Category Archives: 1.4 Prof. Commitment

What it means to be an Enquiring Practitioner

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.