By Misty Paterson
Editor’s note: As the lead detective on your unit of inquiry, you’re working with many variables. Think: duration, conceptual complexity, learner choice, and variety of materials. With this blog, Misty makes you reflect on these variables and how you can control them to be a responsive facilitator.
If inquiry, as a stance and as a pedagogy, requires flexibility and responsiveness, how might you intentionally prepare your students and yourself for the dynamic task? I find it helpful to deliberately consider our roles and responsibilities as students and teachers. One way of doing this is by naming (some of) the elements or conditions at play during an inquiry experience. Timing, available resources, content and processes are a few of many lesson elements. What others come to your mind?
When I’m responding to learners in an inquiry classroom, I like to imagine myself like a DJ. Just like a DJ intentionally adjusts musical elements to align the tempo with the dancer’s heart, inquiry educators adjust lesson elements in response to their learners in real time. Imagine lesson elements, such as learner choice, illuminating like dials on a DJ board. Join me to unpack each element, as four examples of many, and see how you might dial it up in your own context.
1. Duration: Here you are thinking about ‘how long’ to work/play. How you conceptualize time directly influences the way your learners experience inquiry. Some research on Flow indicates that we need at least 30 minutes to get into a task. At the same time, a sense of urgency can really help to build engagement. Start by asking yourself: How will you protect or dedicate time so that learners feel in-the-zone with their inquiry? Where might you need to adjust the timing?
2. Conceptual complexity: This dial represents nuanced thinking, insight and depth of understanding. One way to consider conceptual complexity is by asking: How simple or sophisticated are the examples your students draw upon to explore an idea and/or explain their thinking? For example, imagine you are studying the concept of heroes and villains. You find that your learners associate these concepts within a single context like Disney movies. You can nudge thinking by offering examples of heroes beyond that context and especially by choosing diverse and even contradicting contexts. Here you might ponder: What example of this concept or conceptual relationship might you share next with your learners to help them better understand this idea?
Download the Frayer Model template here
3. Learner choice: Offering learners options, even limited ones, can build a sense of agency. Where might you offer learners choices regarding context, processes, conceptual lenses, collaborators, context, goals, timing, etc.? Choice boards are one way to structure choice and invite learner agency. Ask yourself: What are two options you’d like to offer your learners today?
Visit Toddle Community to get lots of choice boards for your students!
4. Variety of Materials: Materials might be considered as anything a learner can access as part of coming-to-know the world. Imagine an old treasure map, a sparkling gem, gooey syrup, crisp paper – each material has a story, a way of being that can spark and invite inquiry. What is on offer in your classroom? You might imagine art materials, science and technology equipment, natural materials, access to experts, opportunities for field-work, etc. One concrete example of a variety of materials is a shelf of loose parts. Some early years teachers suggest building up to a buffet of choices by introducing one material at a time. Just like fine and performing artists will intentionally explore their medium in the process of creating, you might wonder: How will you support your learners in coming to know the materials and their affordances to expand thinking and enliven meaning-making?
Teacher-as-DJ is one metaphor to consider the dynamic elements of a responsive inquiry classroom. Knowing your learners, and yourself, is key to setting the dials for success. With practice, ongoing reflection and feedback, you may increase the level of complexity and choice as your learners (and you) become more comfortable with the messiness of authentic inquiry.
Try this:
What learning element, or condition, is important for you and your learners? How might you consider increasing and/or decreasing the volume of this condition on your own responsive teaching dial?