Adopting an ‘enquiry as a way of being’ approach to embed a culture of research and evidence-informed professional learning and practice in schools

ALEX MORGAN AND EMMAJANE MILTON, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UK

LISA MULLANE, MARK WALKER AND WIL HOWLETT, ALBANY ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL, UK

Introduction

This article aims to communicate experiences of using enquiry to support meaningful professional learning in a primary school in Wales, the culture that this supported and perceptions of its ongoing legacy. Three authors are teachers and leaders who experienced this approach in their school; therefore, this article reflects their views and experiences. They worked in partnership over one year with the other two authors (teacher educators), whose understandings of enquiry for professional learning had been developed through working in many settings over the last decade. What this article does not do is outline and unpack the bespoke and tailored programme undertaken in this school, which aligned with an educative case-making approach (see Morgan and Milton, 2022).

The programme designed for this school was underpinned by literature that suggests that high-quality professional learning (that involves a sustained and critical consideration of classroom practice) is an essential feature of developing the professional growth and expertise of teachers at all stages of their career (Cochran-Smith, 2002). Working in this way supports and increases the capacity that teachers have to make a positive difference to the lives and learning of those they teach (Coe et al., 2014). In everything that teachers and leaders do, they need to know: 

• what they are trying to do 
• how they might do it
• why they are doing it in the way that they are 
• why they think that this might be the best bet for their learners (and staff).

Put simply, they need to have robust and considered rationales for their practice. Throughout their careers, teachers and leaders need appropriate support to be able to develop detailed understandings of why they feel that a particular approach/way of working is the best way forward for their learners in their context – their rationales for practice. 

Teachers and leaders cannot develop these rationales through being presented with step-by-step approaches or scripted ways of working, being told the right facts or reading selected studies of a particular way of working, which they are then expected to apply (Daly et al., 2020). Indeed, these approaches are likely to reduce teachers’ ability to think deeply and critically about the right thing to do for their learners. They may, in fact, lead them to adopt the ‘right answer’ and/or to align their practice with ideas about what works (Biesta, 2007), unthinkingly and without appropriate consideration of their context (and, importantly, learners). High levels of school accountability make it easy to understand the allure of quick fixes and easy answers to complex issues in classrooms. However, there can never be easy answers or completely standardised solutions, precisely because of the highly dynamic and variable nature of school contexts and individual learners (Daly et al., 2020).

Importantly, the absence of strong underpinning rationales for practice is problematic for teachers and leaders because they can feel vulnerable if they are not able to explain the basis for their practice – doing what they do. This can leave them with professional knowledge that is restricted/fragile and can be detrimental to their professional efficacy, identity, confidence and reliance, and therefore their overarching wellbeing (Morgan et al., forthcoming; Milton and Morgan, 2023). This vulnerability in terms of professional knowledge is particularly exposed and heightened by uncertainty or dramatic changes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and/or significant policy reform, e.g. new curriculum innovations (Milton and Morgan, 2023). The highly pervasive and demanding accountability structures within which many schools now operate can work against teachers and leaders developing strong rationales for their actions, often leaving them with more restricted professional understandings and practice (Santoro, 2018). Under dominant external forms of accountability, teachers and leaders typically privilege what will be judged as good or will show the school in the best light (Dall’Occo et al., 2024). What is then often neglected is thinking consistently deeply and critically about practice in order to better meet learners’ (and staff) needs.

Enquiry as a way of being

At the heart of the programme developed in partnership was the idea that teachers and leaders needed the time and opportunity to develop enquiry as a way of being. This way of working practises, continually scrutinises and considers the best thing to do (or the best bet) to meet learners’ needs in a particular context.

“Enquiry as a way of being – can be understood as a habit or muscle that needs to be developed and exercised on a day-to-day basis, in every interaction, all of the time. 

It needs to be worked on, strengthened and demands:

• • vigilance, really taking notice and being alert to what is going on
  • privileging questioning and thinking
  • authentically listening to learners
  • always seeking to understand things better
  • having rationales for action, and always being prepared to develop them
  • taking the time to draw on external/alternate viewpoints and ideas to challenge your own
  • thinking and ways of working
  • a willingness to see afresh what is really going on for all learners as a result of your practice
  • being prepared and proactive in taking contingent action.”

 Milton and Morgan, 2023, pp. 1074–75

A central driver from the school at the start was that to support teachers to give of their best, all staff needed opportunities and support to take ownership of their professional learning in a meaningful way to support their day-to-day practice. Critically considering practice and how best to meet learners’ needs is an essential part of consistently growing, learning and developing expertise as a teacher (Black and Wiliam, 1998). Continually asking ‘What is really going on here?’ and ‘How can I do this better?’ about day-to-day classroom practice requires that teachers take a step back to adopt a more external perspective. This is an incredibility difficult thing to do consistently over time, and even more difficult alone. Uniquely in this context, the school themselves initiated the desire to do this work collaboratively as a whole-school endeavour, and were explicit in wanting to incorporate research and evidence-informed ways of working into the programme to help to inform thinking and therefore practice. This was particularly important in the context of widespread government-led changes to curriculum and the professional standards for teachers and leaders (Welsh Government, 2017). 

To support the staff to consider their practice from alternate perspectives and to avoid the pitfall of becoming unquestioning about their practice, the programme included:

• taking time to educatively discuss practice and the rationales for this (see educative mentoring; Langdon and Ward, 2015)
• reading pertinent literature focused on educational practice 
• observing and/or listening to learners about their learning and experiences
• documenting their thinking in writing (in poster format).

Experiences of enquiry as a way of being

While there are many features that warrant discussion about how this approach was experienced, for this article, we have distilled these down to three key points, highlighted by the staff as being highly beneficial. Firstly, there was a fundamental importance in the headteacher and leadership team fully participating in the programme in a way that demonstrated ‘courage, humility, authenticity and vulnerability’ (Milton and Morgan, 2023, p. 1083) and modelled to all staff that this way of working is valued and for everyone. Staff felt that leading from the front developed an inclusive school culture where all staff perspectives were invited and valued and which could for the whole school ‘support agency, higher levels of motivation and dispositions to learning’ (Milton and Morgan, 2023, p. 1077). Secondly, staff identified that this approach was transformational in supporting staff to have greater self-efficacy in their practice, precisely because they were drawing and continue to draw on real intelligence and so feel more confident and empowered in making and defending best bet decisions. These decisions were informed by educative conversations that developed thinking and ideas, served to develop enhanced understandings of practice and fostered more open, honest and trusting relationships between staff. Finally, staff acknowledged the challenge of initiating and sustaining this way of working over time, however committed they felt. This is simply because of the demanding nature and ‘busyness’ of school life; the job is never done – it is relentless. It is therefore easy to see how the dynamic and turbulent context within which schools find themselves operating means that this way of working can fail to gain traction and/or become embedded. Enquiry as a way of being needs to be seen as a deliberate practice – a way of working that is ‘exercised on a day-to-day basis, in every interaction, all of the time’ (Milton and Morgan, 2023, p. 1074). When leaders actively cultivate the conditions, model ways of working and support their staff to learn about and develop their practice, positive change can happen. Adopting enquiry as a way of being, even in small and incremental ways to get started, can be empowering and support improvements in learning and wellbeing for all. 

Conclusion

We acknowledge that enquiry as a way of being is not currently a common practice in all school settings and that little practical guidance exists to support professionals to develop this as a way of working (Milton and Morgan, 2023). It also might not result in the outcomes that were wanted, expected or thought about at the outset; however, there are always new and meaningful insights, intelligence and learning. Working with staff to support them to develop and maintain enquiry as a way of being can be a paradigm shift (Morgan et al., forthcoming), and while it is of value, it is not a quick fix or an easy thing to do. It is, however, worthwhile, because where all staff have rationales for their practice, this can lead to better shared understandings, improved staff relationships and wellbeing, and a more intelligent form of accountability (O’Neill, 2013).