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"Inquiry is…looking again and again,…to see bigger and farther…to get inside the concept to really understand it." (Janet Miller et.al.)

"To learn deliberately is to research." (Garth Boomer in Reclaiming the Classroom)

"Inquiry is the ability to balance the knowledge of others with the knowledge constructed internally, to accept and see multiple perspectives of any issue or perplexity, and to step back from the knowledge gained and examine it. This learning process necessitates being introspective and reflective about what one knows, looking outside oneself to the knowledge of others, and then allowing the gained knowledge to reflect back onto oneself to inform new knowledge. This means being challenged by oneself, by others and by new ideas." (Belenky et.al.)

"Inquiry is looking beyond the apparent." (M. Shank)

"Inquiry begins with wandering and wondering…wandering must include examining a topic as broadly as possible from many perspectives and through conversations and observations. These experiences push [us] to go beyond what [we] already know and to develop broader understandings from which our inquiries can then develop." (Short, Harste, Burke in Creating Classroom Authors and Inquirers)

"Teacher-inquirers must be vulnerable to challenge their own assumptions, to risk their current theories." (paraphrased from Watson, Burke & Harste)