Inquiry as Stance
When asked to define inquiry, I was able to create a working definition based on my own experiences: inquiry is looking past the answer to questions asking why and what if. It is based on student interest and it is concept based rather than topic based. Students need to be able to think conceptually before applying their knowledge to critical issues. They should be participating in activities and not just listening. However, after a reading by Kathy Short, I’ve learned it is much more than I previously though.
Short states that as a students, she experienced curriculum as fact though a textbook and students ended up with superficial knowledge and no desire to keep learning. As teachers, by adopting inquiry as a stance on curriculum, as the IB does, students collaborate in the process of connecting to and reaching beyond their current understandings and begin to explore tensions that are significant to them. These tensions lead to exploration and investigations, which in turn, support students in their constructing their understanding and in asking new, more complex, questions. Inquiry as stance is an approach to student learning where students question and take action. Each class may, and should, look different when using this approach.
What does inquiry look like?
According to Making the PYP Happen, this can be:
-exploring, wondering and questioning
-experimenting and playing with possibilities
-making connections between previous learning and current learning
-making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens
-collecting data and reporting findings
-clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
-deepening understanding through the application of a concept
-making and testing theories
-researching and seeking information
-taking and defending a position
-solving problems in a variety of ways.