Teaching teachers to inquire through action research

This study has as its focus the complex lives and pedagogies of three professors who have developed action research courses for Masters students in departments of education. Each of these individual scholars are understood as people enacting a life-long process of development, as participants in their teaching/learning contexts, and through the processes they have established in their courses to assist graduate students in learning about, conceptualizing, reflecting on, and enacting action research. While definitions, methods, processes, pedagogies, and terms in action research are understood and emphasized differently by various scholars, I take the stance that this diversity of understanding is not a weakness. This stance is reflected in this study, which attempts to appreciate difference, notice the personal that is too often glossed over in studies of teaching, and celebrate complexity in development, theory, practice, and pedagogy. However, while action research is widely accepted and included in contemporary pre-service teacher education, the pedagogy of action research in teacher education has received little attention in the literature. This has led to a situation where many professors have little guidance for their pedagogical choices. To contribute to filling the gaps in our understanding of teacher action research courses, I initiated this qualitative multiple-case research study exploring the following questions: 1. How, if at all, has the lived experience of professors who teach action research informed and/or impacted their pedagogies? 2. What goals do professors in three diverse teacher education programs have for students in their teacher action research courses? a. What pedagogical strategies do instructors and mentor teachers use to achieve these goals? b. How, if at all, is community built in these courses? c. What challenges or tensions are encountered in these courses?

3. How do students in these action research courses, perceive and describe their experiences and development of professional identities as inquiring practitioners? 4. How are the teaching goals of instructors and the learning by teachers supported institutionally in these three teacher education programs? 5. How, if at all, does the particular teacher education program context influence instructor pedagogy, teacher research methods, community building, and pre-service professional identity development in teacher action research courses?