ABSTRACT
In adopting an inquiry stance in one’s own classroom, one goal is to experience the “whole” research experience from start to finish, including designing a study, writing a human subjects protection proposal, collecting and analyzing data, writing a paper, and presenting the work publicly. While a teacher will not always carry out such a complete inquiry cycle once she begins her employment, having had that experience can enable her to enter the larger research community and contribute to the discourse on teaching and learning at a broader level. It is an important rite of passage that gives a new teacher a look into another community and culture, broadening her perspective on the role of the teacher and the power she might have to influence change for excellent outcomes for all children and social justice. At Mills, all teacher education and Early Childhood master’s candidates write a
master’s paper, conducting original research. Many of them conduct research in their student teaching contexts. This research is seen as a natural extension of the inquiry work they have been doing all along in the programs. For many of these students, qualitative research is the preferred method, including action research, case study, narrative research, and self-study. The work described in earlier chapters illustrates how these different methods have been experimented with throughout the program, supporting a deep understanding of what inquiry entails in practice. This final project in their program allows them to integrate many of their earlier experiences and learn about the broader context of research, both by reading it with an eye to doing their own studies and by participating in a variety of venues for making their own work public. In the past few chapters we have looked at how student teachers at Mills begin to
adopt an inquiry stance toward their practice through examining and experiencing different aspects of that stance. We have seen them reflect on the connections between theory and practice and begin to develop their own personal theories about teaching and learning. We have seen them begin to question assumptions, develop hypotheses about these assumptions, and use data to understand what they are seeing. We have seen them develop questions to investigate, collect data on those questions, and reflect on what they find. All of these aspects of the research process are essential for developing an inquiry stance toward one’s own
teachers as professionals and permits them to participate in the broader community of teachers and researchers who help to formulate good practices and policies with the goals of social justice and excellent outcomes for all learners. What is the purpose of conducting original empirical research as part of teacher
preparation? In what way does this contribute to strong preparation? And, in relation to the content of this book, how does it contribute to an inquiry stance, and how does it enrich and add to that stance? It is not unique to the Mills program for a master’s thesis to be included as a requirement for student teachers in preparing to be classroom teachers. By examining what student teachers do and learn from the process, we will see how this final project is, in many ways, the culmination of the goal of the program to instill in the student teachers the acquisition of an inquiry stance, to be considering their practice as something always to be investigated and as an arena for learning about teaching.
