Page 98 - Empowering pre-service teachers through inquiry - Lidewij van Katwijk

Chapter 4
This is where I’m into and this is a proof; there’s a whole thesis on it.” Correspondingly, Nel (PST NL2) mentions, “Because we could choose our own topic, I was curious.... Then, you can get the best out of yourself and show the school who you are as a teacher and as a researcher.”
Perceived value in questionnaires
In the questionnaire for pre-service teachers, 15 items were linked to perceived value (α = 0.87), and the results reveal that they express positive attitudes toward pre-service teacher research; the mean is 4.4 (SD = 0.63) on the six-point scale. However, 9 of the 28 respondents do not agree with the statement, “I find conducting research to be fun.” Five items linked to the future (α = 0.79), such as “I would really like to conduct research in my future job as a teacher,” also evoked positive perceptions. The mean was 4.0 (SD = 0.94), though two Dutch and two Australian pre-service teachers scored 1 or 2 on these items.
For the open question about the value of pre-service teacher research, 10 of the 28 pre-service teachers completed it, offering answers that contained words such as “useful,” “very important, to improve practice,” and “crucial.” One Australian pre-service teacher wrote: “Research is an integral component of any profession, particularly in such a complex field as education” (PST AU2). The educators also indicated, in their responses to this open question, the value of pre-service teacher research, explaining the need for pre-service teachers to “see the link between practice and theory, the importance of inquiry, research and action” (TE AU1) and “That they think before they do, and ask critical questions to people and literature” (TE NL1).
Finally, the last open question (“Are there other terms, related to conducting pre- service teacher research, that come to mind? If so, which?”) prompted responses from half of the pre-service teachers, who offered answers such as “frustrating,” “stressful,” “exhausting,” and “indifferent,” but also “helpful,” “insightful,” and “mind-opening.” Thus, not all answers were thoroughly positive. As one educator wrote: “Without friction, no shine!” (TE NL1).
6 Discussion and conclusion
With this study, we sought to gain insight in the role of pre-service teacher research by mapping the perceptions of pre-service teachers and teacher educators in two different country contexts, reflecting on the purposes, learning outcomes, and value
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