PREPARING LEARNING TEACHERS: THE ROLE OF COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY

Abstract

This paper describes a two-year action research study of 20 pre-service teachers (referred to in the context of this study as intern teachers) in their final 15-week practicum, during which they engaged in a type of action research known as collaborative inquiry. Over the course of their practicum, these intern teachers were interviewed monthly to ascertain the impact of collaborative inquiry on their confidence and competence as emerging reflective practitioners. Interview data were triangulated with observations by their practicum mentor teachers, resulting in three skills that participants believed could be attributed to implementing a collaborative inquiry model during practicum: intern teachers increased their understanding of the reflective process and its role in improving their instructional effectiveness; intern teachers increased their skill and confidence in working with colleagues to address pedagogical and practical problems; and intern teachers increased their ability to engage in professional learning as teacher-researchers, that is, in their ability to link theory with practice.