Ways to Learn Through Inquiry session1 Guiding children to Deeper understanding JO FAHEY IBO 2012

Inquiry … If inquiry is a natural part of how children learn outside school, then what does it look like in school settings?

Team discussion Please, discuss first and share a sample of Inquiry process which you had experienced with your children. 5 min

How does Inquiry SOUND ? Please, share ONE sample from each group

Do you know….. Paradoxically, although educators may recognize that children can be inquiring even if they don’t ask questions (like children in the sandpit who didn’t like the water disappearing), it is easier to recognize questions as inquiry.

Inquiry as a Language acts Perhaps, because questions are easier to identify, researchers in the past have focused on questions. In so doing, however, they may have mistaken questions for genuie inquiry and overlooked more tentative and exploratory inquiries.

How could we broaden our view of Inquiry? - from the predominant one of children asking questions? In 1999 Judith Wells Lindfors published her book Children’s Inquiry: Using Language to make sense of the World.

“Language acts” and “ Inquiry utterances” Lindfor’s description of Inquiry as a Language act, where we hear a child going beyond his or her own present understanding when engaging with others. If we are to hear and respond to children’s language acts, we have to listen in new ways.

Broadening the definition of Inquiry Please, read a chapter from Making the PYP Happen 2009 and fill an organizer template

Oh , INQUIRY…… Inquiry as a problem-posing and problem solving Inquiry expressed as “TENSION” Play as a way of inquiry

Creating an environment for Inquiry So what are the ingredients for environments that are conducive to learning through inquiry?

Guided by adult, children can create a community of inquirers where they: Bounce ideas off each other Hear and value other perspectives, and Learn from each other in a classroom setting and beyond.

Creating an environment for Inquiry Opportunities to investigate- both indoors and outdoors Physical learning experiences Music and movement experiences Accessible resources to provoke students imagination Work smarter, not harder

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Ways to assess learning through Inquiry How will we know what we have learnt?

OBSERVATION enables us to: Build up a clear picture of the children and their interests Identify what and how the children are thinking and learning Access the effectiveness of the environment on the children’s learning Extend the children’s learning

Sociocultural assessment “ from only concentrating on the individual to documenting the interactional sequence between children and between children and their teachers” Marilyn Fleer

Documentation - a holistic way of recording young children’s learning that was pioneered by the educators in Reggio Emilia

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It may include, but not limited to: Transcripts of dialogues Video Audio Photographs and graphic representations Actively shared with parents and wider community Learning about how to support your students best

Conversation Because young children usually can’t write detailed reflections about their learning, educators also ask them about what they have been involved in, what they have learned and what they would like to do.

Performance assessment Grant Wiggins refers to performance assessment as “performing with knowledge” These types of assessment can be used in any area-ranging from physical education to music, to oral presentations. We can not help but notice how they are doing when they are performing!

Process-focused assessment This is an area of assessment where the PYP transdisciplinary skills are particularly in evidence.