Fostering Teacher Educators’ Professional Development through Collaborative Action Research

Abstract

This study reports on the experience of three novice science teacher educators as their journey on unpacking and scrutinizing their inquiry implementation. In this study, the three science teacher educators formed a critical inquiry group and engaged in collective action research to identify weaknesses and strengths in their instruction of inquiry as they attempted to teach a science laboratory course for future primary teachers and develop new knowledge about how to best promote inquiry in their laboratory courses. For this purpose, the novice science teacher educators engaged in inquiry collaboratively within a learning community to improve their own professional development through a whole semester. Data was collected by use of audio-recorded planning and reflection meetings, written weekly reflections, and pre-interviews and post-interviews with three researchers and final written reflection. Data collection was continuous and spanned through the fall semester of the science laboratory course offered in a primary teacher education course. Analysis of the findings revealed the reflection and the construction of collegial relationship between science teacher educators enabled them to view them as science educators through new lenses. The implications derived from the data, served to inform science teacher educators regarding the professional development of novice science teacher educators through forming collaborations in which they questioned and pursuing the theoretical and practical bases for their practice.