University of Illinois at Chicago
Browse

Professional inquiry for inclusive education: learning amidst institutional and professional boundaries.

Download (127.29 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2017-07-05, 00:00 authored by FR Waitoller, EB Kozleski, T Gonzalez
We examined how an inquiry group composed of a university professor, 3 doctoral students, and a grade-level team of 7th- and 8th-grade teachers negotiated their collaborative work. This effort resulted in the development of a 2-week unit that tapped into students' out-of-school knowledge. Our research question asked how learning occurs within a boundary practice formed by university and middle school participants. We used analytical tools from Grounded Theory to analyze videos of meetings between university and school personnel, field notes, and meeting artifacts. Participants engaged in a dance in which boundaries among institutions and professions were sustained and challenged. The inquiry project became an open-ended learning zone in which all participants sought and gave support in joint action, expanding the mutual understandings of the object of their work. We recommend developing relational agency (Edwards, 2007) to engage in inquiry projects for inclusive education.

Funding

The first author acknowledges the support of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Office of Special Education Programs leadership grant # H325D050017.

History

Publisher Statement

Post print version of article may differ from published version. This is an electronic version of an article published in Waitoller, F. R., Kozleski, E. B. and Gonzalez, T. Professional inquiry for inclusive education: learning amidst institutional and professional boundaries. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 2016. 27(1): 62-79. 10.1080/09243453.2014.908929. School Effectiveness and School Improvement is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2014.908929.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

issn

0924-3453

Issue date

2016-01-01

Usage metrics

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC