Mainstream concepts of inquiry-based learning in teacher education in Austria as well as in many other countries often relate to a series or cycle of action phases that are comparable with generic practices in science or undergraduate research (Feyerer, Hirschenhauser, & Soukup-Altrichter, 2014; Mieg, 2019; Pedaste, Mäeots, Siiman, de Jong, van Riesen, Kamp, Manoli, Zacharia, & Tsourlidaki, 2015). To discover knowledge or to solve specific problems, these individual units of action (e.g., formulation of hypotheses, conduction of experiments) have to be paced by the learners during an inquiry learning process. Though neither conditions nor outcomes of fruitful inquiry-based learning processes in teacher education are sufficiently investigated by now (Paseka & Hinzke, 2018), there is evidence that participation – understood as the direct involvement of students in content and methodological decisions about the learning process – plays a crucial role when students are engaged in inquiry (e.g., Deicke, Gess, & Rueß, 2014). Action research, which is both very commonly used and onwards developed in Austria since years, can be comprehended as inquiry-based learning emphasizing the participation of teachers in reflective practice (Feldman, Altrichter, Posch, & Somekh, 2018). Further, the Austrian concept TILA (Theory of Inquiry Learning Arrangements; Reitinger, 2016, p. 41) also focuses on participation valuing it as a didactic core-principle. Inquiry-based learning according to this non-mainstream approach is oriented towards several criteria of a continual nature that describe participatory attributes of learning processes (e.g., discovery interest, authentic exploration, critical discourse). In summary, it can be stated that in Austrian teacher education phase-based inquiry learning, participatory action research, as well as criteria-based inquiry learning according to TILA are – more or less widespread – conducted, though there are differences between the aims of the approaches (support of theoretical, practical or self-reflective knowledge; Weyland, 2019). In a first step, the paper shows the approaches’ specific distinctions but also their general compatibility and the chances of mutual completion. Referring to contemporary research, participation is drawn out as a fruitful if not indispensable condition of inquiry-based learning in teacher education as it fosters important professional competences (e.g., authentic collaborative reflection on teaching practice, learning about and through research). The second part of the paper explicitly refers to the criteria of inquiry learning mentioned above. By presenting research results from quasi-experimental studies as well as the standardized Criteria of Inquiry Learning Inventory (CILI; Reitinger, 2016), the criteria’s potential is demonstrated and critically discussed.

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