An enquiring practitioner is a professional who continually makes the effort to research and learn about their specific question. It means taking time on a regular basis to find out about new research and theories arising and being willing to constantly be learning new things. It is about having a deep knowledge and understanding of your individual research question. Practitioner enquiry tends to be carried out in groups with other individuals who have the same research question as eachother. Working in groups can have both benefits and disadvantages. Working in groups can be beneficial as it allows encouragement within groups when some people may be struggling, you could also benefit by working in a group if you are not too sure of something as the other group members may be able to explain it to you and help you understand. Even if you do understand something it is always useful to be able to discuss this understanding with others just to make sure you are fully confident and sure of your understanding and knowledge. Along with its any benefits, practitioner enquiry can also have some difficulties. If individuals in your group are not willing to carry out their role to the best of the ability then the whole group will suffer and fall behind, aswell as this, group work can very quickly and very easily turn into idle chat amongst friends or colleagues which will slow work and cause the group to fall behind.
For me, as a student teacher, practitioner enquiry means that I must be willing to carry on my research throughout my career and must be able to make a conscious and active effort to learn new things and improve my knowledge of a specific research question even once I have left further education.
Hello Lucy,
From my initial read of your reflection, I could easily see that you’d grasped what it means to be an Enquiring Practitioner. I liked how you included how you would actually put the skills into practice in a day to day circumstance. I found it particularly interesting to read about your thoughts on group work as this is a big part of being an Enquiring Practitioner. You clearly have a good understanding of group work and have put considerable thought into benefits and challenges. I 100% agree with what it implies for you as a student teacher 🙂
Lucy I think your post has many strengths and I can tell that you have spent time researching this topic area! You have not only talked about the enquiring practitioner but you have also related it to how you will carry out this role as a teacher. You furthermore mention both advantages and disadvantages of practitioner enquiry regarding how it is mainly being carried out in groups which adds depth to this post! I think this is a well-rounded post which covers some very important points 🙂