Page 134 - Empowering pre-service teachers through inquiry - Lidewij van Katwijk

Chapter 6
average pre-service teachers focus on precisely meeting the requirements and rubric of the research project. They are encouraged to gain a procedural understanding of inquiry, rather than making inquiry an integral part of their teaching practice. To develop an inquiry stance, inquiry should be genuinely promoted as a disposition, a way of knowing about teaching and learning, that is integrated into all teaching activities and assignments, including the professional experience period, rather than a procedural activity to complete the programme (Cochran-Smith et al., 2009).
Developing inquiry competences in primary teacher education
Although the inquiry competences distinguished herein are intertwined in practice, the distinction among the competences is functional with regard to teaching and learning related to pre-service teacher inquiry and developing an inquiry stance. In Chapter 3 (Figure 3.1, p.37), we adapt Healey and Jenkins’s (2009) model with the inquiry competences that emerged in the document analysis, and we describe teaching and learning activities that literature identifies as effective in engaging pre-service teachers in inquiry and developing inquiry competence (e.g., Aspfors & Eklund, 2017; Munthe & Rogne, 2015; Schulz & Mandzuk, 2005; Van der Linde et al., 2015). Teacher educators mentioned examples of their teaching activities, referring to all inquiry competences in all four quadrants of the model. Thus, the intended and implemented curricula contain elements of the four main types of undergraduate engagement with research and inquiry, which is desirable (Healey & Jenkins, 2009). Pre-service teachers, however, typically do not recognise teaching activities in the research-tutored quadrant that have stimulated or developed their inquiry habit of mind. They were more likely to mention activities in the research-based quadrant (e.g., the capstone inquiry project) but suggested a minor role of teacher educators during these learning activities. Some pre-service teachers mentioned that they experienced a lack of technical and practical training in research methodology (research-tutored and research-oriented activities). All indicated the importance of good supervisors who have research knowledge and experience and skills to motivate during the capstone project.
To stimulate and develop the inquiry habit of mind, pre-service teachers should practice with argumentation, decision making and justification while problem solving (Toom et al., 2010). Working in pairs, with critical friends, or communities of practice improves critical reflection (Dobber et al., 2012; Van der Linden et al., 2010). The use of Lesson Study in pre-service teacher education might contribute to the development of the inquiry habit of mind as well, because it involves collaborative
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