A Qualitative Review of Contemporary PDS Literature
from Part VI - Inquiry and Innovation in School–University Partnerships
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2025
Publications about practitioner inquiry in professional development schools (PDSs) tend to emphasize localized descriptions. This has led to a tension in the scholarship between valuing knowledge generated through reports of practitioner inquiry and valuing the generation of methodologically rigorous, potentially transferable knowledge about practitioner inquiry. This chapter addresses that tension by highlighting localized descriptions while aiming to produce new knowledge about practitioner inquiry within the PDS movement. The chapter’s purpose is to construct an up-to-date perspective on practitioner inquiry as a distinctive PDS practice. The authors conducted a systematic review of descriptions of practitioner inquiry in PDS literature published between 2008–2022. The chapter begins with an overview of the foundations of practitioner inquiry in PDSs. The review’s method is described, then its findings are presented through a five-part typology of ways practitioner inquiry was commonly positioned. The chapter concludes by discussing future directions for research about inquiry in PDSs.
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