Practitioner Inquiry, Knowledge, and University Culture*

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationships among practitioner inquiry, knowledge, and the cultures of universities. The chapter uses the term, ''practitioner inquiry,'' as a kind of conceptual umbrella to overview a number of differing forms of practitioner-based study of teaching, teacher education, and related issues. The chapter has three major parts. The first examines the discourse and terminology of practitioner inquiry, suggesting that the language used to describe it has been widely appropriated for many different contexts. The chapter argues, however, that it is not language alone that differentiates particular kinds of inquiry, nor is it ideological, political, or historical traditions alone. Rather, in order to understand the range and variation of practitioner inquiry, particular practitioner inquiry initiatives and their operating assumptions about how inquiry is related to knowledge, practice, and change must be examined. The chapter offers three different inquiry-knowledge-practice relationships as a way to sort these out. The second section of the chapter discusses the features and assumptions that most variants of practitioner inquiry share and that divide practitioner inquiry from many traditional forms of educational research. The chapter identifies the most common critiques of practitioner inquiry, particularly in relation to issues of epistemology, methodology, and politics. The final section considers the role of practitioner inquiry in the university. This section of the chapter draws on the authors' own experiences working with teacher research and other inquiry communities within the contexts of large research universities over a period of more than 15 years. It explores the ethical, political, and practical dilemmas and contradictions that are created when teacher research and its underlying premises are taken seriously over a long period of time and within the culture of the university.

Premises and Promises for Expansive Learning in Teacher Education

“…In Norway, since 2017, teachers complete a master's degree and are expected to conduct research on their own practices and learn from it (Ministry of Education, 2014; Postholm and Jacobsen, 2018). Teaching and research also described as key factors in teacher educators' professional development (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 2004;Loughrang, 2014;Lunenberg et al, 2014). This is, according to Lampert and Graziani (2009), a challenge in universities, and they suggest that teacher educators should take advantage of what is known about how teachers learn in schools, but according to Levin and Greenwood (2011) teacher education institutions have a long way to go in developing culture; culture defined by Wolcott (2008) as the different ways groups act and the convictions they connect to these actions.…”