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Three great enquiry-based approaches that inspire child-led learning
Three great enquiry-based approaches that inspire child-led learning
Date of posting
Date of posting
12/03/19
12/03/19
Teachers, learning officers and cultural practitioners got together on a spring day in Wrexham to find out about how My Primary School is at the Museum (MPSM) could work in North Wales. Hosted by EDAU, the day featured inspiring case studies, conversations about potential partnerships and creative teaching ideas. This post focuses on three exciting enquiry-based learning approaches shared on the day:
1. I See, I Notice, I Wonder
2. Dare to Enquire
3. Mantle of the Expert
Usefully these approaches can be adapted to any curriculum area, theme or museum collection. They promote children’s curiosity in the stimulating and unique environment of museums, but work equally well in the classroom. They give children the freedom to explore and discover what interests them in museum’s spaces; to make connections, ask questions, find things out and make meaning.
4. I see, I think, I wonder
This approach, uses a routine of asking three questions to encourage the children’s skills of observation and interpretation. Imagine giving each child this framework to stimulate their inquisitiveness when they spot something that intrigues them in the museum.
What do you see?
What do you think is going on?
What does it make you wonder?
Bradford Museums and Galleries' Art & Science of Noticing workshop is underpinned by a similar child-centred approach to structuring thinking. The facilitated session which is led by children’s curiosity focuses on how children respond and react to the collections and buildings. Watch this short video brilliantly bring to life the approach and its impact.
5. Dare to Enquire Project–Tyne and Wear Museums
“Your first job is to find things in the gallery that you really like!” Inspired by this invitation, reception children busily explore the Shipley Art Gallery, awarding rosettes to their favourite painting, vase or sculpture. “This is your classroom now!”
Dare to Enquire uses what capture’s children’s own interests as the starting point for further learning and as a way of promoting a sense of ownership and belonging in the museum. Teachers note commonality of children’s interests to plan next steps. In the Dare to Enquire project, Tyne and Wear Museums developed the 'I see, I notice, I wonder' concept to encourage children from reception to Year 6 to imaginatively unlock the worlds that exist around an object and not just generate questions about the object itself. The process is underpinned by training delivered by Tyne and Wear Museums for teachers and support staff to enable them to continue to use the museums and galleries as an extension to their classroom.
Watch this Dare to Enquire film to understand how this approach can embed museum visits in meaningful ways in school’s learning journeys.
A senior teacher’s feedback on the Dare to Enquire project echoes MPSTM pilot teacher’s experiences about the benefits of children’s interests leading the planning.
“I think as a result of being involved in the Dare to Enquire project, it’s allowed staff to realise that not having the ideas and the clear direction where the learning might go in the head doesn’t actually have a negative impact on learning. It will actually still move forward in the ways we want if you actually do give the children greater ownership.”
6. Mantle of the Expert
Mantle of the Expert uses fictional scenarios to stimulate purposeful and imaginative learning. The fictional context explained at www.mantleoftheexpert.com sees a class of students cast as a team of archaeologists excavating an Egyptian tomb for the Cairo Museum. To complete the commission the students need to research ancient Egyptian history – finding out about tombs, artefacts, and rituals – and, in the process, study wide areas of the curriculum including, history, geography, art, design and RE, as well as developing skills in reading, writing, problem solving, and inquiry.
The opportunities to carry out Mantle of the Expert style investigations in a museum seem endless! The context could easily be adapted to any museum allowing children to step into a world and apply knowledge and skills to solve problems collaboratively.
These three approaches create opportunities for children to feel ownership and make their own meaning of museum’s collections. But the benefits, like MPSTM, extend to the wider community. When children have made meaningful connections with things in the museum, both Bradford and Tyne and Wear museums noticed them bringing back family and friends to share their discoveries.
Enquiry led note taking inspiration from the EDAU Cultural Classroom Event
Enquiry led note taking inspiration from the EDAU Cultural Classroom Event
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In collaboration with:
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