Practitioner Inquiry for Turbulent Times: Learning to Take an Inquiry Stance Toward Teaching Difficult Topics Through a Teacher Inquiry Community

Amid turbulent times and politically polarized communities, many teachers require support if they are to teach or engage with difficult topics in their curricula or professional practices, yet few teachers actually receive any formalized support for addressing such topics. This article responds by describing the work of an inquiry community of inservice educators that was designed to assist teachers in learning to address difficult topics by integrating practitioner inquiry and student inquiry with asset-based and trauma-informed lenses. The article outlines the community’s conceptual foundations then describes how a team of university-based teacher educators facilitated the community’s work. A participating teacher’s reflection illustrates how the support of the community transformed her teaching of one potentially difficult topic—the American Civil War—as she shifted her pedagogy from being a provider of knowledge to facilitating students’ inquiries. The article highlights implications for future scholarship about professional learning, student inquiry, and teacher retention.