Week 20 - R & C - Teaching and Research in the NZ Context: Teaching as Inquiry

Stay curious!

Curiosity fuel creativity: Chris Wire at TEDxDayton

Sharon Friesen - inquiry = disposition cultivated during teaching and learning, rather than a process that “gets done” by students.
Inquiry isn't just something you 'do'. A strong inquiry should result in deep understanding and also open the mind up to new questions and wonderings. This is the case for both students involved in the inquiry process, and also teachers as they undertake teacher-led inquiry. Both the students and their teachers should be carrying out inquiry alongside each other. A great example of inquiry in a society occurred during the time of the renaissance. This was a time when all 'thinking' was questioned and new ideas were rediscovered and portrayed in areas such as politics, the arts, science, and literature. New technologies were creating the change at this time in history, such as the telescope, microscope, navigational and writing tools, printing presses etc. Sharons says we're at the point again in today's society. We need to be bringing inquiry thinking back. The end product of our inquiry should be the awakening and realisation of new questions for the next inquiry. 

Teaching as Inquiry - useful readings and links
Teaching as inquiry – examples of practice
Teaching as inquiry is an important aspect of effective pedagogy. WAYNE ERB reports

Graeme Aitken - what are the 3 views of teacher effectiveness? 

• 'Style' view - how teachers teach. Teachers assessed on the quality of their actions. It is not what the teacher does that matters, but what is happening for the students? This view is complicated by the context. Flawed style!
• 'Outcome' view - student results. This is the view that if the students achieve, then the teaching actions were effective. Teachers should be rewarded by performance pay. Flawed style! The learner comes with a lot of knowledge they already know. Can't just focus on summative assessment results and link the results to superior or inferior teaching. What about internal factors of the students? eg societal-economic?
• 'Inquiry' view - incorporates 'style' and 'outcomes' in an inquiry based framework. Focuses on the relationships between actions and the outcomes with the aim on enhancing student achievement. Impact of teaching actions on student outcomes. What is happening for the students in my classroom?

1. Inquiry One - Impact of teacher actions on student outcomes.
2. Inquiry Two - Identifying possibilities for improvement.