Adaptive experts “…inquiry should not be seen as an add-on or a project, but rather as a way of professional being for the educator of the 21st century.”

- Reid, 2004, p. 8

Teaching as Inquiry

Karen Melhuish Spencer | | Te Toi Tupu & CORE Education

A journey of a thousand steps

Focus on one area…

Professional inquiry cycle

Example inquiry: Improving boys’ writing

Focus: the teacher’s decisions and actions

Test. Trial. Question. Inquire.

•  What do your students need? What matters most to them, given what you know?

•  How can you combine the learning focus, pedagogy and technology in ONE small trial? Frame this as a focused question.

•  What will you need to know before you trial?

•  What will you look for?

•  What happened? What questions do you now have?

•  Next steps?

“To strengthen performance management systems, data about student achievement needs to be the basis for the professional learning goals teachers set, and the reference point against which teachers and leaders measure the improvements that have been made with respect to professional growth and impacts for learners.”

Good habits for teachers

•  Clear, precise questions focused on students’ needs, based on information

•  Close observation of students feeding in all the time

•  Quick response to learners’ needs as you discover what’s required

•  On-going and continuous

•  Critical discussion about what strategies are working – and which need to change

Discuss: Our learners – what do we know?

•  Where are they from?

•  What are they strong in?

•  What can we build on?

•  What do they need help with?

•  Where are there potential barriers to progress in different contexts?

What? | What’s going on for learners? •  Student data (qual/quant)

•  Observation

•  Video/photo/record ‘on the fly’

•  Discussion with the students

•  Discussions with whānau/community

Criterion 6: Fully registered teachers conceptualise, plan, and implement an

appropriate learning programme.

driven by students’ needs

Criterion 7: Fully registered teachers promote a collaborative, inclusive, and

supportive learning environment.

Image: DavidDMuir!

“My students mainly draft writing and then we type it up neatly, or make posters for the wall. To be honest, the work is the same as it has always been -

I’m not sure what the possibilities are.”

Image: Christy Tvarok Green!

“We have tablets in the classroom and we use them mainly for research and editing. Some students want to be more creative in the way they work. I feel we could be using technologies to support the learning process more strategically.”

Image: Mark Pinder for the Guardian!

“ I have begun to use technologies to find new pathways that suit students’ passions and needs. This has meant designing tasks differently to how I have in the past.”

Image: chesbayprogram!!

“We integrate technologies so that students’ inquiries are personalised and richly creative - and we make the most of community and global connections. Learning looks pretty different to a few years ago.”

What deserves to be on the ship?

What? | Frame a tight question based on data

1.  How can I teach writing better using digital technologies?

2.  What’s happening in other schools with e-learning?

3.  How can I extend those identified students who need support at the drafting stage in Term 2?

Your goal | Example "In my year five class, it is difficult to engage every child in

the group to discuss their mathematical strategies. Some students are reluctant to contribute to

discussions, due to more dominant personalities monopolising discussions. Other students often avoid

paying attention to tasks, and the subject matter can tend to take different directions. Opportunities to share

mathematical ideas are limited due to the barriers stated above.

Therefore, the major question arising from these experiences is: 'How can I provide

equal opportunities to engage students in sharing their mathematical strategies in

group situations?'"

Define the ship…���frame your question/goal and next steps

Show and Share

Where will you go next and why?

What? | How can I learn more���what to do? •  Readings

•  PD

•  Connect to other schools/teachers

•  Critical discussion with colleagues

•  Lesson observation

•  Shared teaching

What? | What can I do differently?

•  Review why I do what I do now

•  Discuss with other colleagues

•  Open to learning conversations

•  Observe other teachers

•  Visit other schools

•  Research; connect

Resources to support your journeys...

http://www.elearning.tki.org.nz/

www.vln.school.nz

Powerful. Pondering. Puzzling.

What do we need now?