An Inquiry Into Inquiry; Some New Understandings

Learning Log #4

This week's modules and readings really triggered some AHA moments for me and allowed me to look back at some of my experiences and see where I went wrong. These realizations have also helped guide me with how to continue on with my upcoming inquiry project and prompted me to think about planning things a bit differently than I had originally set out to.

Topical vs. Essential Questions
This is something I've struggled with in previous inquiry units and reading the differentiation between topical versus essential questions in Understanding By Design (Wiggins & McTighe) finally helped clarify how to create open ended questions for students. Previously, colleagues and I had for some reason (a Pro-D speaker) been set on creating a "guiding statement or question" when collaborating on a unit, but that's not really inquiry at all if the end result is a statement! When planning my current inquiry unit, I had thought my big question for students to inquire about would be something like, "how did residential schools affect Canada's Aboriginal peoples?" Now I realize that is much too topical and likely needs to be broadened, perhaps to "how have government policies impacted Aboriginal people in Canada?" or maybe even more expansive, to "what is the relationship between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people in Canada? Both historically and present day?" I think both of these questions leave enough room for student interest to take hold but still achieve a focus on curricular big ideas and learning standards. It might still take some pondering!

 Photo courtesy of https://www.guest.blog/2207/10-true-quotes-inspire-motivate/

First Peoples Principles of Learning vs. Inquiry Based Learning
Reading through Module 9 and the article Indigenous Principles Decolonizing Teacher Education: What We Have Learned (Williams, Sandford, Hopper and McGregor) it really struck me how closely linked Aborginal ideas of learning are to inquiry based learning. I had read through the First People's Principals of Learning (BC Ministry of Education) while collecting resources but never made the connection to it's great value as a "teaching style." Given that my unit will be focused on Aboriginal issues, it seems like a great document to start my unit with. Some concepts I think will be particularly helpful will be emphasizing that:

"Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational..."

"Learning recognizes the role of indigenous knowledge,"

"Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one's actions"

and "Learning involves patience and time."

Reflexive and reflective strategies are both major components of inquiry based learning and are very readily incorporated into formative assessment practices as well. Also experiential learning is where the curiosity that true inquiry is rooted in can really take hold. Wab Kinew's message in Tracy Sherlock's article (Sherlock) that students need to know there is more than one way to think and learn, emphasizes the need to not only incorporate Aboriginal content into our teaching practices but their ways of viewing the world and learning and experiencing it as well. I'm not quite sure yet what this will look like within the unit, but think I need to make sure it's incorporated somehow. 

Photo courtesy of fnesc.ca

Assessment of and for Learning with Inquiry
Fontichiaro's articles on formative and summative assessment as well as other readings from this week's module, really helped solidify the idea that assessment needs to be of learning not products. Teachers spend so much time creating project ideas and activities that often we forget to use them as a measure of learning and rather mark them as a product. Formative assessment comes easily for me and I think most teachers, we know the importance of "checking in," providing feedback loops and scaffolding but I personally often get stuck on the summative portion. What "product" will I base their mark on? How will I grade it? If everybody does something different how do you assess fairly? This week's readings helped take the pressure off of product creation for me and helped to focus more on just the assessment of learning. Can they show me what they learned? Do they have new skills they didn't beforehand? Can they connect their knowledge to the real world? Fontichiaro also described some very simplistic forms of assessment which would be very adaptable for varying formats or mediums of work, such as checklists, rubrics, portfolio's and even just written feedback. When teaching and assessing skills and processes rather than content, flexible outcomes seems to become much easier to evaluate. 

Inquiry Still Takes Planning
I really liked the following introductory quote for the Design Process chapter in Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe) as it helped me reconcile the need for planning with the idea of multiple outcomes.

Architects have the patience to plan. Builders have the savvy to improvise. Improvisation, however, is not a substitute for planning. The purpose of planning is to achieve predictable results. The purpose of improvising is to maintain work progress. —John McClean, “20 Considerations That Help a Project Run Smoothly,” 2003.

 

I struggle a bit with how to plan a unit when the students are supposed to be "uncovering" the content and moving through their own journeys at their own pace, but this quote puts things a bit more in perspective. As teachers we have to start somewhere and beginning with nothing sets students up for failure. It's easier to adapt and improvise a plan as necessary and helps to keep the end goals and skills in mind. If we start at point A and know we need to end up at point E, we can re-reroute and detour as needed and as guided by students through B, C and D, but the map helps us end up where we've designed our unit to go. So far for my unit, I've used the curriculum's big ideas and learning standards as well as my assignment two resources as the "Doorways to Design" (Wiggins & McTighe.) Next I'll start to think about what skills, literacies and technologies I want my students to take away from it and carry on from there!


References

First Peoples Principles of Learning (2015). Government of BC. Accessed at 
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/aboriginal-education/principles_of_learning.pdf

Fontichiaro, K. (2011a). Nudging toward inquiry – Formative assessment. School Library Monthly 27(6): 11-12.

Fontichiaro, K. (2011b). Nudging toward inquiry – Summative assessment. School Library Monthly 27(7): 12-13.

Harada, V. H. (2010). Self-assessment: Challenging students to take charge of learning. School Library Monthly 26(10): 13-15.

Sandford, K., Williams, L., Hopper, T. & McGregor, C. (2012). Indigenous principles decolonizing teacher education: What we have learned. 18(2). ineducation.ca

Sherlock, T. (May 14, 2015). Aboriginal leader calls for indigenous education initiatives. PressReader.com.


Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design 2^nd ed., expanded version. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Library Learning Commons as Inquiry Catalyst

Learning Log #3

Module 7 struck a cord for me as I've been slowly (sometimes not so slowly!) transforming my library space into a more collaborative and inquiry based place for students, support workers and teachers alike to utilize. My experience was this, I was placed in a temporary job in the very inquiry driven Kerrisdale Elementary School for a year and then was miraculously placed permanently the next year in my own full time, giant, collaboratively functioning glorious library space. It was a Teacher Librarian's dream come true and I was inspired by my previous experiences at Kerrisdale. The library program was already well established at my new school, with some great inquiry based units taking place, but the physical space was sorely lacking as a conduit for such learning. My first year there, with a lot of help from other TL's, we weeded thousands of old books, removed 6 giant shelving units, re-allocated many resources to other locations in the school and began the process of revitalization and sprucing things up!

 Photo Courtesy of http://www.bythebrooks.ca/guidelinesandstandards/

Once we had cleaned up shop, I volunteered to be the coordinator and storage keeper of our new iPad carts which was another big step for our journey to becoming more of a LLC. We also received our district iPad cart with projector last year and I have put the library on the list to receive a new Smart Board. While all of this feels like great progress for my programming goals, I feel I'm a bit disoriented in what to be working towards next. In the article "From School Library to Learning Commons," (Ekdahl & Zubke) the "Performance Standards" section suggests for a LLC to be used effectively it must be physically fluid, with shelves and tables that can be moved easily for collaborative work, and have "technology and media [that] are...intrinsic and integrated," (pg.8). While I was able to banish almost all shelving to wall space, the area still feels a bit static. The iPad carts are split among the whole school so they're very often not available and I'm torn between being the promoter of technology use in classrooms and wanting access to use it myself in the library! I do have a bank of desktops in a library computer lab and was finally able to secure 30 for a class set, but they are cumbersome, old and out of date. Kids are frustrated with their slowness and certainly aren't inspired to work on them. We also have a large space with heavy table and chairs in a "teaching area" which is necessary as a work space but I would love to replace them with furniture on wheels.

So I guess my biggest challenges in creating a better inquiry space are.....money. Plain and simple. I would love to transform our novel set room to a maker space, but need money. I would love new furniture, but need money. It's hard when a vision and the resources to create it are so dissonant. In the Zmuda & Harada article they emphasize the importance of providing resources for diverse learners, in practice it can be a lot harder. For example in a class of 70% ELL students it would be great if they could watch and listen to videos as part of a research method but when your budget doesn't allow for 30 sets of headphones and neither do your school's families, it can make for a very disruptive learning setting. And that's if the desktop will even load or stream the video fast enough to be watchable!

I suppose that's what the LLC article means when it describes a Library Learning Commons as a "never-ending project, always in beta." As TL's I guess sometimes the next step is just making a plan so when the time and/or money comes we know exactly what to do with it!



References

 Ekdahl, M. & Zubke, S. (Eds.) (2014). From School Library to Library Learning Commons: A Pro-Active Model for Educational Change. Vancouver, BC: BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA).

Zmuda, A. & Harada, V. (2008). Chapter 3, Designing Instruction to fit the nature of the learning and the learner, Part 3: Persistent challenges in collaboration. In Librarians as Learning Specialists: Meeting the Learning Imperative for the 21^st Century. (pp. 55-65). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Practice What You Preach: The Obligation to Critical Thinking in Resource Selection

Learning Log #2

Every year a large portion of my time as a TL is dedicated to teaching students the evaluation of resources. How to analyze websites, how to ask questions about information, why Wikipedia cannot be used as a solo source, why the Tree Octopus is such an illusive animal, how google sorts its results and overall how to think critically about everything they use as a resource. Interestingly enough, as adults and even more specifically as TL's, for whom this is of the utmost importance, we often do not engage in the same skills we are teaching.

Photo Courtesy of

 https://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/think-critically-and-question-everything/

I think I have decided to do my inquiry unit on BC's Aboriginal peoples as it has become a prominent topic in BC's new curriculum, woven through almost all subjects and grade levels. Tentatively, I think I would like to focus on Residential Schools (should that be capitalized? I will inquire!) as it seems a subject that students could really connect with on a personal level, and the effects of doing inquiry research rather than anything teacher driven would be so much more profound. This is a subject where the selection of resources must be done very carefully and thoughtfully in order to accurately and respectfully represent an era, a peoples, a culture and not just a series of events.

As mentioned above, this thoughtfulness and critical assessment of resources does not always happen. We as teachers are busy people, we rely on colleagues for materials, we are often not supplied with substantive resources from the Ministry, we are left on our own to search for curricular support. And many teachers are from an era where the wealth of digital information simply did not exist and therefore may have limited knowledge themselves about how to sort and analyze information. As a TL I sometimes forget to ask the bigger picture questions, which is why the ERAC document provides some great starting points.

 Photo Courtesy of http://wiegandconsulting.com/diversity-and-inclusion/

Some of the questions I need to focus on more thoughtfully in both my library and for this inquiry unit are:

Is this resource representative of our students culturally? 
Our school has a very diverse population, however almost 70% of our students are of South-East Asian background. After doing this week's readings on the selection of resources, I can guarantee this in not reflected in our library collection, particularly in any fiction sections. This will definitely be an ongoing thought while doing purchasing from now on. Likewise, while our Aboriginal content has been growing it's still not representative of the many Aboriginal students B.C. is home to. Something that struck me in a previous course was the absence of multicultural relationships in most resources in general. For example, while we have many books with Aboriginal or diverse characters, how many actually illustrate harmonious relationships with other cultures?

Who wrote it and is it an authentic account? 
I think this will be particularly imperative with regard to Residential Schools and my inquiry project, I know there are many works and authors about the subject but not all are authored or created by Aboriginal people. In order to do the topic justice and with the utmost respect it is important to know which accounts are authentic and which are fictional and/or not penned by an Aboriginal member. I must admit I often rely on the recommendations of colleagues when purchasing resources, which is something I'll maybe need to revisit when I return to work. Perhaps contacting our VSB Aboriginal Consultant would be a good place to start for this. I also reviewed this Ministry's Aboriginal Education link posted in the ERAC document which I hadn't looked through before, so interested to dig deeper there as well.


Is the promotion of culture and language infused into regular curricula (and library collections)? 
This is mentioned in both BC's and PEI's Evaluation and Selection of Resources documents with specific reference to Aboriginal Education and is now a prominent feature of our new BC curriculum. In the CLEAR GOALS acronym presented by Stripling and Harada in "Designing Learning for Deeper Understanding", the L for Learner questions if students have the skills and experience to achieve the learning goals. As we learned in the previous modules, students background knowledge often lacks a connection to the subjects we need to teach them and by introducing topics in a cross curricular fashion, we can help to scaffold student learning for specific inquiry projects. Perhaps an inquiry project such as the one I will plan, would best be implemented in the second half of a school year, so the topic immersion could take place in the Fall and Winter.

Likewise, I firmly believe all resources need to be infused into our regular library collections. A few years back I can recall a fellow TL creating a great resource list of Aborginal books in their library. They then proceeded to pull all the books and had a separate shelving unit for the resources to be permanently located on. At first I thought this was a great idea and a great way of showcasing for both teachers and students the materials at hand, but I soon began to think about it more critically. Not only are libraries reliant on order and organization and the cataloging system, but a deeper social consideration is that Aboriginal works should be represented throughout a library collection, just as it is in the curriculum, just as it should be in life. It should not be a section we go to when we specifically want to learn about the topic but available for other stumblings on as well, for example in the innovations and inventions section, biographies, religion, history etc. Similar to the Chaddock and Beaudry grievance, although not nearly as egregious, I had received pressure from my admin to create such a section for the convenience of our teachers. I unfortunately moved on from that position before any further talks or actions could take place but take that lesson with me.

Overall, I think these will be some of the more important questions I will need to consider when selecting my resources for assignment two, in addition to them being much more a part of the selection process for our school collection as well.



 Beaudry, R. and G. Chaddock-Costello. (2016).  Challenging Practices: Podcast with 2016 Recipients of the Canadian Library Association's 2016 Winners of the Award for Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada.  UBC.

 Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium (ERAC). (2008). Evaluating, selecting and acquiring learning resources: A guide. Vancouver, BC: ERAC.

 Prince Edward Island Department of Education. (2009). Evaluation and selection of learning resources: A guide. Charlottetown, PE: Dept of Education.

 Stripling, B., & Harada, V. (2012). Designing Learning Experiences for Deeper Understanding. School Library Monthly, 29(3), 5-12.

What is Inquiry Not? Challenges With True Inquiry Based Learning

Learning Log #1

I first began to learn about the inquiry process a few years ago when plopped into a TL placement for a very prominent figure in Vancouver’s school library community; someone who not only effectively practiced the pedagogy but had influenced her whole school community and quite literally wrote THE book on it (along with you Moira!). Daunting. After a full year there I have to admit I didn’t even get my toes wet in the philosophy, but at least began to have a rather profound shift of thinking about what teaching, collaboration and student learning looked like. It’s only now, several years later, since I’ve had the opportunity to have my own space and a few TL courses under my belt that I’ve had the confidence to venture into inquiry territory with my students and colleagues. Which is why in module 2 when it discusses what inquiry is not, it struck a chord with me. In theory I’m beginning to grasp the concepts but implementation is another story and in my own experience I’ve had several encounters with what it is not thus far. Just as Doctors do, it’s important to rule things out to truly uncover what’s going on!

From what I’ve learned, inquiry is NOT:

- Just A KWL (know/wonder/learned)

In Fontichiaro’s article, “What’s Inquiry? Well I Know It When I See It,” she talks about the importance of student background knowledge being critical for true student centered questioning. Being in a highly ELL school this has been an aspect I’ve somewhat overlooked. Asking a student to question something they know nothing about leads to very shallow, answer-based learning. Colleagues and I have struggled very much with what we perceived to be a lack of wonderment and ability to question in our students, do they have no intrinsic motivation? Have they simply been programmed to listen and learn? Do their home life and cultural beliefs train them to not think critically? While these questions remain unanswered, I like Fontichiaro’s suggestion that children must be “grounded in some overview level of a topic or theme,” or in other words we must immerse them in the content we wish them to explore to fill the gaps they may have in their background knowledge before we can expect true deeper level queries. This is definitely something I can be better at. 

Photo Courtesy http://amorebeautifulquestion.com

- One final destination

This is one I struggle with always. If true inquiry can have open-ended results, how does one ensure curricular goals are being met? Isn’t the destination our curricular goals? Two colleagues and I attempted an inquiry on graphic novels a couple years ago, with big aspirations that students would end up understanding how all the different elements of imagery and text work together to help tell a story differently. We brought in graphic novel author Dan Bar-el, we encouraged discussion with other students and questioning. But when the unit was complete we got together to assess and realized what we had done was not at all inquiry. We had a set idea we wanted them to learn, including key vocabulary and drawing skills, we gave everyone prescribed templates for them to create their own novels, we assessed if they had used their knowledge within their own work. We’ve agreed to rethink doing this unit, and how to make it actual inquiry. I think this will involve broadening the subject to that of imagery and storytelling, as well as truly giving students free reign to discover what this means to them. I guess it’s a work in progress!

Photo courtesy http://www.gig.com/blog/2015/04/08/ask-the-

genie-how-do-i-choose-between-so-many-career-paths/

- Getting From Point A to B With a Free For All In Between

As Coatney suggests in her article, “Essential Questions and Answers for Implementing Inquiry,” a teacher’s role is to create a “third space” where student knowledge and questions meet curriculum. That is, to facilitate a child getting from point A to B, not just let it become a completely child-centered learning experience. Just as many of us teachers struggle with inquiry, so do children. I like when Fontichiaro suggests that “not every research topic bears fruit,” and that it’s our job to ensure an inquiry is student centered but also viable. As well as to guide students to reflect and synthesize along the way, is the information they’re finding useful, credible, where did it come from and what does it really mean? I’ve found many teachers are wary of inquiry because they do not the role they play in it and think it means students get a free for all with what they learn, how they learn and what they construct to demonstrate it. Inquiry does not mean a teacher’s function is diminished, in fact it’s even more important as students of this generation are highly capable of finding answers but seem to need much guidance to think critically and reflectively. The article, "Teaching Inquiry with Primary Sources," has lots of suggestions for when and how teachers will need to facilitate the inquiry process for young students by modeling and scaffolding, I look forward to becoming more familiar with this resource.

Photo courtesy http://practicallystrategic.com

            While the idea of inquiry may still be solidifying in my mind, it does help to identify methods that are clearly not in line with the pedagogy. By slowly eliminating these practices from my teaching methods, hopefully I’ll get closer and closer to true inquiry looks like!

           

Coatney, S. (2015). Essential questions and answers for implementing inquiry. School Library Monthly 31(5): 11-13.

Fontichiaro, K. (2015). Nudging toward inquiry: “What’s inquiry? Well, I’ll know it when I see it.” School Library Monthly 31(4): 49-51.

  

"Teaching Inquiry with Primary Sources." Library of Congress. (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/quarterly/inquiry_learning/article.html).