A Stance toward Inquiry: An Investigation of Preservice Teachers' Confidence regarding Educational Inquiry.

Research suggests that effective teaching is a significant, if not the most significant, indicator of student success (Darling-Hammond, 2000, 2006a; Sanders, 1998). However, because teaching has become an increasingly challenging profession (Bransford Darling-Hammond, & LePage, 2005; Darling-Hammond, 2006b), school reformers have advocated that educational practices be based on evidence of student learning (e.g., Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Fallon, 2007; Goodlad, 1994), suggesting that teachers should develop a stance toward inquiry. To define teacher inquiry, we rely on Cochran-Smith and Lytle's (1990) working definition--that is, "systematic and intentional inquiry carried out by teachers" (p. 3). Inquiry as a stance moves beyond formal research and involves "consistent positioning or way of seeing, rather than a single point in time or a single activity" (Barnatt et al., p. 43). Teachers with a stance toward inquiry are able to make "diagnostic and strategic judgment to address the needs of those whom they serve" (Bransford, Darling-Hammond, et al., 2005, p. 9). The call for teachers to become more critical, or at least more systematic, inquirers caused us to reflect on teacher education programs in general, and our university's Integrated Bachelor's/Master's (IB/M) teacher preparation program (TPP) in particular, in terms of influences on preservice teachers' (PSTs) development of such a stance. Our TPP, where inquiry is a major theme in the final, master's year, provided a useful forum for an initial investigation. Specifically, we reasoned that a focused look at influences of this inquiry-oriented year on a stance toward inquiry may provide a foundation for future investigations of TPPs and what may occur as PSTs move into their careers as teachers. Although legislation (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act, 2002) has compelled schools to focus attention heavily on standardized assessment scores, our vision of teachers having a stance toward inquiry is more holistic in nature (cf. cites above). We envision such teachers as having a general research cast-of-mind when making instructional decisions. They gather multiple forms of data, analyze them accordingly, and come to decisions that they recognize have some limitations. They are capable of making decisions based on evidence that positions them with a professional point-of-view. To help us better understand influences that may impact a stance toward inquiry, and those of the final year of our TPP in particular, we first turned to the literature to explore practices that help make teachers more capable of having such a stance. Numerous researchers (Bransford, Darling-Hammond, et al., 2005; Burnaford, Fischer, & Hopson, 2001; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1990, 1999; Darling-Hammond, 2006b; Hammerness et al., 2005; Henson, 2001; Hopkins & Stern, 1996; Hubbard & Power, 1999; Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) have suggested that conducting action research, investigating classroom and school-wide issues, and/or making decisions based on evidence may enhance a teacher's ability to take a stance toward inquiry. Our five-year TPP includes experiences that may promote an inquiry-based perspective throughout the program, but it focuses explicitly on inquiry in the final, master's year primarily through a school-based inquiry project, much like other TPPs (e.g., Barnatt, Cochran-Smith, Friedman, Pine, & Baroz, 2007; Mule, 2006; Rich & Hannafin, 2008). While inquiry projects seem laudable, there has been little empirical evidence about their impact on helping PSTs develop a stance toward inquiry (Barnatt et al.). Thus, we investigated PSTs' changes in their confidence related to a stance toward inquiry in their final, master's year prior to and after completing an inquiry project. As noted previously, there have been increasing calls not only for teachers to base their practices on research but also for them to participate in inquiry and to act as researchers themselves (Barnatt et al. …