Teacher Learning Insights From Two Practice-Based Inquiries in South Africa and New Zealand

Abstract

Practitioner inquiry has become part of the research tradition in many teacher professional development programmes across the world and allows teachers to conduct research into their own practices by engaging in systematic inquiry into their personal classroom practices. In this paper, we explore the inquiry reflections of two teachers that engaged in inquiries of their practice with a specific focus on their teaching of measurement. Both these teachers had completed practitioner inquiries as part of two different programmes of study, one in South Africa and the other in New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to identify factors which supported teacher learning. The findings showed that learning opportunities were created by their motivation and willingness to engage in critical reflections, while professional support from colleagues and mentors enhanced teachers’ learning experiences. Furthermore, despite the different contexts, each inquiry expands our understanding of locally generated knowledge in terms of local knowledge of context as well as local knowledge of learners and content.