Examination of science teachers' understandings of scientific inquiry

In line with the changes brought about by the rapid developments in the world, the main purpose of our education system is to raise individuals with the values and competencies of the Turkish education system. The most important task in raising these individuals falls to the teachers. Teachers are also expected to apply an inquiry-based learning approach using an interdisciplinary perspective, as clearly stated in the 2018 Ministry of National Education Science Curriculum. It is necessary for teachers to have a flexible understanding of inquiry in order to use the inquiry-based learning approach effectively, to raise scientifically literate individuals, and to provide individuals with scientific process skills and life skills. Therefore, there was a need to define teachers' flexible understanding of inquiry. When the scales in the literature are examined, it is understood that it is not sufficient to directly reveal the teachers' flexible inquiry understanding and it will not be sufficient to define the teachers' flexible inquiry understanding. For this reason, explanatory interviews were conducted with the teachers. Case study, one of the qualitative research types, was used in the study. Eight science teachers working in MEB participated in the study. As a result of the study, in line with the findings obtained from the interviews with the teachers, it was concluded that there were categories such as those who have a flexible understanding of inquiry, those who have but do not apply it constantly, and teachers who are distant.