Teacher Identity And Practice In Inquiry Based Sci

Learningthediscourseofinquiry:howin-servicehighschoolscienceteacherscometounderstandthemselvesaslisteners.LessonsfromSamantha.VictoriaDeneroff,WilliamA.Sandoval,MeganL.FrankeUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles{vdenerof,sandoval,mfranke}@ucla.eduPaperpresentedatSession15.19TeacherIdentityAndPracticeInInquiryBasedScienceAnnualMeetingoftheAmericanEducationalResearchAssn.,April1-5,2002,NewOrleans,LALearningthediscourseofinquiry1IntroductionDoyoulikeusinginquiry?Iaskedtherambunctiousfourthperiodclass.SeveralYeah’s.[Pause.]WhatwouldhappenifMs.Hillwentbacktoteachingtraditionally?I’dgobacktosleep.–Terrence,African-American10thgraderOnaSundaymorninglastJuly,sevenpeople–fiveurbanhighschoolscienceteachers,myfriendIrene,formerscienceresourceteacherwhonowworksfortheUniversity,andmyself,formerscienceteacherandnowgraduatestudentresearcher–sataroundatableoverlookingthepoolattheLionSquareInninVail,Coloradoonagloriousmorning.Wekneweachotherprettywell.Wehadallbeeninvolvedinafive-yearreformeffortintheUrbanUnifiedSchoolDistrict.AswesatintheRockyMountainsunshine,weknewthatfundinghaddriedupbecausenoonewouldsignthegrantrenewalapplication,thethirdsuperintendentinthreeyearswasnotinterestedinscience,andeverythingwehadworkedforsohardwasinjeopardy.Theworkshopfacilitatorhadgivenusinstructionsaboutwhataspectofinquiryweshouldbetalkingabout.Irenestartedoff,So,doweevenwanttodothis?Weallsatnumbly,lookingateachother.FinallyTammysaid,Ican’tgoback.TearscametoIrene’seyes.Wewentaroundthetableandeachpersonreaffirmedher/hiscommitmenttousingactivity-basedinstructioninmannerreminiscentofareligiousrevival.Eventhoughourunderstandingsofinquirymightdiffersubstantially,eachofusidentifiedsocompletelyasreformteachersthatreturningtotraditionalpracticefeltutterlyimpossible.TheironyisthatnoonebesidesIreneandmyselfreallyunderstoodthatinquiryismuchmorethanwhatteacherscommonlycall“hands-on”science(Wells,1999).IrenehadinvitedustotheNationalAcademyofCurriculumLeadership(NACL)basicallybecauseshehadthefundingandwasgraspingatstrawstryingtokeepafloatanowstruggling,previouslyflourishingreformmovement.Still,thedepthoffeeling,includingmyown,revealedatthismeetingtookmebysurprise.Weallcametoholdthisidentityoverthecourseofseveralyears.OnewayoranotherLearningthediscourseofinquiry2eachofusheardaboutinquiryscienceteaching,myselfingraduateschool,someinteachereducationclasses,someinworkshops,somefromotherteachers.Intruth,thesophisticationofourunderstandingsvariedsignificantly.Jessehadsurvivedhisfirstyearofteachingonanemergencycredentialandhadbeenfollowingthesuggestionsofhismentorthatheusehands-onactivities.Samanthaconfessedtonotknowingthedefinitionofinquiry,althoughshehadbeenusingactivitiesforthelastseveralofher25yearsintheclassroom.Tammy’sstudentsperformedwaterqualityandenvironmentalmonitoringstudiesoutsideoftheclassroomandhadbeenamajorfactorinthecommunity’sdefeatofaplantobuildapowerplantinthemiddleofanurbanpark,butshealwaysreferredtoherpracticeashands-onratherthaninquiry.Noneoftheteachersbesidesmyselfhaddeliberatelyandconsciouslyalignedthemselvesasinquirypractitioners,andIwasnowoutoftheclassroom.Allofushadhadtheexperienceofwatchingourstudentsgotosleepinourclasses,andallofusstruggledtofindwaystochangeourteachingsothatthelightsinkids’eyeswentbackon.InColoradowedevisedaplantopilotatenth-gradeinquirysciencecoursecalledScienceandSustainability(SEPUP,2000),realizingthatotherteacherswouldbeneedtobebroughtonboard.Knowingthatmeaningfulimplementationofanyreformcurriculumwasproblematic,wejoinedforceswithanongoingresearch/professionaldevelopmentprojectatUCLA,BeyondFinalFormScience(BFFS).Inquiryasdiscourse.Learningtouseinquiryrequiresamajorshiftforhighschoolscienceteachers.Inbrief,thehallmarkoftheinquiryclassroomistheauthenticdialogaboutscientificideasandprocessesthatoccursbetweenstudentsandteacherandamongstudentsthemselves(Hammer,2000;White&Frederiksen,2000;Roth,1993;Calabrese-Barton,1998;Warren&Rosebery,1996;Hunt&Minstrell,1994;Brown&Campione,1998).Theteacher’stalkinaninquiryclassroomisquitedifferentfromthatofteacherswhousethetraditionalIRELearningthediscourseofinquiry3formatofinterrogation,studentresponseandteacherevaluationwhichdominatesAmericanscienceclassrooms(Lemke,1990;Cuban,1993).Muchhasbeenwrittenaboutkindsofquestionsscienceteachersask,butverylittleabouthowtheyinterpretandunderstandstudents’responses(withtheexceptionofHammer,1997;2000).Teachersininquiryclassroomlistentostudentsinorderunderstandtheirreasoning.Itiswelldocumentedthatteachersusinginquirywithsomerelativefrequencyaskquestionstowhichtheydon’tknowtheanswer,forinstance,askingstudentstoprovideevidenceforclaims(Wells,1999).Whiletheanswerstosuchquestionsassisttheteacherinunderstandingthestudents’conceptualdevelopment,themereaskingimplicitlyplacesvalueandimportanceonscienceasanintellectualpursuit,asubjectaboutwhichtheclassroomcommunitycanreasonandhaveopinions.IntraditionalclassroomsthepredominantIRF(teacherinterrogation,studentresponse,teacherfollow-up)scriptrequirestheteachertolistenforthecorrectanswerinordertovalidateit.Whenus