Secondary student teachers' personal values and perceptions of Teaching as Inquiry

Abstract

This ongoing Doctor of Education study explores the personal and professional values of a sample of four secondary student teachers in the Masters of Teaching and Learning degree at the University of Otago, New Zealand. The study aims to understand student teachers’ personal and professional values when learning to teach, and provides insights into their thinking and practices in relation to Teaching as Inquiry. The study is framed by the interpretive paradigm, uses social constructivist theory and case study methodology. Data are gathered through individual semi-structured interviews and journal writing, and are analysed using the constant comparative method.

Findings show that student teachers in the sample vary in their motivation and capacity to implement Teaching as Inquiry, since they are influenced by uniquely converging priorities, processes, and practices encountered in their university and school contexts. However, their core personal values guide the sense they make of Teaching as Inquiry, and the extent to which it is an individual professional priority or not. For some, Teaching as Inquiry is a university assignment to be completed by stitching together classroom events. For others, Teaching as Inquiry makes professional sense, and despite contextual challenges, it underpins their teacher identity and practice.