Now, when viewing this heading you might be thinking, "ooh, ways to incorporate inquiry based learning in my classroom for my students!" However, this topic is slightly different. (If you wish to look into the previous topic, might I suggest backtracking through some of my earlier posts, they are rife with ideas!) This topic pertains to how teachers themselves can influence their own classroom by their own use of inquiry, aka RESEARCH!
If you just made this face, please bear with me! I know when the word research is spoken about an education setting many images and thought come to mind, like: long hours in a library or on a computer, performing hours of research, compiling and analyzing sets of data, literature reviews, and control vs experimental groups. However, teacher inquiry (aka teacher research), aims to dispel those fears and bring more teachers into performing inquiry in their own classrooms.
In Nancy Fitchman Dana and Diane Yendol-Hoppey's book, "The Reflective Educator's Guide to Research: Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn Through Practitioner Inquiry", they state that teacher inquiry is defined as, "... a vehicle that can be used by teachers to untangle some of the complexities that occur in the profession, raise teachers’ voices in discussions of educational reform, and ultimately transform assumptions about the teaching profession itself" (Fitchman & Yendol-Hoppey, 2014, pg 5). Now this may sound a lot like research that comes from universities and other big research corporations for education, however teacher inquiry is different. Let us compare big company research to individual teacher inquiry through an agriculture example.
"In agriculture the equation of invested input against gross yield is all: it does not matter if individual plants fail to thrive or die so long as the cost of saving them is greater than the cost of losing them.… This does not apply to the careful gardener whose labour is not costed, but a labour of love. He wants each of his plants to thrive, and he can treat each one individually. Indeed he can grow a hundred different plants in his garden and differentiate his treatment of each, pruning his roses, but not his sweet peas. Gardening rather than agriculture is the analogy for education" (Ruddock & Hopkins, 1985, p. 26, as cited in Fitchman & Yendol-Hoppey, 2014, pg 10).
"In agriculture the equation of invested input against gross yield is all: it does not matter if individual plants fail to thrive or die so long as the cost of saving them is greater than the cost of losing them.… This does not apply to the careful gardener whose labour is not costed, but a labour of love. He wants each of his plants to thrive, and he can treat each one individually. Indeed he can grow a hundred different plants in his garden and differentiate his treatment of each, pruning his roses, but not his sweet peas. Gardening rather than agriculture is the analogy for education" (Ruddock & Hopkins, 1985, p. 26, as cited in Fitchman & Yendol-Hoppey, 2014, pg 10).
Now this isn't to say that the farmer's work or the gardener's work is neither better or worse than the other, it simple means they have different purposes for growing and have different specific outcomes at the end of the growing season. The same can be said for big education research and teacher inquiry.
So, why would a teacher want to engage in teacher inquiry and how does it differ from the different strategies already in place in schools? Well the main reason for teachers to engage in teacher inquiry is to get a better insight into their own individual classes. For example through inquiry, a teacher can determine learning styles, different interests, and through these the teacher can make adaptations to their current instruction methods, giving every student the best chance to succeed.
"But, we have so many other strategies in place like differentiated learning, Response to Intervention (RTI), Progress Monitoring, Data-Driven Decision Making, Lesson Study, Teacher Evaluation, and Common Core Standards. How is this any different?" I understand the push back, the thought process that this is just another strategy that you need to learn to keep everyone happy. Let me put it simply, Teach Inquiry is what you do BEFORE you do all these other strategies. In order to make a decision, you must observe things about your classroom and students that make them individuals and from there you can alter plans, assignments, and interventions accordingly.
Now your last question may be, "But I already reflect on my teaching everyday, I reflect on my plans, my actions, and my students performance on what was taught in class, is this the same thing?" Well, yes and no. it is similar because you are making observations and then altering different structures. However, teacher inquiry is different based on two principles: it is intentional and it is visible. Teachers look to solve a specific problem or puzzle in their classroom when performing inquiry, rather than on the fly style reflection. Inquiry has planned reflection time, reflection can happen anywhere (on the way to the break room, at dinner, or even right before the next class). And secondly, teacher inquiry is visible. When teachers reflect, it is usually done quietly, or talked about a little with nearby teachers. However, teacher inquiry invites discussion, debate, and pertinent educational conversation.
Now your last question may be, "But I already reflect on my teaching everyday, I reflect on my plans, my actions, and my students performance on what was taught in class, is this the same thing?" Well, yes and no. it is similar because you are making observations and then altering different structures. However, teacher inquiry is different based on two principles: it is intentional and it is visible. Teachers look to solve a specific problem or puzzle in their classroom when performing inquiry, rather than on the fly style reflection. Inquiry has planned reflection time, reflection can happen anywhere (on the way to the break room, at dinner, or even right before the next class). And secondly, teacher inquiry is visible. When teachers reflect, it is usually done quietly, or talked about a little with nearby teachers. However, teacher inquiry invites discussion, debate, and pertinent educational conversation.
So bottom line, "Through the inquiry process, teachers can support with evidence the decisions they make as educators and, subsequently, advocate for particular children, changes in curriculum, and/ or changes in pedagogy. Inquiry ultimately emerges as action and results in change" (Fitchman & Yendol-Hoppey, 2014, pgs 26-27).
Source:
* Dana, Nancy Fichtman; Yendol-Hoppey, Diane (2014-05-06). The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research: Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn Through Practitioner Inquiry. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.
Source:
* Dana, Nancy Fichtman; Yendol-Hoppey, Diane (2014-05-06). The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research: Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn Through Practitioner Inquiry. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.