ABSTRACT
As they study to become teachers, student teachers must form concepts about what learning and teaching are. In this chapter I discuss how the students used inquiry and an inquiry stance to develop their own understandings about learning and theory, and its use in understanding both one’s own learning and that of one’s students. The data in this chapter are drawn from a study investigating how students learned about learning and the theory of constructivism in the context of one class, a seminar entitled “Advanced Seminar in Child Development.” The purpose of that study was to look at one context in which students developed their ideas of learning, teaching, the nature of knowledge, and constructivism.1
In the discussion in this chapter I look at how student teachers can become more reflective and critical of their own learning process and the learning of their students. The inquiring stance developed in this context is important for developing an overall inquiry stance to one’s practice. While carrying out inquiry projects in the context of one’s teaching (or student teaching) is essential to developing an inquiry stance, for inquiry to become a “habit of mind” it has to be nurtured in a variety of contexts and activities, so that students begin to regard the whole process of learning to be a teacher as one of inquiry.
