Foundations for Inquiry: Reviewing the Research

Weinbaum, A. (2004). Foundations for inquiry: reviewing the research. In Teaching as inquiry: asking hard questions to improve practice and student achievement (pp. 13-30). New York: Teachers College Press.


Summary/Analysis:
This chapter outlines the reasons why inquiry and collaboration are not the norm in American schools and  it explains why it should be a reality.  I was drawn to this chapter because my school began giving teachers weekly collaboration time a year ago.  What I realized, after reading this chapter, is that we have been planning and discussing data without really reflecting on our practice.  The author does a thorough job of breaking down the essential elements to effective teacher inquiry.  Many schools go through restructuring without reculturing, or making explicit the assumptions and beliefs the teachers hold about the students.  A detailed account of one schools 5-year process of reculturing and inquiry, makes this process seem attainable.  


Quotes:
"Although there is a great deal of new theory and empirical research on how people learn, which is beginning to inform education and professional development, there is much less research on how schools learn."


"For example, a school that restructures itself into teams or houses without affecting the values and beliefs about instruction and all students' ability to learn leaves intact the heart of the educational enterprise and does not challenge the mental models that underpin them."


"Because education is concerned with human development of both students and teachers and the maximizing of human potential regardless of social and economic barriers, it is not possible to genuinely address educational issues without engaging in debate, surfacing preconceptions, and reframing what we already know in terms of new information, new concepts, and new purposes."