Teacher Collaborative Inquiry in Ontario Elementary Schools: An Analysis of Provincial and School Board Policies and Support Documents

Collaborative inquiry (CI) has emerged as a dominant structure for educators' professional learning in the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to analyze publicly available documents and policies related to CI in Ontario in order to better understand the documentary scope and spread of this professional learning model in the province. We begin by defining the parameters of CI as a dominant professional learning model before detailing our methodology for selecting and analyzing CI policies and documents at both ministry and school board levels. In our subsequent analysis, we enumerate emergent themes and findings and offer three sample case studies that illustrate how school boards in the province are documenting their experiences with CI. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of potential tensions within current CI policies as a basis for future research and policy development.