Hey ya’ll,

Time for another reflection. This past week we had Jeff Hopkins come present to and chat with our class in EDCI 336. Jeff is the founder and principal of the Pacific Institute of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) whose website can be found here. Side note: that’s the first time I’ve ever created a hyperlink, hopefully it works. PSII is a high school in Victoria that, as the name suggests, uses Inquiry as the primary tool to get students engaged in subject matter. They are guided by their teachers and inquiry tools found here (Did it again!). PSII programs lessons and activities around students current inquiries. Opt-in classes allow students to choose what they feel will best serve their learning. The nature of inquiry means that students at PSII are engaging in cross-curricular content in a meaningful way they can relate to. Learning here is supposed to be fun, engaging, thought-provoking, and student-led. This to me sounds like effective learning. The type of learning I would hope to engage my future students in.

Unfortunately, there are hurdles to this type of learning in the traditional public school system. Inquiry benefits greatly if the structures to support students are already in place. This means support from the school, in the classroom (across classes), and at home. Depending on the district you’re working in, it could be that you face resistance or lack of support for this type of learning. PSII is a private school that parents opt-in to, it may be that you face challenges from home as well. The area you do have control over is your classroom and teaching. Fortunately, in BC teachers have a great deal of autonomy and inquiry-based learning can and has been done in public schools. It would be wise to harness technology in the classroom to further inquiry. In our digital age, students can now have access to a wealth of information across inumerable subject areas, perfect for inquiry. Getting regular access to devices in classrooms can be tricky, especially without support from the district, but will undoubtedly better serve students.

Perhaps the largest hurdle to inquiry-based learning in public schools is that students have typically been learning in a traditional way for years. Inquiry presents a lot of choice and this can often be overwhelming for students. Scaffolding will go a long way to help here, likely a lot more than PSII students are receiving. I think for myself, as a new teacher, I’d try to incorporate inquiry-based learning on a smaller scale at first. For example, a couple of units throughout the year. For as much students are learning to conduct inquiry as they go along, I will be learning how to facilitate it best. I see a lot of potential for inquiry-based learning in my classroom and hopefully my forays into this world will be validating.