by Verity Long
Young people in today’s International schools, growing up to be global leaders of the future, will require a remarkable insight into people and cultures across the world, and an unprecedented concern for the well-being of the world community. Many schools are adopting approaches that focus on international-mindedness, sustainability and inquiry, as these are regularly cited as the most important skills for the future (Mckenzie; Parsons et al). However, increasingly, teachers are finding that students within their classes represent a diverse range of abilities, backgrounds and experiences (Parsons et al, Tomlinson et al). This has inevitably altered how we approach the planning and delivery of our lessons, and what we perceive as the “key ingredients” to prepare young people for the rapidly changing world beyond the realms of their classrooms.
Inquiry-based approaches and their application in an Arts-based context have been an area that I have been interested in since completing my MA in Education in 2017. Working in Higher Education at this time, I was committed to supporting trainee teachers to be best equipped to enter the teaching profession and subsequently engaged in a 3-year study that explored inquiry-based approaches in a UK secondary school teaching context. Wendy Chambers and Hetty Roessingh propose that teachers need to use inquiry-based teaching approaches that “value reflection, negotiation of meaning and problem-based learning” (60). However, Martin Stephen and Ian Warwick suggest that some young people are underachieving, as not all teachers are confident to use problem-based learning (PBL) strategies in the classroom to promote thinking skills at the secondary school level (19).
Back in 2017, my study attempted, in William Yeats’ phrase, to “cast a cold eye” (17) across some of the wishful thinking and comfortable assumptions, perhaps even gullible acceptances, casual myths and misleading stereotyping that have led educators away from exploring the process of teaching and learning in all of its real world complexity. The research for my study showed that whilst trainee teachers seemed confident with using differentiation strategies to develop students’ practical understanding, many found it challenging to know how to improve students’ higher-order thinking skills so that they could apply this learning to new situations. The results highlighted that some of the trainee teachers were not confident in setting inquiry-based tasks, particularly when working with high achievers, which often resulted in them opting to use more command-style teaching strategies. The attitudes of teachers towards the more able students appeared to be related to their belief in their own ability to teach these students successfully (McCoach and Siegle). Research on self-efficacy theory has shown that it is not simply a matter of how capable one is, but of how capable one believes oneself to be for effective practice to occur (McAlpine). Diane McAlpine proposes that teacher belief and expectation can be a barrier to the identification, planning and delivery of programmes. Research suggests that teachers‘ lack of knowledge and understanding, due to insufficient training, is a main cause of negative beliefs and attitudes (Clark; McAlpine). These views raise questions about what techniques teachers should be using to educate young people and what support is currently available to assist teachers in fulfilling Ofsted’s requirement of providing work which is both stimulating and challenging.
Having now returned to secondary education, my interest in inquiry-led approaches and commitment to providing meaningful professional development in this area, has continued to evolve. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the teaching of thinking and problem-solving skills, with schools being encouraged to target the development of these skills across the curriculum. Inquiry and discovery are significant elements of learning, as students need to enjoy the stimulation of wrestling with unforeseen obstacles and problems (Moon and Brighton). Teachers need to stimulate students’ enjoyment of ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty, speculating on what is not there and on what remains to be discovered. As Moon and Brighton propose, students need to know, and teachers understand, that education is not only about finding the answers; just as exciting is finding the questions.
We recognise that inquiry-based approaches may enhance learning, but what support is available for teachers?
There is now a wealth of research out there about the relationship between curiosity and inquiry-led approaches, and the impact that this has on attendance, motivation and engagement. I have identified below my top three recommended researchers and texts:
Trevor McKenzie. I came across Trevor’s work about a year ago when I was creating CPD for our Early Career Teachers (ECT) and wow, has his work inspired me! Trevor has published a series of books which provide practical strategies for fostering independence, curiosity and a real love of learning in the classroom. His recent edition focuses on question routines and I am grateful for his practical suggestions. I recently included these in my ECT CPD session and began using the Question Pencil in my own classroom. These are the resources that I used for the session. If you are interested in exploring strategies to foster curiosity, I highly recommend following Trevor on LinkedIn and Instagram; I am sure you will be inspired!
Jessica Vance. Recently, I have been considering how I can use my classroom space to foster greater autonomy and critical thinking. This led me to discover the work of Jessica Vance, who provides practical examples of how learning walls can showcase the messiness of learning, cultivating curiosity and empowering learners to explore, wonder and grow. I recently attended an online webinar about her new text: “Evidence of Inquiry: Exploring, Questioning and Documenting with Learning Walls (Leading with Inquiry). I now have a book-full of notes to discuss with my team in September and the trickiest part will be deciding what to start with!
Learning Pioneers. My third recommendation is an online professional learning community that authentically promotes student agency and champions experts who actively promote curiosity in their classrooms. This has been a great go-to resource when I have been looking for real-classroom examples and online CPD. They often share examples of inquiry-led approaches from Early Years to Secondary, so it is great if you are considering how you can implement these approaches in a school-wide initiative.
So what do teachers need to be able to successfully embed these approaches?
Through my own teaching experience, I realise that teaching is challenging, as well as rewarding and exciting. The challenge of wrestling with obstacles and problems can be stimulating, but it can also be exhausting and confusing, both for young people and their teachers. The reality is that everyday conditions of the classroom, where individual factors cannot be isolated and studied in tranquillity, where teachers are required in a moment to draw on their intuitions and experience to deal with the complex predicament they are facing and where jarring reality is guaranteed to interfere with teachers’ best laid plans, are hard and unforgiving. Thus, it is my view that teachers need and deserve better support and training than they currently receive, and online communities such as Learning Pioneers are a fantastic example of what excellent ongoing teacher support can look like.
In my current teaching context, creative and inquiry-based approaches sit front and centre of how we intend to plan and implement our new curriculum. However, in order for our policies to be lived and not just laminated, every member of our teaching community needs to model the principles of inquiry-based teaching and learning in everything that we do. To achieve this, we will aim to:
Model Creativity and Risk-Taking
Young people need to see leaders and teachers experimenting with new ideas in order for this to be ‘the norm’ and acceptable.
Use Failure as an Opportunity
Young people often worry about trying something new for fear of failure. Teachers need to value when things go wrong, and this also needs to be modelled by leadership.
Promote Individual and Collaborative Creative Thinking and Design
Time needs to be planned and protected for collaboration with colleagues, as well as individual reflection time.
These principles are embedded into our School Development Plan for next year as we begin implementing our next stage of inquiry-led approaches, but of course, as a new school, the journey is only just beginning. I would love to hear your ideas of what has worked for your school and your young people, as we continue on our very own road of inquiry!
References:
Chambers, Wendy and Roessingh Hetty. “Project-based Learning and Pedagogy in Teacher Preparation: Staking Out the Theoretical Mid-Ground”. International
Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, vol,23, no.3, 2011.
Clark, Barbara.Growing up gifted. Merrill Prentice Hall Publishers, 2010.
Handy, Charles. The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future. Random House
Business, 1994.
McAlpine, Diane. “What Do We Mean by Gifted and Talented? Concepts and Definitions”.Gifted and Talented: New Zealand Perspectives, 2004, pp.33-65.
McCoach, D. B., & Siegle, D. “What predicts teachers’ attitudes toward the gifted?”
The Gifted Child Quarterly, vol.51, no.3, 2007, pp.246-255.
Moon, Tanya and Catherine Brighton. “Primary Teachers‘ Conceptions of
Giftedness”.Journal for the Education of the Gifted, vol.31, no.4, 2008.
Parsons, S. A., Vaughn, M., Scales, R. Q., Gallagher, M. A., Parsons, A. W., Davis, S. G., Pierczynski, M., & Allen, M. (2018). Teachers’ instructional adaptations: A research synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 88(2), 205-242.
Tomlinson, C. A., Brighton, C., Hertberg, H., Callahan, C. M., Moon, T. R., Brimijoin, K., & Reynolds, T. (2003). Differentiating instruction in response to student readiness, interest, and learning profile in academically diverse classrooms: A review of literature. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 27(2/3), 119-145.
Thomson, Moira.Supporting Gifted and Talented Pupils in the Secondary School.
SAGE Publications, 2013.
Warwick Ian and Martin Stephen.Educating the More Able Student: What Works
Why.SAGE Publications Ltd, 2015.
Yeats, William. “Under Ben Bulben”.The Poems of W.B. Yeats. Macmillan
Publishing Company, 1993.
Verity Long, Head of Secondary – Oakwood British School, Spain
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