How can I leverage inquiry-based learning to improve access, opportunity and inclusion for student populations who have historically been marginalized and underserved?
What does inquiry look like?
How do I support inquiry?
What makes a good inquiry question that advances equity?
What are the hallmarks of inquiry-based learning?
How can inquiry-based instruction that centers on our local community advance equity?
How can you create a culture of inquiry at your school/district/system?
Participants will be able to:
Recognize, accept, and expect that inquiry takes place in all disciplines.
Recognize that questions are an integral part of an open-ended inquiry process.
Identify and describe the characteristics of questions that guide inquiry in the classroom.
Support teachers in learning how to recognize how their own values and beliefs impact inquiry-based instruction that supports equity.
Foster teachers’ and students’ abilities to explain characteristics of questions best suited for inquiry-based instruction.
Facilitate teachers’ transition from direct instruction towards a shared responsibility for learning (with students).
Provide meaningful feedback to teachers on the characteristics of effective questions to drive student inquiry in all disciplines.
Lead professional learning on how classroom-based inquiry can connect with equity-centered school/district priorities.
Recognize that inquiry is a way to provide equitable instruction.
Identify and describe the characteristics that guide inquiry in the classroom.
Recognize that questions are an integral part of an open-ended inquiry process.
Recognize that inquiry is a way to provide equitable instruction
Lead professional learning on how classroom-based inquiry can connect with equity-centered school/district priorities.
What evidence exists / can be collected to support inquiry in different disciplines?
What untapped sources of evidence can be curated to support student inquiry?
How can teachers empower their students to collect their own evidence from multiple sources?
Participants will know:
that data and evidence is available for learning in all disciplines.
that responding to questions requires/depends on collecting data (quantitative) and/or evidence (qualitative).
that data and evidence can be examined across disciplines and must be used to determine alignment with the question(s) under consideration
the importance of collecting and linking multiple types of data from multiple sources to provide equitable instruction.
that students can collect multiple kinds of evidence in order to respond to questions (visual, quantitative, varied levels of text).
that students are engaged and empowered when they collect data and determine its alignment with the question(s) under consideration.
that collecting multiple types of data from multiple perspectives and sources encourages students to think critically about the question or discipline.
that having students collect data and evidence helps build their dispositions towards inquiry.
Participants will be able to:
Lead professional conversations with teachers about their students collecting evidence and data to answer questions in all disciplines.
Explain characteristics of data and evidence sources that will answer inquiry questions.
Link the collection of data and evidence with teacher dispositions for transitioning to a shared responsibility for learning (with students)
Provide meaningful feedback to teachers on the type of evidence collected and the process used to collect evidence in all disciplines.
How can educators develop their students' capacity to organize and analyze different types of evidence effectively?
How can educators provide meaningful feedback for student analysis of evidence in different subject areas?
How can students employ a variety of methods to make meaning with evidence?
Participants will know:
That beginning to formulate responses to the question(s) involves organizing data and evidence.
That formulating a response to question(s) involves analyzing and interpreting evidence.
That teachers must create conditions that promote authentic conversations and provide the opportunity for authentic conversations with students to make meaning of data and evidence
Teachers need to learn skills related to using data to drive learning.
The value of teachers providing multiple methods for students to begin to organize data and evidence as a way to support all learners.
That teachers must provide multiple methods for students to analyze and interpret evidence as a way to support all learners.
Participants will be able to:
Identify when additional data needs to be collected and analyzed to answer the question.
Recognize the role bias, validity, and reliability plays in determining the usefulness of data.
Lead professional conversations with teachers about leading students to analyze data in support of answering questions in all disciplines.
Explain characteristics of effective analysis of data and meaning making processes.
Advance teacher dispositions for shared responsibility for learning with students through the practices of analysis of data and meaning making.
Provide meaningful feedback to teachers about leading students to analyze data in support of answering questions in all disciplines
Foster shifts in teacher perceptions and practices needed when there may be more than one answer, or no common answer to a question/questions.
How can educators leverage inquiry to advance the shift to student-centered instruction?
What strategies can educators employ to engage the broader community in sharing the outcomes of student inquiry?
How can educators lead professional conversations on authentic and meaningful assessment using inquiry?
Participants will be able to:
Recognize how collected data and analysis correlates to responses of the initial questions.
Recognize that demonstration of learning should be displayed both in a formative and summative way that is appropriate to the question and supporting activities.
Recognize that inquiry is a cyclical process and that conclusions gained in one inquiry spark new questions and methods of collecting evidence that can lead to another inquiry.
Identify and explain when inquiry questions have been answered and how responses lead to more questions.
Identify and explore how teacher dispositions impact capabilities to know when inquiry questions have been answered and how they inform new questions.
Lead professional conversations with teachers about the process of students evaluating the data collected to answer the questions and develop additional questions in all disciplines.
Provide meaningful feedback to teachers about student processes for evaluating data collected to answer the questions and develop additional questions in all disciplines.
Lead professional conversations on authentic and meaningful assessment in the inquiry process.
Expect that all students will publicly share the results of their investigations to ensure that all students get to do the significant and engaging interpretative activities.
Lead professional conversations around clear and cohesive processes for assessment and grading in inquiry based instruction in order to share with teachers, parents, and other members of the school community.
Identify and explore how teacher dispositions impact capabilities to shift from teacher-centered to student-centered practices and the continuation of the cyclical process of inquiry.
Header Image: Teachers Teaching. Source: Phil Roeder, Flickr, 2020.