Seastar Education is delighted to offer a 5-part, online workshop series
‘The Art of Inquiry Teaching’ with Kath Murdoch
What’s it all about?
We have known for a long time now that the key to improving student learning is for teachers themselves to have opportunities to strengthen their own pedagogy. This is no easy feat when we are bombarded with demands that so often fall outside our core work - teaching! This series is about turning the spotlight on the complex, fascinating experience of teaching through, for and of inquiry whether we are in school, teaching remotely or a combination of both.
Based on the popular resource “The Art of Inquiry” Kath Murdoch will guide participants through 5 x 90 minute sessions designed to build a solid repertoire of strategies and teaching approaches in keeping with an inquiry stance. In between sessions, teachers will be encouraged to explore the techniques in their classrooms and share their experiences in subsequent sessions.
Each session will include practical examples and clips from classrooms, resources for further reading and opportunities to interact and experiment with techniques. Across the 5 workshops, we will explore the 10 practices, gradually building a rich palette of possibility to enhance your teaching. Not only will your repertoire be enhanced – you will have a deeper understanding of this profoundly engaging and powerful approach to working with young people.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn with and from a global leader in inquiry-based learning. Kath’s down to earth and engaging style coupled with her vast experience makes this a great professional learning opportunity!
“I have attended a lot of professional learning workshops and I have to say this is an amazing one that is engaging, thought-provoking and one of the best I have ever attended!” J Wathall
“This was such a fabulous experience. After going to face to face sessions with Kath I was concerned it wouldn’t be as engaging – but it WAS!” J Bellow.
How will it work?
The sessions will be held via the zoom platform. After you register, You will be given a private link allowing you to join the meetings from your own device from a location that works best for you.
When is it happening?
February 11, 18 and 25. March 4 and 11
7.00 - 8.30 pm AEDT (Vic, NSW, ACT, Tas)
9.00 - 10.30 pm NZ
4.00 - 5.30 pm Hong Kong
8 - 9.30 am London
12.00 - 1.30 pm UAE
What is the cost?
The cost of the series is $495 per person + GST. This includes all resources
Purchase of single sessions is not an option. Each session will build on the previous one.
Who is it for?
The target audience is teachers of Kindergarten (4yrs) to year 9. Most examples shared will be from K-year 6 settings.
Outline of the sessions
February 11: Cultivating Curiosity and Growing Learning Assets
In this introductory session, participants will be introduced to the 10 practices for powerful inquiry teaching. We will begin our exploration by focussing on strategies for embedding the ‘Learning Assets’ (or habits of mind or competencies or approaches to learning….) into our teaching across the day. We will also examine strategies for cultivating curiosity – the key to engaging inquiry.
February 18: Noticing and Releasing
In session 2 we will explore the power of ‘noticing’ and how our assessment and planning can be informed by observation. Together with the key practice of ‘releasing’ responsibility, this session is all about helping ourselves to talk less and listen more. This session is all about developing strategies for helping learners do the ‘heavy lifting’ and nurturing agency.
February: Questioning: for teachers and learners
The art of questioning is one of the most powerful tools available to the inquiry teacher so we will be devoting this entire session to this practice. The quality of our questioning is deeply connected to the quality of students’ thinking. In this session we will explore how to improve our own questioning as well as helping learners learn to ask their own questions.
March 4: Keeping it real and thinking big
Inquiry learning thrives in contexts that are authentic and where learners are driven by a strong sense of purpose. In this session we will be examining ways to find and develop contexts for inquiry that provoke wonder and a desire to investigate. Using authentic contexts in which students are genuinely interested also requires us to think big – find conceptual threads for deeper, transferable understanding.
March 11: Play and collaboration
Our final session will explore techniques to not only help students collaborate but how we can make the most of our collaboration with colleagues to plan and teach through and for dynamic inquiry. As teachers, this means a willingness to experiment, innovate and explore – to play with possibilities. Our final session will examine how play for learners of all ages can amplify inquiry and indeed can be the critical ingredient for engagement and culture change.
Throughout the series, teachers will be encouraged to ‘get personal’ and select strategies and techniques to apply and adapt to their own settings.