In Search of Coherence: ‘Inquiring’ at Multiple Levels of a Teacher Education System
Source: Educational Action Research, Volume 20, Issue 4, 2012, pages 535-551.
The authors were interested to assess the teacher education system’s coherence. Therefore, the authors explored how Inquiry Seminar did, and did not, align with program objectives.
Inquiry Seminar was created by Lynch School of Education faculty at Boston College, and it requires teacher candidates (TCs) to complete a formal inquiry project.
Conducted while student-teaching, the project requires candidates to research their teaching practice, identify areas of concern, and modify their teaching accordingly.
The authors found that when Inquiry Seminar experiences complemented TCs’ field experience, program objectives were more often realized.
Two factors proved critical to this research: integrating the often-neglected voice of TCs and clinical staff, and examining a foundational feature of the teacher education program, Inquiry Seminar.