Scherff (2012), in studying inquiry projects of English PSTs she taught, examined to what extent they moved beyond answering a question toward adopting a critical inquiry stance. She cited Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009) in defining stance as requiring not only action but also considering “what is to be done, why to get it BIBW 2992 done, who decides, and whose interests are served” (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009, p. 121). Through the process of adopting a critical inquiry stance, she contended PSTs experienced a “wobble” or “space of uncertainty” (Fecho, Graham, & Hudson-Ross, 2005) between old beliefs and new ideas. In an environment where most of her students were White and female—typical for many U.S. teacher education programs (Sleeter & Milner, 2011)—Scherff (2012) found that although many PSTs grew in their understanding of teaching minority students, others still employed “deficit thinking” (García & Guerra, 2004) in blaming minority students for challenges linkage face. Scherff (2012) explained this variation, arguing that beliefs are deeply held and that while one inquiry experience might be sufficient for some PSTs to grow, others might never change.
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