Based on my rudimentary knowledge and experience with inquiry learning, I believe it is a pedagogical practice that places students at the center of their learning. Inquiry learning is a process by which students embark on a learning journey that allows for flexibility in the manner in which they source their information to develop and deepen understanding, as well as in the ways they present their findings as assessable material. The focus is on the process more than the outcome. The tasks encourage authentic learning, as students are encouraged to become active creators of knowledge, rather than passive participants and consumers.
Having spent much of my teaching career in the subjects of english, humanities and the performing arts, I’m drawn to the idea of further exploration in the possibilities of developing and embedding inquiry learning experiences and practices into these areas. English is not usually associated with inquiry learning practices, which has become the launch pad for my first inquiry question: How can Inquiry Learning be successfully implemented into the secondary English classroom? Going a step further, encompassing my own school context, I’ve become interested in best preparing students in the middle years of schooling (Years 7 – 9) for the possibility in embarking on programs like the International Baccalaureate, or other academic enriched pathways. I believe that laying the foundational skills early could result in success in the transference to the senior school pathways. Thus, inspires my second inquiry question: What are the benefits for Inquiry Learning for middle school students? Finally, as I view this role as one of leadership in the largest classroom in the school, I believe that the role of the teacher-librarian is perfectly positioned to facilitate and collaborate with teachers to create and implement inquiry learning experiences for their students. This wish to further explore examples of best practice to establish a clearer vision of this role leads me to my final inquiry question: How can teacher-librarians best support secondary classroom teachers in implementing inquiry learning? Before I conduct my re-search, I need to find the right key...
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