MYPChat: How do inquiry teachers teach?

What is inquiry-based teaching?

I had an opportunity to host the #MYPChat on Twitter from May 6 to 13, 2018. In the previous week, @alohalavina prompted us to think about how inquiry has transformed time and space in our classroom and how we can support student inquiry. Lots of enthusiastic discussions via Twitter chat, and I have a strong desire to explore more. Generally speaking, teachers can identify characteristics of inquiry-based teaching and learning, but sometimes I found it is difficult for teachers to imagine how the inquiry classroom looks like, sounds like and feels like. Just like students, teachers who want to shift to an inquiry-based teaching approach also need concrete examples.

Additionally, I believe in an evidence-based approach to support student learning and guide them to become self-regulated learners. Therefore, I want to find out what evidence we can collect in the inquiry classroom; what assumptions we have about formative assessment and feedback; lastly, how we can support student inquiry through feedback.

Inquiry teaching

Inquiry teaching is an approach that involves using questions to drive learning and to assess what has been learned by students. It requires teachers to create the right kind of environment, ask the right questions, and provide feedback to help students learn in the best way possible. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it! I appreciate my PLN and continue to learn from others. I read through all the ideas and discussions and organized them into three aspects. In this post, I will share to be an effective inquiry teacher. To be an effective inquiry teacher, One must:

• develop inquiry teacher disposition,
• create a safe physical, social and emotional learning environment,
• and be a strategist.

Develop inquiry teacher disposition 

Developing inquiry teacher disposition begins with self-awareness. Inquiry teachers focus on relationship building with students and promote collaboration among students. They look to encourage students to ask questions and seek answers with a natural curiosity, because they know these skills are critical for developing global citizens in an ever-changing world. Students’ individual interests drive their learning experiences, which means that inquiry teachers must be prepared to lead class discussions about anything under (or over) the sun. Doing so requires open-mindedness and empathy from educators, qualities that may feel uncomfortable at first but will help nurture curious students who will go on to make a positive impact on society. Here are examples of the inquiry teacher dispositions:

• Build relationships with students and begin with personal connections (prior knowledge)
• Provide  diverse ways to enter and express learning 
• Engage students in exploring knowledge and expanding perspectives, by using concepts and learn process 
• Use invitational language to encourage risk taking and investigate the possibilities and creative solutions
• Collaborate with students and reflect regularly
• Allocate time for individual and group reflection and action  
• Create a culture of thinking and encourage independent thinking 
• Asking quality questions to provoke and deepen students’ thinking cognitively and metacognitively 
• Model and emphasize the skills, attitudes, and values of inquiry 
• Design with desired learning outcomes in mind and revise approaches along the way to foster curiosity
• Construct meaning with students through formative learning tasks 

Create a safe physical, social and emotional learning environment

Before students can have any real inquiry experiences, teachers must first create a safe environment. This includes creating an emotionally secure learning environment for students to share their ideas and learn from each other. It also means setting clear classroom expectations and communicating them with students and their families. Once your classroom is set up as a safe place to learn, you’re ready to begin inquiry learning with your students. Here are some ideas to create a safe physical, social and emotional learning environment:

• Be patient and create emotional bonds  
• Create a space for students to ask questions (e.g. Parking lot questions) 
• Organize furniture that allows for both group and individual work 
• Engage students in designing the learning environment
• Display student work and help students to visualize their learning process
• Establish norms of collaboration with students 
• Create a culture of respect and listen attentively to students’ ideas, opinions, and experiences  
• Reduce student’s anxiety by communicate learning expectations and success criteria to them
• Create time and space for individual thinking and reflection 
• During discussion, give students opportunities to make connections  
• Build students’ confidence through individual and collaborative formative learning tasks
• Explicitly teaching students the language to express thinking of different levels

Be a strategist

Strategy is an essential skill for inquiry teachers. You don’t have to be a tactician, mapping out a perfectly linear path to success with each class session—but you do need to know where you’re going and how you’ll get there. Consider the learning objectives, learning outcomes, your resources, and how they support one another in achieving that learning objectives. Be willing to shift course if necessary; avoid getting so wrapped up in your original plan that you can’t adapt when unexpected challenges arise. Here are some inquiry teaching strategies:

• Know your students well 
• Explicitly teaching students how to use relevant strategies to learn 
• Know when to play different roles to support inquiry
• Use protocols to nurture collaboration and facilitate  discussions intentionally 
• Explore ways to differentiate
• Craft questions and model the questioning
• Establish the purpose of the learning with students 
• Guide students to curate their reflections 
• Encourage evidence and nurture metacognition (e.g. What made you say that?)
• Use visible thinking routines to scaffold thinking and extend thinking time 
• Support students’ thinking through coaching
• Collect learning evidence to provide feedback and monitor student development
• Provide students with targeted feedback and strategies to move forward 

How Do Inquiry Teachers Teach? Posters

English poster

Chinese poster

References

Murdoch, Kath. “The Art of Inquiry: 10 Practices for the Inquiry Teacher.” Kath Murdoch, 25 Nov. 2017, www.kathmurdoch.com.au/blog/2017/11/25/the-art-of-inquiry-10-practices-for-the-inquiry-teacher.
Behrenbruch, Marcia. Dancing in the Light: Essential Elements for an Inquiry Classroom. Sense Publishers, 2012.
@MYPChat et al. Twitter, 6-13 May. 2018