Introduction to the Special Issue: Inquiring Into, About, and During Covid-19

One of the most pervasive ways the inquiry movement has needed to be reshaped since its inception is as a mechanism to respond to a global pandemic. As COVID-19 necessitated an abrupt transition to remote delivery of instruction, teachers needed a powerful form of professional learning to understand and respond with changes to serve their students during this challenging time. At P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School, a K-12 school, the leadership team designed a Canvas website devoted to teacher inquiry, enabling teachers to share experiences, collaborate, and address issues regarding the abrupt transition to emergency remote instruction. In this issue, five pandemic inquiry teams present their reflective essays, to describe their collaborations to re-imagine classroom communities; empower students to express their views of the pandemic; re-construct curricula to capture essential learnings; modify for struggling students, and bridge the opportunity gap for students of color.

Commentary: Inquiry-Based Teacher Learning for Inclusivity: Professional Development for Action and Change

University-school partnerships can offer teachers a space for inquiry into theory-based practice related to teaching for equity, inclusivity, and justice. The Teachers College Inclusive Classrooms Project (TCICP) invites city teachers to join an Inquiry to Action Team where they collectively interrogate students’ access to full participation in schools. Teachers are enthusiastic about this work and eagerly share their wisdom and carefully document their yearlong journeys into creating greater access and participation for students. The inquiry teams function as an alternate space for educators to share their work, ponder their pedagogical beliefs, and analyze power relationships in their classrooms and schools. As participants are validated in their work in this alternate space, they are able to build agency as intellectuals and act inclusively and for social justice within their own school spaces.