10 Reasons to Develop An Inquiry Based Classroom

If you think about it; what do you do when you have a question that you have to know the answer to? You go about finding the answer by yourself and NOT because you’re being told to by someone else. You take ACTION towards finding out and, in turn, learning. This is ACTION through participation within your own learning. And this is WHY we applaud student led inquiry. We are empowering our students to take ownership of their learning by acknowledging their curiosity. 

Practising an inquiry based learning  approach in my classroom has been the most meaningful form of teaching I have ever implemented. The authenticity it brings to learning, along with the benefit of increased student agency and connections it makes to 21st century skills, are reasons in themselves for the power of the philosophy. Then, when we add in student engagement  and motivation for learning, it all adds up to a very powerful approach indeed.   Education, as you know, has many trends that come and go. Inquiry however, is nothing new. Inquiry based teaching and learning has been around for a long time. There are several different models of it out there, including the IB PYP.  So, when I see the trends of today promoting inquiry, project based learning, conceptual learning….I smile quietly and nod approvingly.

Why adopt an inquiry based teaching model?

I know there are many teachers who are brand new to teaching and the IB PYP, as well as experienced teachers who are new to the PYP.  In the beginning, regardless of how many years you have in the field, it can be daunting to open up your perfectly planned lesson to children’s inquiries. And let’s not mention how risky it feels to actually encourage the children to direct the lesson! But, if you stick with it, you’ll see that the children become better thinkers,  with better engagement, better enthusiasm for learning and better learners overall. I could talk about so many reasons why you should adopt inquiry based teaching but I’m going to give you 10 of the top reasons why I believe inquiry based learning is the teaching model to embrace. Okay, here we go…..

 10 Reasons Why To Develop an Inquiry Based Classroom

1. Students learn to think conceptually, having the ability to identify connections between situations that are not obviously related. Thus, they develop the ability to transfer that knowledge into new contexts and situations.
2. They learn to become critical thinkers through analytical thinking. When they have the  ability to examine known relationships, they can hypothesise, test their solutions and draw conclusions from their discoveries. Both conceptual thinking and critical thinking are fundamental to our understanding of the world and to creativity.
3. They learn how to apply concepts and skills, in a multi-faceted way, to new contexts. They think creatively and have greater independence with their thinking, finding alternative ways of solving problems.
4. Students learn how to ask questions at a higher level of thinking. They pose problems and thus take an inquiry deeper rather than broad and shallow.
5. The children learn to investigate and explore conjectures and explain their thinking. They can find answers to their own questions.
6. They learn to reflect, monitoring their learning, analysing their progress and can then make decisions about where to go next.
7. Children learn that learning itself can be exciting, meaningful and unpredictable!
8. They embrace failure as a normal part of the inquiry and learning processes.
9. The students learn to be autonomous with their learning; understanding the responsibility that comes with it. They are aware that they have a voice and a choice. They become independent inquirers; motivating themselves because they are in charge of their learning.
10. They learn how to learn! They recognise that you can learn in different ways at different times. And they become aware of this power!

     

    

And there you have it……

A treasure trove of potential is planted, nurtured and developed into the global thinking, risk taking, collaborating, communicating, inquiring life-long learners of tomorrow. Be sure to model, model, model and scaffold a lot as you support your kiddos through the transition, gradually increasing the student agency over learning as they become more adept with the whole process. (You can read more about developing student led inquiry in this post.)

Convinced yet? From this snippet, I hope that you have a clearer idea of how an inquiry based model of teaching and learning can benefit your learners. But if you’d like a wee bit more , you can get your FREE guide showing 10 easy ways to bring inquiry into your classroom today plus an inquiry based activity, simply by adding your email to our subscribers list. I’ll send it to you immediately.

And then, let me know me know how it how it goes for you. I want to know what questions you have, successes you experience and how I can help you further.

Enjoy!

P.S. be sure to follow along on Instagram @pypteaching or Facebook where you will find a community of inquiry teachers and a ton of amazing tips and tools. Please do say "HI!".