Inquiry-based learning and secondary chemistry education – a contradiction?

Even though inquiry-based learning (IBL) has been a component of various curricula and standards for more than ten years and its implementation has been supported by several funding programs, it is still applied only rarely. The reasons for this are not only frequently mentioned obstacles, but also the teachers’ beliefs regarding IBL. In this article, it is exemplified what IBL means to five Austrian chemistry teachers and what contradictions between IBL and the curriculum emerge from this. For this purpose, a group discussion is analyzed to discern what teachers think IBL is. The results are contrasted with relevant literature as well as with the Austrian curriculum for chemistry. The findings are finally used to derive implications for designing an appropriate professional development program.