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.