Comparing teacher beliefs and actions during collaborative geographical inquiry

The importance of between-desk instruction during inquiry-based learning to deepen learning is well recognised in some curriculum areas but remains under-researched in geography. Inquiry-based learning incorporates the use of generative questions and inquiry methods to support student-driven investigations. This paper reports on a study of teacher–student interactions during geography inquiry-based learning. A cross-case fine-grained analysis of two teachers’ video-recorded lessons in a classroom laboratory using a kikan-shido coding framework showed that “guiding” was the dominant between-desk function used. The teachers differed in whether guiding was mainly used for task completion or to deepen student understanding. Semi-structured interviews revealed that the characteristics and sequence of these guiding actions were influenced by teachers’ beliefs. Those beliefs mediated how teachers guided students during the inquiry, debunking a dichotomous view of inquiry-based learning as either teacher or student directed. We conclude that inquiry-based learning is a necessary and complex interplay of teacher-directed and student-directed activities and that more research on the elements contributing to the kikan-shido functions performed by teachers could help better identify and strengthen teacher practice for inquiry-based learning.