Inquiry Pedagogy
The thinking and questioning of students is the focal point. Students build connections to prior learning and experiences, and are independent learners who make their thinking visible.
Equity Frame
White supremacy culture is furthered by worship of the written word and objectivity - the belief that there is only one right way to do things (learn skills, content to digest, etc.) and that content can be objective.
Culturally responsive teaching values and connects learning to students’ communities and everyday lives, and provides authentic opportunities to process understanding.
Check out this video of sustained inquiry in action from the Teaching channel.
Methodologies
Project Based Learning
Students approach learning through exploration of real-world challenges and problems.
Establishing Real-World Connections
Part of Edutopia's five keys to successful PBL, this video focuses on starting with an engaging driving question to launch projects rooted in student inquiry.
Project Based Learning
Making Thinking Visible
Students use a series of routines to integrate the development of metacognitive thinking with content learning across subject matters.
Write on Tables - Visual Thinking Strategy
Chris Maldonado turned his classroom tables into visual thinking surfaces by sanding and painting them with whiteboard paint, allowing students to communicate through visuals.
YouTube Chanel
The Making Things Visible YouTube Chanel offers the opportunity to see videos of a wide variety of visible thinking strategies in action!
Tip: Use thinking routines to support students in intentionally practicing different kinds of thinking, and making that thinking visible. Here are two examples of assignments designed in SeeSaw using thinking routines. Example 1 and Example 2. Here is a small bank of thinking routines and how you might use them in a digital context.
Experiential Learning
Students deepen content knowledge and skills through engagement in and reflection on real world experiences.
Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
"YPAR (Youth-led Participatory Action Research) is an innovative approach to positive youth and community development based in social justice principles in which young people are trained to conduct systematic research to improve their lives, their communities, and the institutions intended to serve them." Visit YPAR Hub to learn more!
Reading Like a Historian
The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry, teaching students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Visit the Stanford History Education Group page to learn more.
Experiential Learning Cycle
The experiential learning cycle includes four stages- experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting.
Workshop Model
The classroom is set up as a lab environment where students approach learning through a constructivism - utilizing instruction and feedback for project/task design, development and execution.
Technology that Enables Inquiry
News & Media Literacy
Identify credible & trustworthy sources of information, consider legal and ethical aspects of using the creative work of others, and apply this knowledge as they create & curate digital content.
Locate Information
Plan and employ effective research strategies such as using keywords, phrases, filters, operators, & modifiers in search engines, library catalogues, and other databases to locate articles, images, charts, graphs, data, and primary sources. (Google Chrome, Britannica Online, SIRS Issue Researcher, Gale Student Resources, Newsela)
Design Process
Know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems. (Google Jamboard & Padlet for brainstorming)