Student-driven Inquiry-based Science Education in Luxembourg Primary School Contexts

This study examined the use of a student-driven inquiry-based science education
instructional approach designed specifically to meet the contextualized needs of
Luxembourg primary schools. The key issues, namely an increasing linguistically diverse
student population and limited instructional time for science, were considered in the design
of the instructional approach. Drawing on theories of dialogic inquiry, the instructional
approach engages students in asking questions and designing investigations to build their
science understanding. This interpretive qualitative study utilized a multi-perspective
approach to analyse how teachers used the instructional approach in their classrooms and
explored two overarching research questions, first, what instructional opportunities does Science Workshop, an inquiry-based student-driven science instructional approach, afford when used in Luxembourg primary classrooms? And second, what does analysis of interactions in these contexts reveal about inquiry-based science instruction in multilingual classrooms?

Qualitative methodologies, specifically case studies of classroom implementation, were
used to examine the use of the program teachers’ adaptations of the program in their
classrooms. Bakhtinian notions of heteroglossia and dialogic pedagogies were used as lenses to
examine the instructional opportunities afforded. Interaction analysis was used to examine
instruction in a focal classroom when the inquiry-based approach was used. Analyses
rooted in sociocultural theoretical frameworks of science and language learning revealed
three key contributions toward the use of IBSE in Luxembourg primary schools. First, the
key characteristics of teacher professional learning opportunities that supported teachers’
use of the program in Luxembourg, which included workshops, material support, and
opportunities to share implementation cases were identified. Second, the ways in which ritualized
instructional components afford students spaces to engage on micro-scales in building
synchronous interactions during science investigations were revealed. Third, that the
science notebooks can position students to engage in dialogic discussions surrounding
science investigations was shown through detailed analysis. Taken together, these interrelated points contribute to an understanding of the use of student-driven instructional approaches in multilingual science classrooms in general, while revealing implications for the use of inquiry-based science
instructional approaches in Luxembourg primary schools specifically.