“at its very heart, inquiry is all
about thinking – thinking in order to make meaning”.
Kath Murdoch
My
Journey:
I have found the more I search, the more I
find; the more I find, the more I want to know.
Throughout
this unit, I have been ever mindful of Kuhlthau’s (2004) model of Information
Search Process. From the beginning of my investigation of inquiry learning
where I was feeling very uncertain and confused about the process, as well as
vague; I feel that I have formulated some clarity and developed a little
confidence. My search has become more focussed and very site situated. Many
great resources have been located and ideas formulated. My favourite is the
development of object boxes to “tune” students into an inquiry and stimulate
their thought process (Staats, 2011), as well as Herbert’s article (2012)
linking historical inquiry and literature.
I
enjoyed the collaboration with students and teachers in my first ILA,
especially when the students took ownership of their inquiry in the early
stage, wanting to produce the best definition of geography that they could. However,
I experienced frustration and disappointment with my second ILA. I found it difficult
to critically analyse and make specific recommendations for the inquiry, even
though some good data was collected from the reflection sheets. This lack of connectedness to the inquiry
was due to my passive role of observer during the ILA, as well as being from a
different education sector. I was not
able to draw on any prior knowledge or experiences of teaching this subject and
had limited background knowledge of the students’ experiences. Although I was
able to observe, first hand, the seeking of relevant and pertinent information,
I could only read the unit plan for the “tuning in” stage of the inquiry. This
meant that I was not able to observe how the teacher introduced the inquiry and
her questioning framework. I also experienced difficulty accessing copies of notes, draft and final products of students to assist with my analysis.
The
opportunity to develop and apply my ICT skills has been beneficial, however I did
experience frustration and disappointment with my blogging skills. This mainly
pertained to copying text from my word document to the blog page. Issues such as
fonts, spacing and tables not transferring accurately were experienced. In
discussion with colleagues, I have discovered some options to solve my issues
that I will investigate to further improve my use of this Web tool.
At the start of this unit, I commented that inquiry
is a dynamic process and can look different at different times and that it may
be labelled differently in different contexts and described differently in
different disciplines. This became evident as I explored the concept of
inquiry, especially with the emphasis on developing effective search
strategies. With the implementation of the Australian Curriculum and inquiry
learning being a major focus, my three questions, for this unit, related to the
best approach to implementing inquiry learning in schools. Based on my
experiences during this unit, I have provided some insights into the initial
questions.
Is
it important for every class in a school to follow the same inquiry process,
for example Big 6, 5Es, Inquiry Cycle?
My
inquiry has exposed me to a selection of theories and models which has
encouraged me to explore these in more detail and to share with staff members.
It was beneficial comparing the different models, identifying what they had in
common, as well as the positives and negatives of each one. I am still not sure
if it is important to take a whole school approach to inquiry; that is everyone
using the same model. However, it is beneficial to use common terminology and
essential to know how other staff members are implementing inquiry. It would be
much easier for the students, if a whole school approach is taken, as they would
not have to struggle with learning a new process or terminology each year or with
a new teacher. I also acknowledge that certain models of inquiry are better
suited to certain subject areas, as well as certain sectors of education. As mentioned in my recommendations, I believe
it is important that a school investigates their understanding of inquiry
processes and theories.
How
do we ensure we meet the curriculum requirements with inquiry learning?
Inquiry
learning is deeply embedded in the Australian Curriculum, especially in History
(78), Geography (31) and Science (17). To ensure that we are meeting the
curriculum requirements, we need to develop a deep understanding of the
curriculum, especially the year level that is being taught, as well as inquiry
learning. The term “unpacking the curriculum” has been used at recent
professional development that I have attended. As teachers we need to
understand the rationale, aims and organisation of the subject area we are
teaching, as well as the content. For example, the Australian
Curriculum states “Geographical
Skills are described in the curriculum under five sub-headings representing the
stages of a complete investigation. Over each two-year stage students should
learn the methods and skills specified for that stage, but it is not intended that they should always be learned in the
context of a complete inquiry”.
We
also need to explicitly teach our students the essential strategies they need
to be effective lifelong learners in the inquiry process. The use of an
effective questioning or thinking framework, such as Bloom’s
Taxonomy, will guide students towards fulfilling the curriculum
requirements in a meaningful way.
How
do we move from guided to open inquiry with curriculum and time constraints?
As
our lower levels progress through the Australian Curriculum, we will see the movement
from guided inquiry to open inquiry. The Australian Curriculum: Geography
incorporates Bruner’s Model of a Spiral Curriculum stating that “Inquiry will progressively move from more
teacher-centred to more student-centred as students develop cognitive abilities
and gain experience with the process and methods across the years of schooling.
This statement is evident in other curriculum areas as well. As both teachers
and students develop their inquiry understanding, skills and strategies,
application within the curriculum will become more effective and efficient. The improved application of inquiry, as well as the continual evaluation and
refinement of units of work that have been developed by some education systems, should see the impact of time
constraints currently being experienced reduced .
Conclusion
This
unit has provided some clarity in inquiry learning for me. It has presented me with
opportunities to develop strategies and access resources to assist in the
implementation of an inquiry. It has highlighted the importance of revisiting
theories, ideas and training to augment a better understanding of inquiry. It
has also reinforced that as teachers we need to model and engage the students
in the inquiry process.
References
Herbert, Beth. When English meets
history: exploring the faction genre through action learning. [online]. Literacy
Learning: the Middle Years; v.20 n.3 p.85-95; October 2012. Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/fullText;dn=194333;res=AEIPT>
ISSN: 1320-5692. [cited 24 Aug 13].
Staats, John. Developing excellence in
historical inquiry: engagement and learning through 'hands on history'.
[online]. Teaching History; v.45 n.3 p.17-22; September 2011.
Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/fullText;dn=192839;res=AEIPT>
ISSN: 0040-0602. [cited 24 Aug 13].
'Australian Curriculum: Geography', Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Accessed: 24th October
2013, Source: from:
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Geography/Content-structure
'Bloom's Taxonomy', Government of
South Australia, 2013, Accessed: 22nd October 2013, Source: from: http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/assessment/pages/assessmentstrategies/taxonomy/?reFlag=1
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