Our cohort was lucky enough to have a guest lecture on inquiry based learning recently presented by Trevor MacKenzie. After this lecture I found myself thinking of different ways to incorporate inquiry based learning in primary classrooms and the benefits that this could bring to students.
Trevor Mackenzie described inquiry based learning as a step by step process that lead from having many structures in place for both students and teacher to very minimal structures in place to allow for freedom to move forward in a multitude of different directions. The most structured form of inquiry is structured inquiry. In structured inquiry, the entire class works on a single inquiry topic that is led by the teacher. Next is controlled inquiry, where the teacher still chooses the inquiry topic, but students take more responsibility. Guided inquiry continues to have the teacher choose the topic and questions of the inquiry, but students are more responsible for the designing the solutions of these questions of the format of the product. Free inquiry is the least structured form of inquiry where students are both responsible for both choosing their topic and each student is able to develop their inquiry in a different way.
The 4 forms of Inquiry (Most structured to least structured):
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- Structured Inquiry
- Controlled Inquiry
- Guided Inquiry
- Free Inquiry
As I learnt more about inquiry based learning through both guests like Trevor MacKenzie and the PDP teaching program, I began to plan assignments while keeping in mind how to incorporate inquiry into it. I was able to develop a grade three science unit on living things with a fellow member of my cohort that incorporated inquiry based learning. This was incorporated through a final summative assessment group project that allowed students to choose an animal previously studied in the beginning of the unit to study. I look forward to both better developing my understanding of inquiry based learning and how this can be used in the classroom in different ways.
Feature Image by Zach Lucero on Unsplash
The realization that you don’t just have to jump into the deep end of free inquiry, in fact, you absolutely shouldn’t was eye-opening for me. Baby steps!