Why should we inquire?
Many writers emphasise the importance of educators critically reflecting on their own beliefs and assumptions, and in particular, of examining the learning theory or theories that underpin their practice. Appendix I discusses a range of general learning theories that have become widely accepted over time and are applicable to many different situations.
In Case 6, an ISTE finds that the dissonance she experiences in inquiring into her practice helps her to better align her ways of working with her espoused beliefs. See video Clip 1.
Inquiry provides the opportunity to critically reflect on what is happening in a given situation, with the ultimate goal of achieving improved learning outcomes for students. Inquiry is a learning process that helps practitioners to create new knowledge that they can use to inform their planning and action. However, practitioner knowledge is complex and much of it is tacit. This means that before practitioners can integrate knowledge from site-based inquiry or academic research into their professional knowledge, they need to go through a process of making their existing practices, knowledge, assumptions, and theories explicit. Inquiry often involves educators in testing their routine practices and assumptions and measuring their effects. This may happen in the normal run of events or it may take place through more formal and systematic cycles of learning, as described in the Conducting Inquiry chapter.
When the evidence from inquiry or research conflicts with people’s expectations, it can create a sense of dissonance that has the potential to generate new knowledge and improved theories of practice.
Spillane, Reiser, and Reimer, 2002, page 398[F]eatures that violate expectations can become the focus of attention; they may be noticed and remembered as inconsistent information when one is motivated to be attentive to all details (Stangor & McMillan, 1992), perhaps because the incongruities trigger explanatory reasoning to account for the violation of expectations (Schank, 1986). This kind of effort to explain discrepant cases is precisely what is needed for deep conceptual re-organization to occur (Carey, 1985; Strike & Posner, 1985).
Inquiry is not necessarily a comfortable process but, ideally, it should lead to a need to know more and a readiness to explore new approaches that may have better outcomes. As educators become more aware of their personal contribution to student outcomes, inquiry can provide a powerful intrinsic motivation for improvement.
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