Curiosity as an antidote …clinging to wonder as the tide rolls in.

“Wonder is the thread that stops us from giving up or surrendering to cynicism. Wonder is the thread that allows us to make and remake education landscapes free from orthodoxy and certainty. Wonder is an ache and belief that provokes us towards imagined worlds in which we make education good and right.”  (O’conner and Gomez, 2022:50)

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” Rumi

‘Stay curious, ask questions, stay open minded, slow your thinking down, keep wondering …’ This is some of the ‘self-talk’ that has preoccupied my mind for several weeks now.  Central to my work, indeed, central to my identity as a teacher and a learner, is an inquiry stance. So it follows that when faced with ideas and beliefs contrary to my own, I have to work even harder to cultivate that stance. But cultivate it I must - especially in when it comes to current discussions about ‘The Science of Learning’ and the accompanying pedagogical implications championed by some systems/schools. One of the most influential educators in my early career was the late Donald Graves.  His book ‘Writing: teachers and children and work’ instilled in me a passion for the kind of learning that happened with and forchildren rather than to them. Looking back, I can see how Graves’ work helped develop values that remain central to my teaching practice: agency, curiosity, collaboration, authenticity and depth. As I learned to confer with individual children about their writing, often inspired by their interests, I came see each child as unique, both as person and learner. It instilled within me some much needed humility as I realised just how much expertise and experience even my youngest learners brought to the classroom. Conferring with children taught me learn to listen and to resist automatically defaulting to telling and explaining before I listened. What a gift that was to me as a young teacher! Without even realising it, I was developing my ‘image of the child’ as agentic, capable, connected and curious. I devoured so much of Graves’ work, but there was one thing he wrote that returns to be over and over:

“The enemy is orthodoxy.”

 I have found myself thinking a lot about that phrase over the last couple of years – and even more so over the past weeks as a somewhat imposing wave of  ‘The Science of Learning’ continues to roll into the educational discourse here in Australia. While I am working in classrooms around the world, constantly impressed by the capacity of young people to own their learning and, with guidance, develop deep and powerful understanding about their world,  I am also reading through documents explaining ways to introduce the ‘science of learning’ to schools.  These directives purport to provide clear guidance on ‘best practice’ and together with the seductive phrase ‘evidence-based’, identify ‘preferred’ instructional strategies that generally involve a lot of teacher explanation and demonstration as a means to ensure proficiency.  I am receiving messages from perplexed young teachers who have been directed (yes) to re-organise their flexible seating in the classroom and place children are in permanent rows, facing the front. The language in some of the documents I am reading seems to suggest there is one path to learning for all children. An orthodoxy of sorts.  But as I am reading, and as I am receiving these messages I’m trying hard to walk the talk – to read and listen with an open, questioning, critical mind. I know I need to be able to make connections, find points of common thinking, extend my thinking, notice what is challenging and what I am called to challenge.

Forgive me for getting all ‘meta’ with this, but it has been intriguing to notice my own responses to documents in which I feel the subtle (and not so subtle) subjugation of inquiry.  My initial, natural reaction is one of defensiveness – especially when tired old tropes appear that suggest explicit instruction is absent from an inquiry approach or when inquiry is characterized as involving ‘minimal teacher guidance’ (such as in the oft quoted research paper by Sweller et.al. from the early 2000s.)  As Seth Godin recently pointed out: “they’re apt to set up inquiry learning for failure by using a caricatured version of it, a kind of pure discovery rarely found in real-world classrooms, with teachers providing no guidance at all so that students are left to their own devices.” To be honest, anyone who thinks they are ‘doing inquiry’ by simply sending kids off to figure it all out on their own does not understand the approach at all.  So, when inquiry is dismissed as ineffective, one always needs to ask ‘what do you mean by inquiry?’.  My hunch is that this phenomenon of over-simplification is also true of direct instruction. There are silly, ineffective and extreme versions of both.

Anyway. I read on. I breathe. I listen.  I notice my reaction is not so much to the ideas and advice but to the whole concept of “best practice”, of  THE science of learning. It’s the sense of orthodoxy to which I react even more so than the content.

I remind myself… ‘Stay curious. Ask questions. Notice. Wonder …’

I find myself wondering: How can I use this material to help me and the teachers I work with reflect, re-think and clarify?  How can we bring intellectual humility to all this AND stand by the values we hold of curiosity, creativity, agency, differentiation, depth and authenticity?  It’s not easy, but with an open mind, we can find elements that connect with and add to our knowledge, as well as ideas we might question and challenge. Accepting such directives without question and without consideration of our local contexts, values, beliefs and needs of our community would be intellectually lazy - as would failing to read views of those equally steeped in learning sciences but who draw quite different conclusions (see some suggested reading below).  We teach our students to be critical inquirers – so should we be.

No educator should ever feel they have ‘arrived’ at a place of complete understanding about teaching and learning. We are NEVER done learning and always need to grow and adapt to new information. When system level policies seem to fly in the face of some of our deepest held beliefs, we need to stay open to growth and to the benefits of changing our minds. This has been true for me in the literacy area where, in reading the excellent work of Burkins and Yates (2021) I have had cause to rethink some of my understandings about the teaching of reading. Their work is amongst the best examples of resisting orthodoxy – of bravely entering the conversation about the science of reading, embracing new thinking, letting go of some dearly held ideas about reading instruction AND remaining committed to balanced, meaningful learning for children.  Similarly, I continue to yearn for a ‘both/and” approach, eloquently stated by Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond and Dr. Pamela Cantor principal researchers, and also experts in learning sciences, in the Design Principles Project (2021):

“a teacher can skillfully blend inquiry-based learning with strategic elements of direct instruction using multiple modalities of learning that help students draw connections between what they know and what they are trying to learn.”  (https://k12.designprinciples.org/)

When I sat down to write this blog post, I thought I was going to pick apart the numerous dogmatic arguments made by some who champion what they call ‘the’ science of learning, but that’s not where I needed to go. Others far more qualified than me have done that eloquently and I encourage you to read their pieces (links below). In the end, this post was really just about me trying to BE an inquirer – to stay in the space that Rumi calls ‘the field beyond’ and hold on to the power of wonder to fight my own cynicism and, at times, despair.  This has been my attempt to avoid ‘doubling down’ and instead to amp up my curiosity so that I can keep learning and growing. So, in the spirit of wonder, the best I can do with all this is to leave you with some of the questions that have been rolling around in my head as this strange battle of ‘best’ practice rages on. I hope these questions might be helpful to you as you engage in continued dialogue about the complex, demanding, vital and ever-evolving work we do:

·      How can we argue for what is best without asking, ‘best for what purpose’?  And if the answer is, ‘for learning’, then what kind of learning do we mean? What do we think school is for in 2024 and beyond? How might we bring this question to the staffroom?

·      Where are our points of agreement? How might we find common ground? We all want to do the right thing by children and their families. What are our shared values?

·      What can I learn from the particular view of the ‘science of learning’ being promoted in schools? How might the advice on ‘explicit instruction’ help refine the moments when, during an inquiry, we do indeed engage in direct teaching? Can I do a better job of that part of my repertoire? How might a better grasp of high quality explicit instruction assist us to work with some students for whom ‘release of responsibility’ might take more time?

·      Is there one, universal ‘Science of Learning?’ I note that MANY critics suggest otherwise. What do other respected researchers in the field of learning have to say?  Whose voices are we not hearing/reading?

·      What is really meant by the term ‘knowledge rich?’  Whose knowledge? Why privilege this? What about, for example, indigenous ways of knowing that might have a very different context, purpose and approach?

·      What does ‘evidence-based’ really mean? In schools in which I work – such as those who use Kaser and Halbert’s ‘spirals of inquiry’ model, evidence of  impact is drawn by careful analysis of a range of data about the children within their communities. What counts as evidence?

·      In his excellent forward to Claxton’s ‘The Future of Teaching and the Myths that Hold it Back (2021) Dylan Wiliam states that while those advocating a more traditional approach to teaching have ‘empirical’ evidence on their side, this is, according to Wiliam, largely due to the fact that researchers have focussed on the “… easily answered questions. It is much easier to decide whether one teaching approach is better than another if the goal is to get students to balance chemical equations than if the goal is to debate effectively the science and ethics of genetically modified foods:” (2021: xix).   I find this an enormously helpful reminder when reading claims about evidence from research. What kind of learning has the research focussed on? How do we avoid sweeping generalisations and interrogate the evidence more productively?

·      To what extent has ‘warm data’ informed this work?  (I am only just learning a little about this concept but it seems very relevant) “Using only analysis of statistical data will offer conclusions that can point to actions that are out of sync with the complexity of the situation. Information without interrelationality is likely to lead us toward actions that are misinformed, thereby creating further destructive patterns. “ (Batesoninstitute.org)

·      How can we tackle the question of ‘what works’ in a more nuanced way? Should we not also be asking, ‘what works, and for whom and where and under what conditions’? (Wrigley 2018)  How do we ensure that we keep the focus on the needs and characteristics of the local communities of learners in which we work?

·      If explicit teaching is deemed more ‘efficient’, is that amongst the criteria for effectiveness? To what extent do we value efficiency? Are there things that we could and should teach efficiently? What requires time and depth? What can stay on the surface? When we talk about effective learning – what do we mean?  How might we share that with each other in more open and honest ways? 

·      Systems all over the world talk about the importance of learner agency – indeed it is one of the key principles in the most recent OECD education report. What impact might a strong diet of direct and explicit instruction have on learner agency? How can we help teachers navigate their way through a sea of mixed messages?  

·      As an educator with a strong commitment to, and deep understanding of, a more constructivist approach to teaching and learning, how can I do a better job of challenging the persistent myths about inquiry?  Why DO these myths persist and how might I take some responsibility for that? What new stories can I tell about inquiry as a stance that might better reflect the nuanced and sophisticated work so many teachers are doing?

·      What might I need to change and rethink about the way I talk about teaching and learning that invites professional dialogue and productive collaboration rather than division and conflict?

·      How do I best support colleagues who do extraordinary, deep and loving work with children and who so very deftly and effectively scaffold and support exploration before or with explanation. How do I help people resist a culture of orthodoxy and continue to value their expansive and flexible repertoire? How can I support teachers to be informed AND to feel they can intelligently defend the range of approaches they might use according to the needs and context in which they are working?  How might we meet in the field beyond?

Already, some of these wonderings have been the seed for some powerful dialogue with fellow educators. There is nothing like being challenged to help one clarify and refine thinking and this is best done in the spirit of inquiry where curiosity does indeed remain a powerful antidote to cynicism and despair and, if nurtured, create fertile ground for continued professional growth.  I have found the following posts and articles helpful. If you have been engaged in conversations about ‘THE’ science of learning, what question s have you found yourself pondering?

Just Wondering …

Wrigley, T. (2018). The power of evidence: Reliable science or a blunt set of tools? British Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 359-376. 

O’Conner, P. and Gomez,C. Slow Wonder: letters in imagination and education, 2022:50

Claxton, G. (2021) The Future of Teaching and the Myths that Hold it Back. Routledge.

Hannon, V. (2021) Thrive: The Purpose of schools in a Changing World, Cambridge

https://www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/clt/

https://ckarchive.com/b/4zuvheh5nv9dki6ovveola3v24l77

https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/topic/deeper-learning

https://www.humanrestorationproject.org/writing/there-is-no-such-thing-as-the-science-of-learning

https://www.guyclaxton.net/post/the-sciences-of-learning-and-the-practice-of-teaching

www.Batesoninstitute.org

https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/

https://www.shyambarr.com.au/blog/beyond-cognition-embracing-the-multifaceted-nature-of-the-science-of-learning

Listening to small moments of wonder

On my final walk of the summer holidays, I decided to take a different path towards the beach. A little way along I almost stepped on this guy …a beautiful echidna, snuffling for ants and seemingly oblivious to my presence. It let me stay so close I could see the strange curve of its claws, the  colour of its spines and the tiny hairs on its beak.  This glorious, strange monotreme, unique to this country. Right in front of me and endlessly fascinating. This was a small but beautiful moment of ‘awe and wonder’. It slowed me down and drew me in. What a generous parting gift from nature as my holiday came to an end.  For me, such encounters, never fail to be exhilarating.  I can literally feel my heart respond, beating loudly in my chest, my breath quickening and the smile growing on my face.  I am alone, deeply connected  and fully present.

I am fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time in the natural environment. It is the source of my well-being and the sustenance of my curiosity. As has been noted by many, being in nature also helps keep our ego in check. It literally puts us in our place.  We are reminded that we are indeed, a tiny speck in what is a much bigger universe. We don’t matter as much as we think we think we do.  The natural environment is also the place I can rely on to nurture my curiosity – a disposition so vital to inquiry.

My echidna encounter was, of course, a simple, natural provocation. As I kept walking, I was aware of the questions ‘bubbling up’ in my mind.  ‘Why didn’t it walk away? Does it have a burrow/nest somewhere? Why do I only ever see them on their own? Are they solitary? What are its predators here?  I have written elsewhere  about what I feel to be at times, and a necessary emphasis on artificially constructed provocations for children. Or the sense that at times children are required to ask questions about things that they actually have no genuine curiosity about.

As we move into a new year, and after several weeks of being immersed in the natural environment, I am convinced yet again, that the best way to provoke, curiosity or and wonder in our learners is to remain open to the natural provocations that are around us each day.  Whilst there are copious resources and advice about cultivating curiosity these days (my own work included!), perhaps the best advice is the most simple. Get outside and, as the wonderful astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Dyson implores, get out of their way. Use the natural world, the surrounding community, the school grounds, a walk around the block. The world will provide.  And be curious. Share your moments of curiosity and wonder with your learners. Susan Engel and others who have done the deep research work in this field conclude that the role of the adult in nurturing children’s curiosity is critical.  I know that my little Echidna story and video will find its way into my teaching in the coming weeks. I will show children the photos and clips I took and share how I felt, what I noticed, and the questions that I walked away with.  It will be real and it will be from the heart. I may show them how I did some further investigation or they may start sharing their own moments of wonder from their holidays. Or both! Either way, I plan to intentionally and authentically be the curious learner I want to see in them. (And, no, they won’t need to be studying ‘animals’ to warrant that moment.)

Cultivating curiosity in children begins with cultivating it in ourselves. It means giving ourselves permission to take an unexpected pathway, slow down, notice and wonder. My time away was filled with small moments of wonder and awe gifted to me by nature. The politics of the birds in my garden (why are some species so much more aggressive than others?), the changing landscape of the beach I have walked since childhood (where have all the shells gone?), the sudden arrival of hundreds of dragonflies (why now?), the fog hanging so low over the ocean on a warm morning (why fog? is this basically a low cloud? What causes this?).  These musings not only help me continue to walk the world with a curious mind but provide me with something simple, real and rich to share with learners.  

… and when I do, I want them to reciprocate. I want to create a culture in which THEY excitedly bring their small moments of wonder into the classroom like precious jewels cupped in their hands.  Not only do we stimulate creativity and imagination through such sharing , we light the spark for true dialogue and discovery.  Each moment of genuine wonder has the potential to connect with powerful and transferable concepts. My Echidna encounter connects to concepts such as diversity, adaptation, environment and behaviour: ‘from little things,’ as singer Paul Kelly writes, ‘big things grow’

 In almost all cases, the authentic moments of wonder experienced by learners be easily traced back to the curriculum. Knowing your curriculum deeply helps you let it go and give yourself permission to lean in close to your learners and say, “I’m listening, that sounds WONDERful, tell us more …

How will you nurture your own and your learners’ curiosity as you begin the year?

How will you stay awake to the simple provocations the world will bring to you?

Just wondering…

 Kath

Staying awake to the world: taking time to inquire into and build our own "background knowledge"

We’ve just passed the winter solstice here in my part of the world. In Victoria, teachers are in their final week of what feels like the longest term in history. Many colleagues  are visibly exhausted from months of remote teaching and adjusting to new ways of working back at school. My overseas colleagues are also now counting the days down until the school year comes to an end in the northern hemisphere.  This past weekend was the first one for almost four months in which I had not worked in some capacity – either delivering online workshops, writing or planning.  We are all, undoubtedly in need of some time out.  Immersing ourselves in things that take us away from the world of teaching is vital for rejuvenation: for our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. This past week, I have also been reminded of how important our engagement with the world beyond teaching is for, ironically, nurturing the quality of our teaching.

 One of the most profoundly important elements in designing for inquiry learning is the dialogue we have around the ‘planning table’ about the concepts and big ideas that lie at the heart of any inquiry journey. If the journey is exploring the ‘way living things adapt to changing environments’ it is not enough simply to find a few resources and develop some activities – we need to interrogate our own thinking about this big idea.  What do we really understand about adaptation? What background  knowledge do we bring to this?  If our inquiry is into the ‘role that the arts can play in changing the world’, we must ask ourselves how we feel about this statement? What lived experience do we have of this phenomenon? What examples have we heard about? Read about?  If we are supporting children to inquire into the ‘relationship between sustainability and materials’, what decisions have we made recently about choices of materials in our own lives? What do we really understand about the science of materials? If we are designing a journey of inquiry to examine the concept of exploration, how far have we come since our own impoverished education about our history? How many of us might have made the same mistake as our Australian Prime Minister did recently when he claimed we 'did not have slavery in Australia?  

When we engage learners in a process of inquiry, we most often begin by spending time tuning in to their prior knowledge. We identify their ‘first thinking’, theories and ways of seeing the ideas they are inquiring into.  But do we do this sufficiently for ourselves?  How often do we give ourselves time, as a team, to discuss our own experiences, positions, perspectives and understandings of the very things we are inviting our learners to inquire into?    And how often do we take the time to inform ourselves when we feel less secure in our understandings of the issues that sit at the core of the conceptual understandings we have designed for learners?   In my experience, the stronger inquiry teachers – the ones who question with most dexterity and bring a more intentional disposition to their observations, are the teachers who have the better grasp of both the concepts and the ‘content’ the learners are exploring.   I have always been wary of the glib phrase: “Inquiry teachers can learn alongside the children”.  While there is certainly truth in that (I have learned SO much simply being part of an inquiry journey with groups and individuals) it doesn’t mean we are ‘off the hook’.  Our ignorance can prevent us from asking better questions, helping learners make connections or pointing the way to critical information that can help struggling learners make meaning.  In fact I have often observed in my own teaching that the deeper my understanding of something is, the better I am at listening, waiting, questioning and holding back to support the learner.   Even when we might be assisting learners in a personal inquiry that goes well beyond our own field of interest and expertise, we need to know enough about how to connect to and locate others with the expertise … and that, in itself, requires us to stay awake to the world around us. 

 At the very least, taking time to inquire into our own understanding and experience of the conceptual landscape into which we are taking our children can help fuel our own curiosity. True inquiry teachers have what Susan Engel (2015) so beautifully calls “hungry minds’. They become fascinated by the questions children are raising, they are curious about their own ways of thinking about and seeing the material they are sharing with the class. They are voracious learners with open minds and open hearts Spending time connecting with our own experiences and understanding of and questions about the field our learners are inquiring into is time well spent.  It doesn’t mean we need to be experts on every discipline. Primary classroom teachers are generalists by nature. But that doesn’t excuse us from being informed.   So what might this look like? How can we stay more awake in the world and keep our minds hungry?

 Some ideas…

• Prior to a planning meeting, ask each person in the team to locate a clip and/or reading to share with others. These might not be resources you use with students but may fuel your own thinking about the issues.

•  If you design inquiries under a compelling question (broad/open ended/conceptual and non-googleable) go round the table sharing each of YOUR initial responses to the question.  How have your individual life experiences shaped your view of this big idea? How might that impact on your dialogue with learners? 

•  Consider having staff book/movie clubs using texts that are not directly about teaching. Imagine a whole staff here in Australia reading and discussing Bruce Pascoe’s “Dark Emu” or collectively viewing the documentary “The Australian Dream” about Adam Goodes.  What a fantastic way to bring the spirit of inquiry and powerful dialogue into the staffroom! 

• Share your favourite podcasts with each other - the ones that help you really grow your brain. Watch some Ted talks together.

•  If as a team, you are feeling less confident in your background knowledge, invite someone with expertise to come and spend time with you or ‘zoom them in’ to your planning meeting. Be inquirers. Most people with expertise in an area are delighted to have an opportunity to share their passion. 

• If there are places you might take your students as part of the inquiry (gallery/zoo/museum/parkland/historical site) why not have your team meeting at the site after school or on the weekend? 

• Read. Or watch some clips. Or listen to some podcasts.  Or talk to people that have passion and expertise in this area. Come to your planning meeting ready to share some case studies or examples of the big ideas that will drive the inquiry.

•  When planning, as yourselves: What is it that we hope our students will come to understand as a result of this inquiry?  And commit to documenting these as full statements (students will understand ….) not dot points/questions/phrases.  It is easy to generate questions like “What is sustainability?” or “How do people express their culture through the arts?” or “What does it mean to be healthy” and never actually discuss the conceptual understandings that might be developed through those questions.  

• Most importantly, give this work time.  I would argue that these conversations are just as important as the design of learning tasks.  They help us connect to the why. They help us get clarity about our own thinking. They help reveal our biases, our blind spots and our confusions which can pave the way for poor questioning and missed opportunities when we are engaging with children. 

While there is a strong emphasis on learning processes in inquiry, it remains the case that powerful inquiry is fuelled by content of significance.  We can’t get to those conceptual understandings without exploring case studies and examples that gradually help us see patterns and make connections.  As inquiry teachers, we need to remain awake to the world around us. We need to have hungry minds that stay relentlessly curious about the way the world works and the way we understand the world. We need to keep pushing ourselves out of our “comfortable knowledge bubbles” and be prepared to be the geographers, historians, scientists, authors, mathematicians and artists we hope our students will be. And when we don’t know, we need to experience the thrill of the hunt – to yearn to know more. 

So my wish for you – as so many of you take a much deserved break, is that you can spend time revelling in the joy of your own learning about things that go beyond teaching.  So go find those podcasts, visit that museum (even if online), talk to your engineering/landscape gardener/pharmacist/builder friend about their job, listen to some music you have never listened to before, go look at some art, read some long form articles, take a walk in the forest and ask yourself what you know about the ecosystem around you, catch up on some documentaries…and enjoy cultivating your own curiosity.   You’ll be a better inquiry teacher for it. 

How do you ‘stay awake to the world’ amidst your busy life as a teacher? 

 Just wondering

Relinquish, restore and renew: three questions to take on your journey

It has been an intense few weeks here in Australia – indeed all around the world.  As I said in my previous post, I have found myself steeped in the very practice I have spent my professional life researching advocating – inquiry.  When I am asked what inquiry might “look like” in a remote teaching and learning context, my first response is that it looks like what it IS right now!   We are all asking questions. going into the unknown, exploring, gathering data, figuring out what is working, what isn’t, changing our thinking, asking more questions…at a ‘meta’ level, we are undertaking a huge, collaborative inquiry.  And I would argue that we are also each moving through a very personal inquiry too – as individuals within our personal communities - beyond our role as teachers.

A lot of people are talking about the opportunity for reflection as our lives are forced inward - both literally and figuratively. As someone who has long championed the vital role that reflective thinking plays in the classroom, I couldn’t agree more. Somewhat paradoxically, for these past 3 weeks, I have found some of my own reflective practices falling away.  I routinely write a journal entry each night – I have done for years. But for the last 3 weeks my journal pages are empty. I only just picked it up again yesterday. Maybe it was the shock of it all, maybe the fact that I have spent most of my days writing (rather than teaching/facilitating) or maybe my routine is just out of whack.  Regardless, the call to reflect might be too soon for many of us who are currently scrambling to “pivot” (word of the month) our lives from what they were to what they are now. 

Here in my home state of Victoria, teachers had just 3 days prior to their holidays to pull something together in preparation for school closures.  Hardly time for thoughtful, reflective, deep engagement.  But now, on the eve of my local schools beginning term 2 (with a strange mix of schools being open but families urged to keep kids at home) -  I am wondering about where our inevitable reflections might lead us? 

The weekend before we moved into a level 3 shutdown, I watched a fascinating clip by the scientist Jem Bendell whose work focusses on the concept of deep adaptation particularly in response to Climate Change (remember that global crisis?).  Watching this clip through the lens of the current pandemic made it even more fascinating. So many of the points he raised about our response to climate change were just as relevant to this crisis. 

 “We are not in control anymore  - and we will act without knowing whether we will be successful in this very uncertain time” 

 In the quest for deep adaptation Bendell poses three questions. 

•  What is it that we most value – what do we want to keep?

• What is it that we must let go of ?

• What is it that we could restore? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZJtFZZYmM&vl=en

 There is much more to these questions and his framing of them than I will do justice to here - but I urge you to watch the clip.  It certainly gave me food for thought. Bendell’s questions made me wonder. What questions am I noticing myself asking as I am suddenly forced to live a VERY different existence? What questions might help me make meaning as I ponder the possibility of returning to schools at some stage in the future? What questions might we ask ourselves as we move through to the ‘other side’ of this (we need to start asking them now – regardless of how far away that time might be.)

So, here are my 3R’s, as questions they may be of help to you too – in your thinking about teaching or even in your life aside from teaching. 

Relinquish

What might I let go/give up? What is this teaching me to do without or release? 

In my persona l life,  I am challenging myself to reconsider my insanely busy schedule. Can I relinquish the busy-ness that dominates my life as an educator?  As an inquiry educator I wonder if this experience will help teachers relinquish control? Will it help them see the power of really trusting learners? Can we relinquish our need to make all the decisions FOR learners that they can make for themselves?    

 Restore

What might I restore that has been lost, forgotten or compromised?

In my personal life, I feel like my commitment to my own health and wellbeing is undergoing a kind of ‘restoration’  - I am walking regularly again and I am practicing yoga for the first time in many years.   What could be restored in the service of inquiry learning?  I would love to see the restoration of the permission to be spontaneous. Veteran teachers often become a little ‘misty eyed’ when I speak of seizing the moment. It would be lovely to see it restored.  AS authors share clips of themselves reading aloud to kids around the world, I long for the central role that reading beautiful literature aloud in classrooms once had. Is it my imagination or are we doing less of that these days?  Restoration is not about harking back to the past…(thank goodness we have moved on from so much of what was NOT good inquiry). It is about ensuring that things of VALUE are not lost.

Revolutionise

What might I change? 

People all around the world are revolutionising their practice in response to his emergency. I wonder – what might look different when we return?  What is already different? This is a time for restoration but it is also a time for renewal. My family has had to completely revolutionize the way we use and share our house. We now have a recording and a dance studio in what was once a bedroom and a spare room. And it has been an amazing creative opportunity. We may never change it back!   What might be revolutionalized in your classroom? What is already new and more effective in the way you are working remotely? I am already hearing teachers noticing the power of kids being able to have more control over their days and their timetables. Perhaps you might revolutionize your approach to timetabling to ensure greater learner agency.

 Some people have started to refer to this moment in our history as ‘the great pause’. I love that metaphor. A ‘pause manifesto’ was recently posted on the ‘dolectures’ website:

 “Do you give yourself permission to pause? And if not, why not? That is a big question, but if you can create small pauses, you might be able to start to get some perspective on that and grow the sense of space and the feeling of agency you have over your own life.”

 https://www.thedolectures.com/blog/the-pause-manifesto

 Pressing the pause button may mean we stop to ask ourselves some beautiful questions  - and have the time to listen to the answers.  So thanks to the inspiration from Jem Bendall, these are mine:

What will I relinquish?

What will I restore?

What will I revolutionise? 

For those teachers embarking on this strange, new journey (my heart is with you fellow Victorian teachers!!) would these question be helpful to take with you?

Just wondering  

7 Lessons from deep in the inquiry trenches...

Who else is flexing their inquiry muscles right now? As we all rapidly transition to teaching online or trying to support our learners at a distance (not all kids around the world have access to internet and devices #justsaying) teachers everywhere are immersed in personal inquiry. I am no exception. In this post, I am sharing some of the things I am noticing as I inquire - and how they are serving to remind me of some essential ingredients of this beautiful, messy process. It can be easy to reduce inquiry to a shallow set of strategies or an easy cycle to spin through or a bunch of characteristics and platitudes…I’ve been guilty of that myself at times. But the reality- when you are IN it, is complex, nuanced, layered and rich. And frustrating too. Some thoughts from my own internal ‘trenches’ this week!

1. I’m noticing: I have a real need to inquire – I am motivated by purpose. 

 In just two weeks my 2020 work schedule went from having a long wait-list to a few tentative, online workshops and what feels like the vain hope of a resumption of work later in the year. As the family ‘breadwinner’ this unexpected situation prompted a sense of real urgency for me to be creative, adaptive, agile and most of all to INQUIRE.  My driving question was easy to formulate “How might I effectively transition the work I do face-to-face to a distance learning context?”  I sure am curious and motivated (panicked?).  I NEED to find out about this – I have a purpose that is not only for me but, more importantly, my purpose is about supporting my family.  Would I have a sustained interest and desire to learn about online facilitation had there been no real purpose for me? Probably not. Would I have fully engaged with this inquiry if some well-meaning ‘teacher’ told me I had to?  I doubt it. I am doing this because I can see the value and purpose in it. 

Reminder:  Powerful inquiry is driven by real purpose and the learner’s desire to make a difference to their lives and the lives of others.

2. I’m noticing: My learning journey is messy – but I am moving through a process. 

I certainly did not map out a step by step sequence of tasks to support myself on this journey so far (oh to have time to plan!) BUT when I reflect on what I have been doing, I can see how I have engaged in the elements I so often share with teachers and kids.  Of course, I have had to tune in to what I already know. I have spent time assessing what I CAN do (I have used ZOOM and padlet before, I am OK with social media, etc.etc.) This prior experience is so important in giving me a starting point for my inquiry.  I have found out in so many different ways – trial and error, viewing clips, reading posts and articles, asking experts (thank you Dr Jennifer Wathall, Becky Carlson and Karen Boyes ) crowd sourcing (thank you twitter and facebook). I have needed to use a diverse range of research skills but there is no WAY my inquiry would have been successful if I simply googled everything. I really needed to ask questions of people that know about this. Primary data sources have been the most helpful so far.  Time to sort out, process, reflect and meaning make has been essential.  I have done this mostly through talking with others. My husband does a little facilitation work on line so he and I have been reflecting on and talking through our respective discoveries. I have also found myself making lists, diagrams, notes, charts….I have had to STOP every so often, slow down and really make sense of what I am learning alone and with others.  I’ve had to let go of some ideas and embrace new thinking.   One of my most helpful moments this week was an ‘unhurried conversation’ facilitated by Johnnie Moore that allowed fellow facilitators to reflect and share in a really lovely, spacious way. Reflection like this helps deepen my learning. And I am certainly needing to take action – sooner rather than later.  I’ve already conducted a half day workshop.  My action has been as much a part of my ‘finding out’ as it has been application (the cycle is two-way). I have needed to jump in and test out what I am learning in order to feel like my inquiry is worth sticking with. So far so good.  

Reminder: Powerful inquiry is not linear but there is a process. Recognising that we are ultimately moving forward, making meaning and applying our learning is vital in order to feel success.

3. I’m noticing: Skills and dispositions are my most important assets right now!

I am so acutely aware that sustaining this inquiry depends on my capacity to manage myself, collaborate with others, communicate well, think critically, creatively and reflectively and, of course research.  I have needed to be curious, courageous, persistent, resourceful, patient and compassionate (towards myself and others).  My learning skills and dispositions have been the greatest assets I could have right now. And I can feel those “learning muscles” getting a real workout too. When we are on a true journey of inquiry we both depend on AND grow the skills and dispositions we need for all learning. I will be a better learner as a result of this (and a better teacher I hope) 

 Reminder: Powerful inquiry is not just about WHAT we learn but HOW we learn.

4. I’m noticing: I don’t know what I don’t know

Sure – I had some basic prior knowledge and a ‘big question’ to begin with – but as to what I really needed to find out?  Well that was all pretty foggy at the beginning. (And I still consider myself in the fog ..it’s just a little clearer now).  The thing is, the questions driving my inquiry are coming up AS I inquire.  This is something I often notice with kids too, especially when they are engaged in personal inquiry projects.  Somewhat paradoxically, it is not until they start finding out that they know what they need to find out.  Well – that’s been me this week.  I have more questions after I watch a tutorial or read a post than I did before. Inquiry begets inquiry. If I was posting my questions on a wonder wall – it would have started off pretty empty and be really full by now! 

Reminder: Powerful inquiry is driven by questions… but those questions keep emerging throughout the process. We can’t expect kids to define all their questions up front.

5. I’m noticing: I really wrestle with feeling incompetent and uncertain

 Inquiry is all about going into the unknown.  My journeys into the unknown this week have been exhilarating at times – and also really challenging at other times. Last night, during a 3 hour online workshop with a bunch of fabulous educators, there was a point where we were toggling between our zoom screen and another online document. My zoom screen disappeared altogether and I had NO idea how to retrieve it. Meantime, the conversation raced on … as I struggled with my technology, I stopped listening and fell behind really quickly. What an awful feeling! I could feel the motivation draining out of me.  I finally fessed up and admitted I was lost  - but even that was hard.  Inquiry learning is full of moments when the learner is inevitably thrown off course, feeling lost and confused.  Creating a safe space in which learners can say “Hey – I’m lost, I don’t get this, help me out” and slowing down to accommodate those moments is so important.  The inner critic we all have can be very loud at times like these  - I am learning to be kinder to myself.  

Reminder: Powerful inquiry inevitably involves some failure, wrong turns and the need to re-route.  Sustained failure is demotivating.

6. I’m noticing: I don’t want to be talked at for too long. I want to be able to find things out for myself and THEN ask for help!

I have had a few moments over the last week where things have been explained to me … at some length. Like a distracted child, I have found myself doing the online version of rolling around at the back of the mat or daydreaming about something while I ‘listened’.  Lengthy, webinar monologues have not worked for me.  Too much teacher talk.  It has made me think about the oft- used excuse for too much teacher talk/direct instruction early in an inquiry (“We front-load the kids so they have background knowledge and then we let them inquire”). What I have benefited from most is information at the point of need.  I needed people to allow me to ask questions, to check that I understood, to let me play and try and figure things out – THEN explain things that I couldn’t figure out for myself. I loved the moments in Jennie’s workshop yesterday where she would say “Let’s have a play with this – see what you can figure out, help each other out….” Gradually we would work it out together but we did NOT need her to give a lengthy, detailed direct-instruction style monologue – we needed to get in there and play. 

Reminder: Powerful inquiry is something the learner does – not something done to the learner. 

7. I’m noticing: I have welcomed being able to manage my time and learn at my own pace.

It has been so interesting to notice the way I have (and haven’t) managed my time over the last week.  I have gone from being someone who has weeks chock full of scheduled meetings, workshops, flights, collaborative planning sessions. – all mapped out ahead, all organised and timetabled. Suddenly, I have the rare experience of a lot to do BUT, more or less, control over when (and where) I will do those things.  Don’t get me wrong - deadlines have been important.  I will be facilitating workshops on iTime online tomorrow afternoon which in turn has helped me structure my day today. That is keeping me on track to a degree. Bit sometimes I have been able to stay focussed for hours on end and other times I have closed the computer, unable to stick with it …and made myself a cup of tea, hung out with my dog …( or washed my hands …again) before being ready to get back to my learning.    Self pacing is hard- even for me as an adult but it is also welcome. I can’t imagine engaging in this inquiry with a tightly imposed timetable. 

Reminder: While check points/deadlines are helpful, powerful inquiry journeys flow at different paces for different learners.  

 I am hesitant to join the (slightly annoying) chorus of those that champion the benefits the COVID-!9 pandemic is gifting us.  I am far too aware of the tragedy unfolding, the dire circumstances of so many people and the loss from which so many will struggle to recover. I know I am incredibly privileged to even be in the position to write this and to have a moment to reflect.  But while I acknowledge the devastation, I can also acknowledge the lessons I am still learning. The things I need to remind myself.   I can feel myself learning and becoming a better inquiry teacher –  and a better learner.

As teachers, we are all inquiring right now. Let’s notice what’s happening within us as we do.  I’ll keep reflecting and I’ll keep sharing because- as everyone keeps so rightly pointing out – we are all in this together.

 Stay safe….care for yourselves and please - keep wondering. And if you have the energy to share - what lessons are YOU learning about inquiry right now….?

Just wondering…

Inquiry learning: Pitfalls and perspectives part #2

In my previous post, I shared the importance of staying open-minded to other perspectives on inquiry learning, particularly the conclusions drawn from research that suggests it is ineffective.  I singled out work on cognitive load theory and on episodic and semantic memory in particular but can, of course, add Hattie’s work on the low “ effect size” of inquiry learning. To reiterate, these posts are not about defending inquiry nor critiquing the research itself – there is plenty of that out there! Rather I am sharing the benefits I receive from approaching criticism with curiosity and asking myself: what can I learn here?   

 In this and the next post, I will share some lessons we can learn from those who argue the case against inquiry learning. 

 1.    Engagement does not necessarily mean learning. 

I know this is not a new idea. But it is worth us reminding ourselves that it IS easy to mistake the delight, connection and interest so beautifully generated by inquiry for learning itself. The compelling nature of inquiry is both a strength - and a challenge.  We’ve all been guilty of designing fabulous, hands-on investigative experiences that lead to little more than a fond memory.  The lesson for us is not to forgo the engaging tasks - far from it - but to remain keenly aware of the conceptual understandings and skills the task should be helping the learner develop.  If we are evaluating the merit of tasks simply on whether “the kids loved it” (which I hear all too often) we deserve the criticism!  Inquiry IS engaging and engagement is the first step towards learning, but it is insufficient in itself. 

2.    Beware the trap of style over substance

Related to the issue of engagement, we inquiry teachers are known for our elaborate “provocations” (a term with problematic use) designed to cultivate curiosity, stir up emotions and deliberately raise questions. I have facilitated many myself.  However, such experiences run the risk of being memorable but not for the reason we hoped.  It is argued that our memory of compelling experiences can be more ‘episodic’ than semantic and, therefore, they fail to contribute to deeper, conceptual learning.  We can certainly activate interest in a new inquiry through a provocative experience BUT the relationship between the experience and the conceptual understandings we are working towards can be easily lost or overlooked. Worse still, the experience may be more distracting than helpful. 

 I remember many years ago, beginning an inquiry into how we use the earth’s natural resources with an activity that required children to ‘mine’ chocolate chips from a cookie while trying to keep the cookie itself intact. The children certainly remembered it.  I understood the connection – but did they?  When reflecting on their learning later in the unit, they failed to make any connection with the concept of sustainability that supposedly underpinned the inquiry! They talked a lot about the ‘cool cookie activity’ but made no real links to the focus of the unit (I imagine some of them might to this day refer to it as ‘the cookie unit’).  The way I framed the task meant it was more distracting than helpful. The medium outstripped the message. Launching an inquiry journey this way is well intentioned and can be a powerful way to motivate and activate curiosity (the research on curiosity would suggest it is really important to do so) but the purpose and link to the big ideas being explored needs to be clear. Re-visiting the thinking generated by the experience over the course of an inquiry means it is more likely to shift learning from shallow to deep.

3.    background knowledge helps us inquire into new things. You don’t know what you don’t know.

A persistent theme in the discourse against inquiry is that teachers neglect the importance of background knowledge necessary for successful independent investigation.  As the saying goes “You don’t know what you don’t know.”  Somewhat ironically, this actually informed the development of my cycle of inquiry many years ago. The ‘Finding out and sorting out’ phases of the process are most often collective/shared experiences where  (particularly older) learners are investigating something together in order to then figure out what needs to be more specifically inquired into by individuals or small groups (‘going further’). The point of difference for me is that ‘building background knowledge’ can still be done in a more inquiry based way rather than the often suggested: “teacher tells - then students inquire.”  Before learners construct questions for further investigation, taking time to pause and establish tentative conclusions as result of our shared inquiry ensures a much stronger base from which to move into new investigations.  This also helps explain why we can become frustrated with the quality of learners’ questions – we may simply be inviting them too early in the process, particularly when the inquiry is taking learners into quite new, challenging territory. 

 4.    Prior knowledge has a significant impact on the effectiveness of new learning 

Coupled with the challenge that inquiry fails to acknowledge the importance of background knowledge is the claim that it does not help students gain depth of understanding. This criticism can help us improve a part of the process good inquiry teachers already use. We just need to do it better. 

 One of the staple strategies of the inquiry teacher is, in fact, to deliberately activate prior knowledge in order to facilitate new learning (cue ‘brainstorm’/KWL chart).  Too often, however, strategies designed to activate the ‘known’ are superficial and lack explicit attention by both teachers and learners. Tuning- in or ‘activating prior knowledge’ is seen as a step in a recipe rather than an important way to manage cognitive load. Information in long term memory is stored in ‘schema’ which help us organise and accommodate new information Filling in a ‘KWL’ chart, for example, may do very  little to help integrate new and existing knowledge. And learners are not even aware that this prior knowledge is being activated! Simply asking learners to vaguely list things they know keeps the learning shallow and is only a vague nod to the activation of existing schema.

To support the learner in moving from shallow to deep understanding, take time to really tune in (indeed to inquire into) the learners’ current ways of seeing the concept/s you plan to explore more fully.  And make the purpose of this tuning in time explicit to students. Slowing down and spending time on our current ‘working theories’ around a concept prepares the way for new learning.  It lightens the cognitive load by retrieving stored information to allow new connections.  This work also offers important base line data for assessment of progress over time. By taking time to engage with learner’s ways of seeing something (listening and observing, analysing evidence of thinking)  we honour a core principle of inquiry learning which is about truly valuing the learner’s perspective. And to strengthen this even further – we need to keep doing it throughout an inquiry journey.  Routines such as Ritchhart’s ‘I use to think but now I think’ are ideal for this purpose.  

5.     ‘If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up someplace else’ (Williams, 2016) 

There remains a common misconception that ‘knowing where we are headed’ is anathema to inquiry and this leads to understandable criticism.  Any teacher who has planned with me will attest to my obsession with clarifying ‘conceptual understanding goals’ - the overarching conceptual understandings we want students to deepen as a through the inquiry. Understanding goals act as vital anchors for teacher decision making about resources, task design and assessment.  When big ideas are shared and indeed constructed with learners (at some point – not always straight away) we also ease unnecessary cognitive load andstrengthen learner agency. Lack of clarity about the big ideas underpinning learning, it is like giving learners a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the lid of the box. Clear conceptual understandings allow for connections to be made across learning areas and lift the quality of questions/prompts teachers use as they work with learners.  Explicitly sharing these big ideas with the learners as an inquiry unfolds further aids robust, long term memory. The clearer we are about where we are headed, the more successfully we can use children’s interests and questions to help forge the learning path. 

6.    Being asked to learn about too many things at once can mean we learn very little at all

A couple of months ago a spent some time in a senior primary classroom in which children were working on individual inquiries into things they were interested in. The teachers were, of course, extremely well intentioned. Students had choice and their interests were being valued and this was working well for some.  I noticed, however, several of the children were seemed lost and overwhelmed by the opportunity. One boy, for example, was inquiring into in ‘black holes’ and had planned to make an animation to explain what they were and how they worked.  As I talked with him it became obvious that he had spent a long, long time jumping from one random website to another, watching youtube clips and copying down a list of facts – none of which he could really explain to me.   When I asked him about his plans for the animation he was vague: “I haven’t actually done one before but they are so cool.”  Put simply, the choice and autonomy offered to this student were compromising rather than enhancing his learning.  The demand was too great – a challenging topic about which he had no prior knowledge, limited skills in determining relevant information and a means of sharing his ‘learning’ that he had not yet mastered.   He was sent off with too many plates spinning at once – and they were all simultaneously crashing! This student needed more support and feedback early in the negotiating phase.  As inquiry teachers we understand  the importance of choice however, choice without sufficient support can be counter-productive. 

As an inquiry teacher I am as concerned about the how of learning as I am about the what. BUT I need to keep this manageable and accessible to avoid unnecessary split attention and cognitive overload. For me, this means using Guy Claxton’s technique of clear, split screen intentions and keeping those intentions specific, manageable and integrated. The ‘how’ and the ‘what’ of learning are equal players in the inquiry classroom. If we expect learners to focus on a disposition like ‘resourcefulness’(for example)  then we need to make sure we have designed learning experiences  in a way that do, indeed, require resourcefulness. We also need to be mindful that if the content is unfamiliar to the learner then the processes they might use to access or share their learning should be more familiar.  The learning should stretch across the how and the what – but not to the point where it snaps. 

 7.    Finding things out does not mean we understand Them.

 This one is simple. A reminder that engaging learners in ‘finding out’ is insufficient.  Effective inquiry teachers know that the reading, listening to experts, experimenting, interviewing, viewing, testing…all the ways we go about gathering new information are only a part of the process.  It is the analysis, reflection and transfer that leads to deeper understanding.  This is a common pitfall. It can feel like we are learning when we are encountering new information (especially when it is through a direct experience) but we need to ensure there are ample opportunities for processing these experiences in multiple ways.

Phew!

Ironically, the length of this post may well have made it difficult for you to manage your own cognitive load – so I’ll stop there!!  Suffice to say, there are at least a dozen more thoughts whirling around my inquiring mind - so I may well come back to this theme in a future post. 

It’s easy (and lazy) to quickly dismiss ideas that conflict with our own - and doing so diminishes us. The central learning for me as an educator remains this..

Stay open. Stay curious. Be comfortable with the tensions and the tangles in all the ‘research’ out there.   If I am truly an inquiry teacher, I can do no less than BE an inquirer and continue to seek understanding as I learn and teach. 

 What have you learned about inquiry from those who argue it is ineffective? 

 Just wondering

Barron, B., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Teaching for meaningful learning: A review of research on inquiry-based and cooperative learning. Powerful Learning: What We Know About Teaching for Understanding (pp. 11-70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

Claxton, G. et al (2011) The Learning Powered School. TLO, Bristol. 

Friesan, S. and Scott, D. (2018) Inquiry Based learning: a review of the research Literature, Paper prepared for the Alberta Ministry of Education June 2013 

Hmelo-Silver, C., Duncan, R., & Chinn, C. (2007). Scaffolding and achievement in problem-based and inquiry learning: A response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 42, 99– 107. 

Kirschner, P., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75-86. 

Rosenshine, B (2012) Principles of Instruction: what every educator should know. American Educator ( Spring)

Williams, D. (2016) https://www.tes.com/news/dylan-wiliam-nine-things-every-teacher-should-know

Hattie (2016) 11 Questions to Professor John Hattie, asked by terachers.

https://visible-learning.org/2016/07/ask-professor-john-hattie-a-question/

(courtesy of. student who participated in an inquiry workshop at Lansdowne Crescent Primary in Hobart earlier this year)