Page 18 - Empowering pre-service teachers through inquiry - Lidewij van Katwijk

Chapter 1
findings of pre-service teacher research by the organisation of formal conferences for pre-service teachers, teacher educators, teachers and school board members (Schulz & Mandzuk, 2005).
2.3 Perceived and actual learning outcomes
Most studies that report learning outcomes of pre-service teacher research and inquiry are based on self-reports collected by surveys or interviews. These data are typically perceived rather than actual learning outcomes. In general, these studies identify professional and personal development, including characteristics of an inquiry habit of mind, as important learning outcomes (e.g., Aspfors & Eklund, 2017; Niemi & Nevgi, 2014; Ulvik et al., 2017). Other studies mention learning outcomes such as research skills, such as analysing data, using a research cycle or academic writing as learning outcomes (e.g., Baan et al., 2018; Munthe & Rogne, 2015) and knowledge about research and professional knowledge on various educational topics (e.g. Gray, 2013; Kowalczuk-Walędziak et al., 2019; Munthe & Rogne, 2015). Finally, several studies mention the application of previous research to improve practice as a learning outcome (e.g. Ion & Iucu, 2016; Niemi & Nevgi, 2014).
The few findings of actual learning outcomes of pre-service teacher research relate to research knowledge (Van der Linden et al., 2015), research skills and collaboration processes (Dobber et al., 2012) and the quality of research questions in combination with how pre-service teachers conceptualise and assess learning (Cochran-Smith et al., 2009). Actual learning outcomes regarding the contribution of pre-service teacher research to student teachers’ professional development, including the quality of teaching (which is assumed to be core business in teacher education programmes), are lacking. The exact relationship between pre-service teacher inquiry and teacher quality is complicated. Teacher quality and teaching quality are closely related; teaching quality is assumed to be the most important indicator for teacher quality (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2017). Teaching quality can be measured by observation systems, which are developed to understand and improve teaching and can be used to evaluate interventions (Bell et al., 2019). These observation systems are aligned with knowledge about effective teaching (e.g., Stronge’s [2018] framework for effective teaching) and focus on the following visible knowledge and behaviours: professional knowledge, skills for instructional planning (including classroom management), skills for instructional delivery (including cognitive activation, differentiation, and learning strategies), assessment for learning, creation of an adequate learning environment and professionalism.
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