Content-Based Collaborative Inquiry: A Professional Development Model for Sustaining Educational Reform

AbstractIn this article, we describe our professional development model, Content-Based Collaborative Inquiry (CBCI). The purpose of the CBCI model is to engage educators in inquiring and constructing their own knowledge as they focus on both student understanding in specific content areas and their own learning processes. We first explain the empirical foundations of CBCI. Through 3 cases we illustrate how content knowledge is developed via collaborative inquiry, originating in teachers' classrooms, and expanding to create and sustain collaborative communities of inquiry in the multiple contexts where educators work. We conclude by discussing challenges and continuing issues for efforts to support lifelong teacher learning and educational reform.