Inquiry-Based Learning Theories

Reasons To Start An Inquiry Based Learning Journey

“Learning through Inquiry is both a teaching method and a skill for students that harnesses natural curiosity and wonder” (Colyer & Watt 2014).

In 1961, John Dewey’s education reform essentially started the first known methods of inquiry based learning. Very similar to today’s 21st Century learning skills, he suggested that students needed to develop “ten rational powers” (Dewey 1961). These were: recalling and imagining, classifying and generalizing, comparing and evaluating, analyzing and synthesizing and deducing and inferring.

Fast forward to present day and Inquiry Based Learning is something that teachers strive to use in their classrooms. Recent studies have shown that high school students are becoming increasingly disengaged by traditional assignments (Fullan 2014). Daniel Pink has suggested that the only way for students to take ownership over their learning is to be intrinsically motivated, he goes on to stress the importance of two things that will lead to mastery - a purpose and autonomy (Pink 2011).

A.J. Juliani wrote an entire book dedicated to empowering students. His vehicle for empowerment is something he refers to as Genius Time or 20% projects. Modelled after 3M and Google’s concept, Juliani provides students with time to pursue their own interests. Students are encouraged to learn, create, teach and finally share their projects outside the classroom.

Allowing students time to explore a topic of interest during the school day validates their interests and helps build trusting relationships with teachers and peers. Often, if a student doesn’t excel in the traditional school subjects that have been historically valued like math and sciences, they see school as a place that doesn’t promote or allow for creativity (Robinson 2015). Building time for these type of inquiry projects not only encourages creativity but it also shows students that teachers value them as individuals within their classroom community.

Building on Juliani’s ideas, Canadian teacher Trevor Mackenzie has developed a comprehensive framework for using inquiry based learning in the classroom. His model moves students from teacher directed lessons to a student driven classroom. Inquiry Based Learning is Mackenzie’s answer to how a teacher can meet the needs of all the learners in the classroom, “ I see inquiry as the strongest method to create personalized learning pathways for all learners, a method that brings the curriculum of life into the curriculum of the school” (Mackenzie 2016).

If the ultimate goal of a teacher is to help students develop skills that will encourage success beyond the classroom, then there must be a focus on the 21st Century competencies as outlined by the Ministry of Education. These are: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, character and citizenship (Fullan & Scott 2014). It is these important skills that will foster independent thinkers, that potential employers will seek out and that schools must model and explicitly teach in classrooms. A simple way to do this, is to use student-led Inquiry Based Learning Projects.