Voices of Inquiry in Teacher Education

This book is an attempt to show that preservice teacher knowledge is substantive and should be part of the wider database of knowledge about teaching and learning in the field of teacher education. From the perspectives of five prospective teacher interns and a teacher educator, this volume brings the experiences of students conducting research during preservice teacher education to life. Charged to conduct a semester long study in the school, the intern-authors studied classroom scenes and their own work, and wrote case studies depicting their experiences. Their pieces -- in their entirety -- compose the central chapters of the book and serve as examples of preservice teacher research. The surrounding chapters examine the interns’ experiences of conducting research during their preservice internship year primarily from the perspective of a teacher educator who studied them and the scene throughout the experience. The teacher educator examines the interns’ approaches to research and the processes they employed to conduct and complete their studies, the interns’ professional growth as a result of their participation in the study, and the impact the project had on the program. This book fills the gaps that exist in the present literature on the use of teacher research during preservice by including the inquiry works of preservice teachers as examples of legitimate, important preliminary research in their own rights, and by addressing the complex issues of conducting this type of study during preservice from multiple perspectives, not just that of the university researcher. While some texts include the perspectives of students and even include portions of students’ own work, this text takes the step of co-authorship, sharing the academic discourse with intern teachers who have produced experience and knowledge that are informative for the field of education as a whole and specifically for teacher education. The text attempts to combine many voices into one thorough, narrative approach, ultimately urging the reader to consider the possibilities of teacher research for advancing knowledge in the field and for enhancing the professional development of the participants.