ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the value of teacher inquiry in the 21st-century English Language Arts classroom, including how the inquiry stance sets the foundation for action research. The concept of the teacher as explorer and reflective practitioner, the classroom as ecosystem, and the importance of these lenses to the inquiry stance and classroom research are introduced and explained. Throughout the chapter, readers are provided with opportunities to pause and reflect on their own ideas and beliefs about inquiry and classroom research. The reader is also introduced to templates for setting up the inquiry notebook and to guidelines for developing action research projects, which can be found in the Appendices.
