. Data include multiple drafts of inquiry-oriented unit plans, participant survey responses, and transcripts of group interviews. Findings from a mixed-method analysis illustrate the challenges of CQ development for new teachers and consider the instructor’s responsibility to effectively scaffold. This paper responds to the 2023 Call to grapple with pressing issues of what history is and is not taught in schools and how to prepare social justice-focused educators for future generations.

Author

• Alexa M. Quinn, James Madison University
  Presenting Author