Student inquiry is a teacher-supported process that provides a structure for students to learn through the process of inquiring into questions they develop themselves about a topic or concept. There are various models of student inquiry and I reviewed and reflected on a number of different models.
Interesting Points
The LCS approach to learning is based on the belief that students are powerful learners who must be actively engaged in the process of investigating, processing, organising, synthesising, refining and extending their knowledge within a topic. They also are able to work collaboratively and develop their key competencies while working on their LCS projects.
Teachers have to provide a clear structure and share their expectations of student learning. To make this process purposeful and enjoyable, teachers have to put a lot of effort into planning and collecting student voice.
Another interesting point that resonated with my view of the LCS process is the use of an integrated curriculum. Such an approach gives students a real purpose for learning and provides real-life experiences which in order help students see the world as a complex system rather than a number of separated topics. "The coherence principle states that “the curriculum offers all students a broad education that makes links within and across learning areas”
(Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 9, emphasis added)
The LCS (or inquiry) learning supports the development of students' critical thinking.
Concerns I have from within the reading
From my own experience, I know that LCS requires a high level of organisation, flexibility and negotiation skills to challenge the range of diverse learners. It requires a lot of careful planning and structured delivery. LCS can be messy and noisy due to the students' enthusiasm and drive.
My concern is mostly about inquiry learning in the ILE. Teachers have to be on the same page with their expectations and standards and have a high level of trust between them and learners.
New learning from this reading
It was interesting to read about different models and approaches to inquiry learning. Different schools and teachers use different models that suit them, their beliefs and their learners. It was great to see various rubrics for teachers to measure the quality of inquiry learning and outcomes. We used some of these ideas when working on the Team Kea LCS model.
What excites and enthuses me from this reading?
I personally love the integrated learning and LCS approach as I see these as great opportunities for students to learn in an authentic context, not to mention their enthusiasm and motivation! I believe that the LCS approach takes students beyond what they already know and supports the development of important lifelong skills and key competencies.
Reflection
The more knowledge we have about inquiry learning, the better our common understanding of all aspects of LCS becomes. I actually was excited to see that my team's understandings of the LCS process are pretty similar. I believe this is a result of our close teamwork and collaboration.
Thinking about my learners, I believe that during inquiry learning, peer learning becomes as effective as teacher-led learning. Some meaningful “aha!” moments often come in authentic interactions with other students. Sometimes, during the LCS projects, the class transforms into a space where everyone can try different roles: a teacher, a facilitator, a leader, an IT guru etc and has something to share! Inquiry-based learning triggers students' critical thinking and problem-solving capacities and pushes them to take action instead of learning passively.
It was great to have these readings done before and during our work on the Team Kea LCS model as we kept referring to different ideas and models and synthesized them into our own pilot LCS model that we are excited to implement in term 4.
Readings:
http://pjsibpyp.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/3/11231090/inquirymurdochwilson.pdf
http://pjsibpyp.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/3/11231090/kath_murdochs_inquiry_model.pdf This has awesome components for students to know what they should be doing / working through that you can add to Learn, Create, Share
https://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/set2012_3_015.pdf This reading is more of an academic read, but gives great information.
