Echoing the current emphasis on examining changes in teacher beliefs, combined with the central role of inquiry in reform, this article argues that science "education" research experiences should hold promise in shaping preservice teachers' beliefs about the role of inquiry in understanding classroom science teaching. The aim of this research was to explore the beliefs of preservice teachers that shaped their interpretations of and actions within open inquiry in science teaching. In this research three prominent beliefs emerged as central in shaping the participants' interpretations: division of research and teaching, disdain for ambiguity and primacy of the individual. In this research we came to understand that these beliefs played such a central role in shaping participants' interpretations of their experiences that the act of researching science teaching was not recognised nor valued, as they often left this experience asking, '"Why are we doing this?"