Inquiry in Literacy 1

Inquiry in Literacy

Shiyan Guo

Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

EDUC 606 Literary Theory, Research, and Practice

Dr. Alesha Gayle

April 17, 2022

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We all came into the world with great curiosity. When we were kids, we asked questions

every day. But as we grew older, we considered ourselves knowledgeable enough and stopped

making inquiries. In the field of education, teachers were often seen as the authority who impart

knowledge to others. But when facing students, teachers also need to stay curious, eager to

learn, and open to new ideas all the time in order to navigate today’s ever-changing teaching

situations.

In general, inquiry often refers to the action of seeking truth, knowledge, or information

concerning something. In the context of literacy teaching and learning, my conceptualization

of inquiry requires teachers to take a critical lens, constantly ask questions, expand our

knowledge, and adjust pedagogies in order to meet different needs of our students. Dewey

(1910) believes that “only by taking a hand in the making of knowledge, by transferring guess

and opinion into belief authorized by inquiry, does one ever get knowledge of the method of

knowing” (p.395). According to Simon (2015), inquiry can be a means of prompting teachers

to interrogate outside discourses and promoting critical resistance to institutional demands

(p.64). Cochran & Lytle (1999) construct the idea of inquiry as a stance, which means that

“teachers challenge the purposes and underlying assumptions of educational change efforts

rather than simply helping to specify or carry out the most effective methods for predetermined

ends” (p.295). They also suggest that inquiry involves “teachers and students working in

communities to generate local knowledge, envision and theorize their practice, and interpret

and interrogate the theory and research of others” (2001, p.50). Therefore, inquiry is central to

literacy learning and teaching, and it is crucial for teachers to take an inquiry stance.

To do so, teachers should firstly position themselves as lifetime learners. Cochran &

Lytle (1999) distinguish three prominent conceptions of teacher learning: “knowledge-for-

practice”, “knowledge-in-practice”, and “knowledge-of-practice”. “Knowledge-for-practice”

is the research-based knowledge taught in universities that prepare students to become future
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teachers. But having more theoretical knowledge does not mean that we can teach better.

Teachers also need to develop “knowledge-in-practice”, the experiences accumulated through

teaching practices, and “knowledge of practice”, which requires them to use classrooms as sites

for intentional investigation. Besides, the early years of a career in teaching can be daunting

because of the new responsibilities and challenges, so teachers should actively participate in

professional development to improve teaching skills.

Furthermore, teachers should make efforts to break the current inequitable power

dynamics in classrooms and put students at the center of literacy learning. Teachers should

focus on students’ backgrounds, identities, and experiences, in opposition to standardized and

decontextualized instructions, and the idea that the educator’s role is to “‘fill’ the students by

making deposits of information which he or she considers to constitute true knowledge” (Freire,

1970, p.76). It can be done by asking our students what they are interested in learning, what is

important to them, or what their stories are behind a particular topic that they are learning. Each

individual is different and has a unique way of understanding the world through literacy

practice, so we need to “honor and leverage different strengths and perspectives that students

bring to and take away from their learning” (Aukerman, 2021, p.585). However, sometimes

students can take many detours in learning, and we can “follow their detours and let them lead

you to their learning” (Comber & Kamler, 2009, p.231). It is important that we learn from

students’ funds of knowledge instead of bringing them back to what we consider the “main

road”.

In addition to learning from our students, collaborative inquiry such as teacher

communities can also be a valuable resource to support teachers’ learning. Teachers, especially

new teachers, often face challenges such as being tied to the school climate, finding it difficult

to understand students, or having few opportunities to relate with colleagues. Additionally,

many school-based professional developments often “regard teachers as recipients rather than
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producers of knowledge” (Simon, 2015, p.44), which ignores teachers as effective resources.

Therefore, we need to change the current situation by utilizing teachers’ unique experiences

and perspectives on teaching. Whitney (2008) suggests that “knowledge and skills for teaching

were acquired through presentations of others” (p.173). In other words, teachers can learn from

each other through sharing experiences and exchanging ideas. Berriz et al. (2015) also

emphasize that teacher knowledge is a powerful resource for schools, districts, and the nation.

Through teacher communities, teachers get to exchange their ideas and collectively reflect

upon their students’ and their own learning. Moreover, initiating connections with like-minded

colleagues helps teachers deal with isolation and work for change.

All in all, taking an inquiry stance means that as teachers, we should both reflectively

and reflexively think about our teaching. It requires developing “problem-posing” and

“problem-solving” skills (Freire, 1970) and “examining our biases, assumptions, and

judgments—however well-intentioned—and learning how they might affect our perceptions

and actions” (Stairs et al., 2012, p.118). “Teaching requires ongoing inquiry and sustenance in

order to risk going beyond normative scripted pedagogies” (Comber & Kamler, 2009, p.228).

As teachers and educators, it is our responsibility to pose questions, expand knowledge, and

adjust pedagogies in order to confront all kinds of teaching contexts.

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References

Aukerman, M., & Chambers Schuldt, L. (2021). What Matters Most? Toward a Robust and

Socially Just Science of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1).

Berriz et al. (2015). Looking Forward Backwards: Teaching Freedom and Democracy in the

Classroom. In Nieto, S. (Eds.), Why we teach now (pp.45-62). Teachers College Press.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher

learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24, 249-305.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2001). Beyond certainty: Taking an inquiry stance on

practice. In A. Leiberman & L. Miller (Eds.), Teachers caught in the action:

Professional development that matters (pp.45-58). New York: Teachers College.

Comber, B. & Kamler, B. (2009) Sustaining the next justice. Chapter 18 in S. Noffke and B.

Somekh, (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of educational action research (pp. 226-237).

London: SAGE.

Dewey, J. (1910). Science as subject-matter and as method. Science, 31(787), 121-127.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Publishers.

Simon, R. (2015). “I’m fighting my fight, and I’m not alone anymore”: The influence of

communities of inquiry.

Stairs, A. J., Donnell, K. A., & Dunn, A. H. (2012). Urban teaching in America: Theory,

research, and practice in K-12 classrooms. Sage.

Whitney, A. E. (2008). Teacher transformation in the National Writing Project. Research in

the Teaching of English, 43(2), 144–187.