This semester was challenging. I regularly experienced the confusion and frustration noted in Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process research, not only from the perspective of undertaking a new learning topic, but also being a recent graduate teacher with no substantial experience to draw upon. My clarity moment was delayed in assignment one, but was almost non-existent for assignment two, hitting just days before submission. Despite this, I do feel I am in a better place to empathise and support my students when they experience similar feelings during inquiry learning.
I had seen inquiry learning as ‘asking questions and finding answers’, usually attached to a problem or scenario, but was surprised to find so many other interpretations and variations used to describe the same thing, or what I thought was the same thing. Even now, after copious amounts of research, reviews of peer-developed infographics and class discussions, sometimes I still feel confused. Kath Murdoch (2018) recently posted a blog, which summed up the growing confusion over inquiry, as well as hitting on some of my initial thoughts and misconceptions about inquiry learning – that giving students open choices was open inquiry, when in fact, the choice had nothing to do with the level of inquiry being presented.
What I do know is inquiry learning invites students to ask questions and explore their own interests, not those dictated by someone else, although individual inquiries may be made to answer a larger pre-composed question. It is engaging and feeds off students’ curiosity and provides a platform for students to learn how to learn through questioning, investigating, analysing and concluding. Teachers can, and need to, provide individual support, through varied levels of guidance, and at various stages of the inquiry process. Whilst I still want to seek more understanding about inquiry, I understand the benefits and will advocate this practice in my classroom, and those of others.
Collaboration is also a key element to inquiry learning. I feel studying online has challenged this aspect of my own inquiry learning. Our online network was very supportive and assistive but was no substitute for a face-to-face conversation. It has highlighted the importance of ‘talking’ and ‘discussing’ topics to support learning and counteract frustrations and confusions. Having experienced the lack of talking myself, I understand the importance of including enough time to talk, discuss, share and wonder when planning for all inquiry learning.
Coming from early childhood, student curiosity is endless, and the less prescriptive Early Years Learning Framework makes creating curriculum less challenging. Planning inquiry learning to meet state and national curriculum has brought about new challenges for me, but by working with the end in mind, a balance can be struck. As noted by Cooper (2014), students cannot learn everything, so learning how to learn becomes more important. Continually reminding myself of this notion helped improve the balance between content and individual open inquiry when planning. Part of my re-search has led me to practices such as Genius Hour, and I look forward to promoting something similar in my classroom.
My pre-schoolers always asked questions, but primary students are more reluctant. As we grow, asking questions becomes taboo, but with practice we can rediscover our curiosity. Although open, my initial questions were simplistic and easily answered. As I engaged with questioning frameworks, such as GeSTE windows, Question Formulation Technique, I saw the importance of meaningful, researchable questions. Whilst learning how to assist students in question construction, I bettered my own techniques. I am interested to see if getting students to write down their daily questions might improve their curiosity and enthusiasm to ask.
Inquiry learning takes you to one destination, but many more demand visits. I am still asking questions, more now than before. One noticeable change is the shift from student-focused questions (relating to assignment one) to ones about my own professional development and classroom implementation, inferring that I have answered my initial questions. I know my questions will continue to evolve as I discover. Here are some of my new destinations waiting for exploration:
How would I define inquiry learning?
What other inquiry learning frameworks are out there to support unit planning?
How can I move from guided to open inquiry with students?
How do you successfully implement inquiry learning?
As a teacher-librarian, how would I work with other classroom teachers to achieve quality inquiry learning?
What would my role be as a teacher-librarian when implementing inquiry learning?
What professional development is available on inquiry learning?
What information would I want to find in an inquiry learning professional development course?
How do I get more experience implementing inquiry learning?
It is clear this pilot is going to be very busy navigating a flight path through the wonderful world of wonder and curiosity, to arrive at one final destination, only to find it has been re-routed elsewhere!