Supported Teacher Collaborative Inquiry.

Introduction Drawing on the rich line of research that has emerged over the past 15 years, this article details the types of support necessary for the establishment and nurturing of teacher collaborative inquiry. Although teachers have the ability and drive to initiate change, it is often the case that complex layers of support are required to achieve this goal, some of which originate in the teacher community, but others that must emanate from those who can advocate and facilitate these teacher-led processes. This article lays out a theoretical framework for supporting teachers engaged in collaborative inquiry. While we make use of a specific professional development project employing supported collaborative inquiry to add context, we are not providing a case study or review of literature in this paper; rather, we articulate a framework to provide guidance for supporting teacher collaborative inquiry and to detail specific types of support which can serve as units of analysis for studies on teacher professional development. These supports are based in the inquiry process, which is not a typical element of teachers' work, and in the environments that support teachers engaging in the inquiry process. We theorize that not only is it limiting to solely consider the teachers and their immediate work in the conceptualization and implementation of collaborative inquiry, professional development must look to provide teachers with opportunities for influencing the contexts and impacting the forces that originate outside their immediate work environment (Fullan, 2000; Giles & Hargreaves, 2006). Therefore, we will define support for the teacher collaborative inquiry process and support for the inquiry environment as being manifested in a complex web of interrelated strands of support that emanate from a variety of people and entities. Together, these supports frame the interface of teacher development in this setting. Research on Teacher Collaborative Inquiry Research on the ineffectiveness of traditional models of professional development, combined with new understandings about learning, provide a renewed perspective on supporting teacher growth (Tyack & Cuban, 1995). A vision of effective professional development is becoming "increasingly clear" (Borko, 2004); evidence suggests that experiences should involve the creation of opportunities for teachers to engage as learners, build pedagogical and disciplinary knowledge, and co-construct and enact new visions of practice in context (Linn, Shear, Bell, & Slotta, 1999; Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1998; Putnam & Borko, 2000; Radinsky, Bouillion, Lento, & Gomez, 2001). When these components are enacted in a collaborative setting, Little (2003) has termed this "the optimistic premise of professional community. " Various structures have been used to support teachers' professional growth in collaborative settings, including professional learning communities, lesson study, communities of practice, and peer observation. These structures encompass a collaborative and inquiry-based approach that can lead to a "pedagogy of investigation" (Ball & Cohen, 1999). Teacher inquiry, discussed here as inquiry conducted by teachers (as opposed to on or with teachers), is central to the current educational research landscape (Ball & Cohen, 1999). In conceptualizing teacher inquiry as a collaborative process, we draw upon the notion of dialogic inquiry as described by Wells (1999): Inquiry . indicates a stance toward experiences and ideas--a willingness to wonder, to ask questions, and to seek to understand by collaborating with others in the attempt to make answers to them. At the same time, the aim of inquiry is not "knowledge for its own sake" but the disposition and ability to use the understandings so gained to act informedly and responsibly in the situations that may be encountered both now and in the future. …