Tanya Chichekian

First-Year Teachers’ Uphill Struggle to Implement Inquiry Instruction

This longitudinal study of six first-year teachers focused on conceptualizations of inquiry-based pedagogy, self-efficacy for inquiry-based teaching, and its actual enactment. Data included a self-report survey of self-efficacy for inquiry-based instruction, individual interviews at the beginning and end of the year, and five distributed classroom observations. At year’s end, self-efficacy for inquiry teaching declined, as did frequencies of concepts teachers used to describe inquiry enactment. Inquiry descriptions reflected a set of interrelated procedures more than inquiry as conceptual knowledge. Novice teachers were observed least enacting pedagogical actions that required enabling students to communicate findings and the most in student engagement; however, over time frequencies of student engagement declined. Consistent patterns were observed between shifts in self-efficacy and inquiry enactment and shifts between self-efficacy and conceptualizations of inquiry enactment. We found beginning steps toward links between teacher’s conceptualizations and classroom practice.

The International Baccalaureate: Contributing to the Use of Inquiry in Higher Education Teaching and Learning

Abstract This chapter overviews the articulation of inquiry in the three International Baccalaureate (IB) levels, Primary Years (ages 3–12), Middle Years (11–16), and the Diploma Program (16–18) that is widely accepted by universities for matriculation. It reviews inquiry-based instruction in the publicly available IB research literature. The IB advocates inquiry as its pedagogical approach. We identified empirical classroom research involving IB teachers or students from four databases; 35 reports matched inclusion criteria and 31 of these had appeared in gifted-education journals. The IB’s inquiry philosophy, interdisciplinary emphasis, and specific elements in the Diploma Program such as the Theory of Knowledge course, a program entitled Creativity, Action, and Service, and the Extended Essay, comprise qualities that should inform higher education. There has been disproportionate attention to the planning part of inquiry (e.g., generating worthy questions and deciding how to answer them) versus enactment or reflection; this leaves room for other research input about enacting inquiry in university instruction that creates a cycle of creative engagement. Successful IB experiences, through some of the IB pedagogy and content, raised learners’ expectations about their higher education learning experiences. However, as one moves from the Primary Years through to the Diploma Program, students report increasing “teaching to the test” and content-coverage that constrain inquiry opportunities students value. The importance of providing detailed, supportive, step-by-step introductions to inquiry, and attending to the social and emotional correlates of the substantive learning, were highlighted.

Hold Firm: Gifted Learners Value Standing One’s Ground in Disagreements With a Friend

Seventy-four students in three different Grade 9 classrooms of high-performing learners from the same suburban, comprehensive secondary school, completed a questionnaire focused on their preferences for a friend to stand by his or her position in case of a disagreement, to maintain their own position themselves, and to modify their own stance. Each group reflected high performance in a different way: International Baccalaureate (n = 27) requiring overall high grades, Enriched French (n = 24) requiring second language proficiency, and Sports Excellence (n = 23) based primarily on athletic ability. The International Baccalaureate students had the highest preference for standing one’s position, but were willing to ultimately modify their position. Sports Excellence students had the most friends, but the number of friends was not related to the preferences. Academically very able students seem to enjoy some disagreement with their friends.

Preservice and practicing teachers’ self-efficacy for inquiry-based instruction

Abstract This review synthesized what the research tells us about teachers’ self-efficacy for the enactment of inquiry-based instruction in the classroom. We selected 33 empirical studies that met specific search criteria. Teachers with previous inquiry experiences, including the completion of inquiry-based methods courses in teacher-education and previous authentic investigations, were more disposed toward adopting an inquiry approach, even if they had limited experience in authentic inquiry-education settings. Number of years taught, the maximum degree held by the teacher, and prior educational and work experiences were not related to an inclination toward using inquiry in the classroom. In addition, success in teaching with inquiry depended on teachers’ interpretations of the challenges associated with this pedagogy. Implications for research and practice are discussed.