Chapter 6: Integrating Inquiry in Clinical Teacher Education Initiatives Across a Pds Network

Historically in the research on clinical teacher education in professional development schools (PDS), you can find limited attention devoted to inquiry as a focus of the partnerships (Berry, Boles, Edens, Nissenholtz, & Trachtman, 1996; Galassi, et al, 1999; Goodlad, 1988). Teacher educators and scholars, however, do underscore the value of making connections across theory, research, and practice in PDS sites (Darling-Hammond, 2005). University and school faculties are encouraged to collaborate with interns on reading, researching, and discussing their own efforts to answer problems unique to their sites (Lemlech, Hertzop-Foliar, & Hackl, 2005; Whitford, 2005). In addition, King’s research (2002) documents that professional development can promote systematic school-wide inquiry and that such inquiry can lead to important changes in beliefs and practices.