Inquiry Teaching and
Learning
21st-century challenge
• Find problems
• Integrate knowledge from multiple
sources and media
• Think critically
• Collaborate
• Learn how to learn
Inquiry-based learning
… in which people construct knowledge
based on the questions that arise in
their lived experience
Definition?
… a philosophy of education which recognizes the
diversity of learners and promotes the development
of a critical, socially-engaged intelligence. It draws
on a long history of theoretical and practical work,
but takes on new meanings in an age of digital
information and new communication technologies. It
typically involves what John Dewey calls the primary
interests of the learner: investigation--to find out
about the world; communication--to enter into social
relationships; construction--to create things and
change the world; and expression or reflection--to
extract meaning from experience.
Performing -> web design
Few people are ever taught to create
successful, satisfying experiences for
others. Mostly, those folks are in the
performing arts: dancers, comedians,
storytellers, singers, actors, etc. I now wish
I had more training in theater and
performing arts to rely on...especially
improvisational theater.
–interview with Nathan Shedroff, Vivid
Studios (1997, internet.au)
Stephen's questions
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Why do cars speed up passing a stop sign?
Why do things far away seem blue
Why do my eyes water when I stare
How does your body make tears
Is salt in our tears the same as the salt we
put on food
• What's that pipe from the silo to the
barn?
Weather curriculum
Jack Easley asks students to look up at
a rainbow, but the children look down
and ask:
"Why do earthworms come out of
the ground after it rains?"
Interests of the learner
Investigate: learn about the world through
authentic engagement
Create: make/change things in the world
Communicate: enter the social world; learn
through communication
Express: reflect on experience
–John Dewey, The School & Society, 1900
Inquiry cycle
Attitude to work and life
Science ... an attitude of eager, alert observations; a constant
questioning of old procedure in light of new observations; a
use of the world as well as of books
Art ... an attitude of relish, of emotional drive, a genuine
participation in some creative phase of work, and a sense
that joy and beauty are legitimate possessions of all human
beings, young and old
... imbuing teachers with an experimental, critical and ardent
approach to their work.
–Lucy Sprague Mitchell
Progressive education
The education of engaged citizens involves:
–respect for diversity, meaning that each individual
should be recognized for his or her own abilities,
interests, ideas, needs, and cultural identity, and
–the development of critical, socially engaged
intelligence, which enables individuals to understand
and participate effectively in the affairs of their
community in a collaborative effort to achieve a
common good
–John Dewey Project on Progressive Ed.
Reflection on experience
We always live at the time we live and not at
some other time, and only by extracting at
each present time the full meaning of each
present experience are we prepared for
doing the same in the future. This is the only
preparation which in the long run amounts to
anything.
–John Dewey, Experience & Education
Inquiry-based learning
• Questions: arising out of experience
• Materials: diverse, authentic, challenging
• Activities: engaging. hands-on, creating,
collaborating, living new roles
• Dialogue: listening to others; articulating
understandings
• Reflection: expressing experience; moving
from new concepts into action
Teacher as inquirer
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Inquiry about the world
Partner in inquiry
Modeling
Guiding
Inquiry about teaching and learning
Learning to teach - 1
As a guide for the experimentation we so
freely encourage, the table opposite will be
helpful. We must caution, however, that it is
rife with half-truths--despite our best
efforts at disclosure. We are dealing here
with living things whose colors, habits, and
general constitutions will vary with locale and
with the skill of the individual gardener.
Learning to teach - 2
This unpredictability, which strikes terror
into the heart of the beginner, is in fact one
of the glories of gardening. Things change,
certainly from year to year and sometimes
from morning to evening. There are
mysteries, surprises, and always, lessons to
be learned. After almost 40 years hard at it,
we are only beginning.
–Amos Pettingill, The Garden Book, 1986
Inquiry in language learning
Berghoff, et al, Beyond reading and writing:
Inquiry, curriculum, and multiple ways of knowing.
Bruce & Easley, Emerging communities of practice:
Collaboration and communication in action
research.
Short, et al, Learning together through inquiry:
From Columbus to integrated curriculum.
Wells & Chang-Wells, Constructing knowledge
together: Classrooms as centers of inquiry and
literacy
Inquiry in science learning
National Science Foundation: “research-validated
models (e.g., extended inquiry, problem-solving)”
Reinventing Undergraduate Education (Carnegie
Foundation's Boyer Commission): “#1 Make
research-based learning the standard”
Project 2061 (American Association for the
Advancement of Science): “#1 …science literacy
for all high-school graduates”