Teacher Inquiry Groups as Professional Development: Working Towards Social Justice and Meaningful Change

The research discussed in this paper is part of a large national study. Teachers at multiple sites across the country are engaging in Teacher Inquiry Groups (TIGs) where the participants’ are using postcolonial literature to teach for social justice. The TIGs are used as a means for participants to build their curricular and pedagogical knowledge, engage in critical self- and professional reflection, and enhance their capacity to achieve their social justice and equity goals. We report on one research site where data were collected through audio-recordings of monthly TIG meetings, individual interviews with participating teachers, teacher logs, researchers’ field notes, and focus group interviews with students who engaged with the literature. Themes constructed from our critical comprehensive analysis of data will be introduced in our presentation. In recent years, professional learning communities (PLCs) have become a “hot topic” in the field of education (Stoll, et al., 2006), presented as providing greater opportunities for teachers’ professional development than earlier models. Although we ultimately argue that the unique structure of TIGs can promote change in teachers’ curricular and pedagogical knowledge, we also offer a constructive critique exposing the limitations of the TIG process.