"It doesn’t fit in here!” – Pre-service PE student teachers’ perspectives on inquiry learning in school placement ["Relativ realitätsfern!" - Haltungen Sportstudierender zum Forschenden Lernen im Praxissemester]

Nocon-Stoffers, R. A. & Neuber, N.

Zusammenfassung

"It doesn’t fit in here!” – Pre-service PE student teachers’ perspectives on inquiry learning in school placement Renate Anna Nocon-Stoffers, Nils Neuber University of Muenster, Germany; r.nocon-stoffers@uni-muenster.de Inquiry learning (IL) in school placement is mandatory for pre-service student teachers (college students) in most states in Germany. The purpose of IL in teacher education is to develop inquiry stance (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) and ensure professional development. In PETE, IL challenges relating theory and practice variously. However, research into understandings, views and relevance of IL is scarce. Based upon relational Bildung-theory (Benner, 2012), this study explores a) understandings of IL in school placement, b) views on IL in school placement and c) the relevance of IL for professional development among pre-service PE student teachers. In an explorative, longitudinal mixed-methods study a questionnaire was administered to pre-service student teachers (N = 221) before and after school placement. Qualitative data were gained from semi-structured interviews conducted 6-12 weeks (N = 15) and 1 ½ years (N = 12) after school placement. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify deductive and inductive categories. Answers to open-ended questions show that understandings of IL remain incomplete before and after school placement. Referring to views on IL and its relevance for professional development, there are significant pre-post-changes, both becoming more critical (d = .49; d = .54). Preliminary results from the qualitative study exemplify understandings of IL as narrow (i.e. research-oriented). Considering views, circumstances of IL in school placement are criticized in terms of lack of time, autonomy and appreciation. The interviewees suggest a long-term implementation of IL into PETE and tailored guidance to improve IL in school placement. However, the relevance of IL for professional development seems ambivalent (i.e. relating theory and practice). This study illustrates the need to introduce IL to pre-service student teachers in PETE in the long term and more deeply. It emphasizes challenging circumstances of IL in school placement particularly in view of Bildung-theoretical goals. References Benner, D. (2012). Allgemeine Pädagogik: eine systematisch-problemgeschichtliche Einführung in die Grundstruktur pädagogischen Denkens und Handelns (7. korr. Auf.). Weinheim: Juventa. Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. (2009). Inquiry as Stance. New York: Teachers College Press.