Student teachers in a co-inquiring position in professional inquiry projects initiated by science teacher educators

In the context of NAFA - a large-scale nationwide initiative to improve science teaching in Denmark - teacher educators are organized in professional learning communities (PLC) working with professional inquiry projects. The paper presents research from the work with the second of four consecutive themes in NAFA namely ‘assessment in a double didactic perspective’ from three PLC from different University Colleges. The aim in all three cases has been to experiment with how to position student teachers in a co-inquiring position examining the following research question: How are the science student teachers positioned in the professional inquiry projects and what kind of outcomes do they emphasize?.
Data from student teachers is both case-specific data (interviews, survey, and reflective writings) from the student teachers involved in the three cases, and a repeated questionnaire from all the student teachers involved in the PLC-work in NAFA (n=200).
Findings from analyzing the survey-data collected after the second theme in NAFA is presented under three headlines:
1) There is a development where far more student teachers have been involved in trying things
out at a school connected to the PLC-work in Theme 2 than we saw in Theme 1 (a development from 29% in Theme 1 to 77% in Theme 2)
2) There is also a development from Theme 1 to Theme 2, where more student teachers report about being co-developers, participating with ideas, having influence and contributing with ideas for the next steps
3) There is in both datasets after Theme 1 and Theme 2 a correlation between being positioned as co-developer as a student teacher and the perceived outcomes.
The findings from the cases show that student teachers in various degrees and ways have been involved in developing the projects, for example in a role as representatives from a class of student teachers. Some of them have volunteered to take this position, also representing the project in national workshops. Furthermore, student teachers have as part of the teaching been involved in their own small inquiries with pupils from schools. They have among other things examined assessment through using pupil drawings and interviews.