What are the differences between inquiry-based learning and provocations? by Tanya Allan

What are the Differences Between an Inquiry and a Provocation?

Provocation:
“Provocations provoke thoughts, discussions, interests, creativity and ideas. They can also expand on a thought, project idea and interest” (Racheous, 2014).
Provocations are open-ended items which are displayed beautifully to grab student’s interests, allow them to explore and create, and develop their creativity and critical thinking skills (Racheous, 2014; Jupp, 2016). When students use provocations, their ideas will look different than their peer’s ideas as they become personalized (Racheous, 2014). Provocations are typically set up in its own area in the classroom where students have the choice whether or not they wish to attend and engage (Jupp, 2016).

Examples of Provocations (Racheous, 2014; Jupp, 2016):
Provocations can have similar items that an Inquiry has, or they can be completely different. They can be items children are already interested in, or they can be novel items, something which the Educators wish to get the students involved in or exposed to (Racheous, 2014).

Provocation Pictures:


https://reggioprofessionallearning.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/what-is-the-difference-between-a-provocation-and-an-invitation/




https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/276127020877792628/

Inquiry:

 In Kindergarten, the Educators use their knowledge to co-construct an Inquiry with the students in the class. An Inquiry involves questioning, experimenting, answering, exploring, manipulating, problem solving and critically thinking, while at the same time, being engaged in play (The Ontario Ministry of Education – The Kindergarten Program, 2016). An Inquiry is based on student interest and engagement (The Ontario Ministry of Education – The Kindergarten Program, 2016). In a success Inquiry, not only are students engaged and learning about the subject matter and developing social and emotional skills, but they are learning important math and literacy skills throughout (The Ontario Ministry of Education – The Kindergarten Program, 2016). The role of the Educators is to listen to the student’s ideas, questions and curiosities, and then provide questions, ideas and materials to help further their thinking (The Ontario Ministry of Education – The Kindergarten Program, 2016).

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/458874649503167880/?lp=true
The Ontario Ministry of Education (The Kindergarten Program, 2016) provides a list of questions Educators can ask to further develop a child’s curiosity in an Inquiry or Provocation:

  •          What do you think?
  •          What would happen if…?
  •          I wonder why your measurement is different from Jasmine’s?
  •          How are you getting water from one container to another?
  •          How could you show your idea? How can we find out if your idea works?
  •          I wonder if we could make our own marble run?
                                                   
Incorporating Literacy in a Provocation or Inquiry
Some ideas Educators need to consider when co-creating Inquiries or when setting up Provocations include (The Ontario Ministry of Education – The Kindergarten Program, 2016):

Literacy:


  •          How students are incorporating and using letters and words into their play
  •          How students use language when they describe, order, count, predict, theorize, negotiate
  •          How students use drawing and writing to capture their thinking, their observations, experiences
  •          How students are bringing social narratives into their play, including retelling and recounts
  •          How students approach text, including text in a book, text in their environment and their own name 
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/sharon-taylor/strategies-teaching-writing-kindergarten/
Math:
  •           How students are revealing their knowledge about relationships, shapes, quantity, patterns, and data
  •           Do they understand why we collect data and what makes a pattern?
  •           How do they reveal their thinking about measurement, do they understand what  measurement means and can they use it in familiar contexts?
  •           How students use materials and manipulatives to demonstrate their mathematical thinking
http://www.tkcalifornia.org/teaching-tools/mathematics/?referrer=https://www.google.ca/

Remember, Educators need to listen, plan, document, select materials and to provide feedback to help further the student’s learning and thinking skills (The Ontario Ministry of Education – The Kindergarten Program, 2016).

 References
Jupp, Louise (2016). Reggio Inspired Learning: Building Community Through Collaboration. Retrieved from https://reggioprofessionallearning.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/what-is-the-difference-between-a-provocation-and-an-invitation/

 Ontario Ministry of Education: The Kindergarten Program (2016). Play-Based Learning in a Culture of Inquiry. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016/play-based-learning-culture-inquiry

 Racheous (2014). What is a Provocation: Reggio Inspired Learning. Retrieved from http://www.racheous.com/reggio/what-provocation-reggio/







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