Initial post

My context

Most of my teaching career has been spent in the lab guiding young scientists in high schools to "work scientifically". This is how the NSW science syllabuses describe the way scientists inquire. I've always appreciated the process science gives us to answer questions and solve problems.

In recent years I’ve stepped outside of the science staff room and eventually outside of the school to explore the wider curriculum. I've worked in roles supporting teachers to implement the curriculum through pedagogy and technology. Working with colleagues across the K-12 range has opened my eyes to the different ways we inquire and build knowledge. It’s also given me time to reflect on my own practice - how I structure learning and importantly, why.

The NSW Department of Education defines our purpose “To prepare young people for rewarding lives as engaged citizens in a complex and dynamic society”. In a highly technological, artificial intelligence-enabled world, what knowledge and skills will our students will need? I don’t think we can predict exactly what they'll be, which is why the idea of a “complex and dynamic society” resonates with me. If we prepare our students to be learners - to have the capabilities and dispositions to continue learning - they’ll be best prepared to respond to a changing world.

To build general capabilities students must be given opportunities to develop them in the context of complex, meaningful projects that require sustained engagement, collaboration, research, management of resources and development of an ambitious performance or product (Barron and Darling-Hammond, 2010).

My current understanding of inquiry learning

The need to design learning the way described by Barron and Darling-Hammond is why I’ve chosen to study teacher-librarianship. I see the teacher-librarian as an expert in digital literacy, information literacy and inquiry - a connector and collaborator within a school. They play a pivotal role in helping design learning for a changing world.

I have some experience with inquiry learning. The science curriculum presents many opportunities for confirmation, structured and guided inquiry, with some room for open inquiry. I’ve experimented with design thinking and a project-based learning approach to cross-curricular inquiry. I realise there's whole a lot left for me to learn. My current understanding of inquiry pedagogies is that they can be incredibly useful to:

• engage students as designers of their own learning
• build deep understanding of content knowledge
• promote information literacy and digital literacy
• build personal and social capability
• provide a context for substantive communication.

My questions

I've been thinking about a "toolkit" approach to teaching and learning, and how we can think of pedagogies as different combinations of strategies or activities from this toolkit. For my inquiry task I want to explore the different activities that students engage in through inquiry, and how we can design the learning environment to support this range of activities.

To explore this idea, my three questions are:

1. How do students and teachers interact in inquiry learning?
2. How can technology enhance inquiry learning?
3. How can the physical environment enhance inquiry learning?

My inquiry learning journey will be paralleled by my family's journey of learning about the miracle of life:

• Initial post - conception of an idea
• Expert searching - embryogenesis, differentiation of ideas and developing a body of understanding
• Curation collection - taking on the final form
• Infographic - visualising the noise
• Final reflection - birth of a new understanding.