What is the process of inquiry? by Jordanna Zeller

What is the Process of Inquiry?

Hello my curious bloggers! I am sure you are all wondering what Inquiry Based Learning really is and how we can use this technique in a beneficial way in our classroom? 
Keep that curiosity and read ahead to find out all your answers! 

Curiosity is Natural!

Before getting into what Inquiry-Based Learning really is, we need to have an understanding of where this theory is stemming from. From birth, humans are innately curious beings. They are curious about their environment and act on instinct for inquiry. Coming into this big world allows for wonder and newness and once children develop language skills they begin to ask questions about their new environment. It is because of this natural curiosity, teachers are responsible to nurture this sense of wonder through an inquiry-based learning approach.

What is Inquiry-Based Learning?

A Dynamic Process

Inquiry-Based learning is a dynamic process based on students’ natural curiosity about the world. 

As it's name suggests, “Inquiry places students’ questions and ideas, rather than solely those of the teacher, at the centre of the learning experience” (Pg.7, http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/NaturalCuriosityManual.pdf).

Students ask questions, teachers encourage students to investigate their questions while the teacher also provides a variety of tools and resources to enable these learners to investigate more and find a solution to their own question.

A Pedagogical Mindset

Inquiry-Based learning encourages educators to loosen the strings and create an approach that is less rigid and not a set of procedures. It creates a culture of collaborative learning and idea improvement. This process shifts the focus towards student learning rather than the teacher’s focus on covering the curriculum. We can think of this process that moves from closed to open, “The more teacher-directed the learning, the more closed the inquiry. The more student-directed the learning, the more open the inquiry” (Pg. 8, http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/NaturalCuriosityManual.pdf). We can even describe Inquiry-Based learning as a “leap of faith”, a leap in trusting our students to lead the way!   

Why Take the Leap?

Here are the benefits of implementing Inquiry-Based learning in the classroom:

1) Honouring students’ questions increases their motivation, leading to higher levels of engagement, improved understanding, and a love of learning.

2) Inquiry stimulates students’ curiosity, leading to progressively deeper questions and habitual critical thinking.

3) Inquiry builds lifelong learning skills that transcend content mastery.

(Pg.9, http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/NaturalCuriosityManual.pdf)

Take the Leap Teachers... 

Play-Based Learning in a Culture of Inquiry

When entering a Kindergarten classroom we see ‘play’ as the main vehicle for learning. Play enables children to work out their ideas and questions in an innovative and creative manner to help further their learning. The Kindergarten Document describes children as Innately Curious and explains, “Children explore, manipulate, build, create, wonder and ask questions naturally, moving through the world in what might be called an inquiry stance” (Pg.18, http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesCurrImpl/OntCurriculum/kindergarten_english.pdf).

Below is a useful chart from the Kindergarten Curriculum Document stating how the inquiry process is used in a kindergarten classroom.

Hopefully I was able to spark your curiosity about Inquiry Based Learning and the process it follows. Read on to find out more about this approach! 

Work Cited

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016). The kindergarten program. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesCurrImpl/OntCurriculum/kindergarten_english.pdf

Chiarotto, Lorraine (2011) Natural Curiosity: A Resource for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/NaturalCuriosityManual.pdf