Setting up your learning environment

The inquiry learning environment

A learning environment includes the learning that takes place as well as the setting: the physical and/or digital ecosystem that includes the activity and outcomes of the learning (OECD, 2013). The approach I've taken to setting up the inquiry learning is heavily influenced by the pedagogical core of a learning environment (OECD, see image below). In this model, inquiry pedagogy is viewed as an organisational tool; a way of coordinating the learning environment.

To promote horizontal connectedness across the curriculum, I've encouraged integrating learning areas and explicit development of general capabilities (content).

Below describes how designing an inquiry learning environment should also take into consideration:

how learners are grouped (learners)
how educators are grouped (educators)
how technology and space are used (resources).

Pedagogical core of a learning environment | OECD, 2013

Learners

Learning modes

The NSW Department of Education presents the learning modes to describe different ways in which learning occurs. Each mode requires students and teachers to be interacting differently with space and each other.

These terms allow us to consider learning space design and technology requirements that will best support the desired learning.

The learning modes are:

Collaboration - a place to learn with others.
Demonstration - a place to present learning.
Discussion - a place to talk about and share ideas.
Experiential - a place to make, explore and investigate.
Explicit - a place to learn from an expert.
Feedback and reflection - a place to learn about my learning.
Guided - a place to learn with an expert.
Independent - a place to learn by myself.

Ultimately, we want students to make decisions about which learning mode best supports their learning. This "spatial competency" must be developed over time through modelling and guiding.

Inquiry sessions

The three diamonds inquiry model for the Australian Curriculum is presented as a sustained inquiry - over the course of many weeks. Your context, including the way your school structures the timetable, will impact how the inquiry is undertaken.

In every situation the inquiry process can be considered as a combination of activities - each requiring different skills, knowledge and organisational strategies. Therefore, when planning for student inquiry, you’ll need to consider how to coordinate each chunk of time.

Khulthau (2012) refers to these chunks of time as inquiry sessions, intentionally avoiding the term “lesson” - often associated with an instructivist approach. An inquiry session is suggested to contain three parts:

Starter - get the students thinking about what they'll work on during the session. This may be introducing new skills as a mini lecture. It should be short, attention getting, and informative.
Worktime - the largest chunk of time in the session. Allow students to engage with the ideas and with each other.
Reflection - reflection is essential for learning to take place. Close the session by considering what was learned, what was confusing and where to next.

The structure below emulates Khulthau’s inquiry sessions but is presented using student-centred and student-friendly language (think, do, reflect). When planning an inquiry session we should consider from the student’s perspective:

What am I doing throughout this session? When do I need to be shown what to do and when do I need to practice or apply the learning?
Who am I doing it with? Is this something we should do together, or individually?
How am I doing it? What learning modes will best help me?

Your decisions will be informed by the learning intentions for each session, and your pedagogical knowledge of how students can best learn these skills, knowledge and understandings.

Use the template provided in this toolkit to help plan inquiry units and individual sessions.

Inquiry session structure | image by me

Grouping

Many activities will benefit from students working in either small or large groups to support their learning. One of the roles of a teacher in inquiry learning is to use formative assessment strategies to determine:

where a learner is in relation to the learning intentions (the gap)
what interventions and feedback will support the learner in closing the gap.

As students move through their inquiry at different speeds, and take different paths, a teacher can leverage these differences to “activate students as instructional resources for one another” (Black and Wiliam, 2009 in AITSL Spotlight) through student grouping.

Strategies include grouping students:

with a similar challenge for small group instruction
who are searching for the same information to discover together
with different expertise to learn from each other (reciprocal teaching)
to discuss or debate alternative perspectives to deepen their understanding.

Find more practical strategies to support collaborative learning.

Educators

Learning teams

Inquiry is rarely a solo process. You should consider the team of people around the students to support their inquiry. Khulthau (2012) refers to the “core” and “extended” learning teams made up of teachers and other educational experts available. I’ve elaborated on this model to include:

Students and their peers - collaborative inquiry is often used to not only develop social capability but to produce a better solution. You can also structure student groups to facilitate learning from other inquiry groups.
Teachers - a "core" team of three teachers, including the teacher-librarian, should guide students through the whole inquiry. This not only provides students with a range of expertise but provides valuable professional learning (Kennedy; Guskey, 2009; Hattie, 2018; Timperley, et al. 2007; Cole, 2012)
Supporting educators - these may be teachers, industry or university partners, environmental education centre teachers, parents with expertise or other significant adults. These cameo appearances should be planned to support students in a timely manner, offering instruction and support for “just in time” learning.

Inquiry learning team | image by me

Teams of teachers working together is increasingly viewed as a solution to educational problems regarding professional development, school improvement and student outcomes (Bradbeer, 2016).

Learning teams provides benefits such as:

Integrating learning areas - when teachers plan and teach together they can find authentic links between learning areas.
Addressing diverse types of learning - inquiry learning promotes many types of learning. A larger and more diverse learning team offers students a wider range of expertise. For example, a teacher-librarian as an information literacy expert is invaluable to inquiry learning
Teacher professional learning - teachers working together to address learning needs and evaluating interventions can be a powerful form of in-situ professional learning committees (Campbell et al., 2013).

Roles within learning teams

Friend, Reising and Cook (1993) suggest a number of possible arrangements within a learning environment for teachers working together to best address the needs of all students:

One teach/one observe - one teacher takes the lead while the other teacher uses formative assessment strategies to gather data to inform decisions.
Station teaching - the content to be delivered is divided, each teacher taking a responsibility, while students circulate from one station to the other.
Parallel teaching - both teachers plan the instruction but divide the class into two halves. The student groups can be determined based on readiness or interest.
Alternative teaching - the classroom is organised into one larger group working with one teacher while the other is teaching a smaller group.
Team teaching - teachers work together and take turns leading a discussion, presentation or demonstration.
One teach/ one assist - one teacher takes the lead while the other teacher moves around the room assisting.

Technology

In the Australian Curriculum, students develop ICT capability as they effectively and appropriately access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas.

Digital technology is not only transforming what young people need to learn - it is also expanding how they can learn (Hannon, et al., 2011). Inquiry learning can be enhanced by using ICT to:

Investigate - students use ICT to define and plan information searches; locate, access, organise and evaluate information.
Create - generate ideas, plans and processes; generate digital solutions or products.
Communicate - collaboratively construct knowledge and digital solutions; share information using a range of techniques and modes.

Use the NSW Department of Education's learning tools selector to find software to enhance each of these practices.

Space

The learning modes described above can be facilitated through careful design of the learning space. Flexible settings allow students to arrange their space to support their learning. This level of self-awareness and the disposition to use it does not come naturally. Students will need explicit teaching, modelling and guidance to develop the practices required to effectively use space to support their learning.

You can start by discussing with students how to initially set up the learning space. In my own personal inquiry, I investigated the use of space for inquiry learning. See the summary of my findings in this infographic or read my curated collection of resources on learning space design for active learning.

Planning your inquiry

Get started by:

finding practical strategies aligned to the three diamonds inquiry model. Each strategy provides suggestions for setting up the learning environment.
using the planning frameworks and evaluation rubrics to collaboratively plan an inquiry unit.

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