Pondering Inquiry From the Bed

Believe it or not, I have been lying in bed on a Sunday morning reading academic literature on inquiry. What's the matter with me?  At best, I could be reading the New York Times and doing the Sunday crossword, cross-referencing and finding the joy of wordsmithing with some jazz completing the idyllic picture.  A cup of finely brewed coffee would, of course, accompany this montage.

But, alas, guilt has set in along with a lingering sense of "I'm not good enough," that has driven me to set a resolution that I will spend at least five minutes a day immersing myself in material that will enable me to cogitate on and activate best practices in my classroom.  Granted, it's hard to get started when I know I have the latest David Sedaris queued up on my Kindle, but once I crack open a book, that five minutes often leads into, "I'm just going to finish the chapter," or "Who knew?  I think I'll read a bit more."  (This is a game I play with myself in all aspects of life that I go kicking and screaming into: "Just five minutes, Leah.  That's all you need to do.")

Yes, folks, I've been inquiring about inquiry of my own volition (and guilt), so I am practicing inquiry at its best: not because I am being forced to, but because I want to - I really do, even if it's not my very first choice on a Sunday morning!

I've been reading Kathy with a K Short, and resonating with her thoughts on how inquiry needs to be a stance, not just a teaching method that is "used" in the classroom.  Inquiry in the classroom, in its ideal sense, should look like inquiry anywhere else: people would become interested in something or another, dig a bit deeper so the small wonderings become bigger questions that titillate and confuse us just a bit more, and then we would be led to pose a problem.  One of the main tenets of inquiry, as defined by KS, is that people, by virtue of their interest, become not just problem solvers, but problem posers.

Becoming a problem poser takes time, background, engagements with experiences, literature, and people to fill in some gaps that we don't know about.  You can't pose a problem if you don't know one exists; you also can't pose a decent problem if you don't have sufficient understanding of a topic.  As teachers, we love to pose the problems for the students because then we can get our Units of Inquiry completed in the allotted period of time, we can create neat and tidy rubrics with specific requirements, and we can tick the boxes on our curricular expectations.

Inquiry is messy, though.  It should be.  It should be confusing and exhilarating, and lead to more questions, not just answers.  Inquiry is never completed, hence the "life-long learners" adage of IB and any other progressive form of education.

Inquiry at its best: Emily decides she wants to build an
airplane after studying structures at school.

Reading about this makes me less confused about "how to do it" but more confused about how to "shut it down" when it is time to start a whole new focus/unit of inquiry.  In the words of immortal Oprah: here's what I know for sure: I never want to "shut down" student inquiry when it is time to move on to some new big picture ideas.  It's my job to help students continue to make connections to what they have learned, thought-through, and acted on.  It is also my job to have them experience as many big picture ideas and conceptual understandings as possible during their time in school so they leave bursting with ideas about how they're going to change the world and what their interests and passions are.  I also hope to give my students experiences and opportunities to allow for a well-rounded look at what it means to be human in its deepest sense, so they can make it a way of life, both in and out of the classroom.

No, this is not academic literature: it's simply cogitation from a teacher lying in bed who is now ready to have a go at the crossword puzzle and indulge in another cup of coffee.

A New Understanding of Concepts Courtesy of "Making the PYP Happen"

I'm leading my first PYP workshop in Mumbai in September so I thought this weekend would be a good time to do some rereading of "Making the PYP Happen."  (I hear a lot of the PYP aficionados in India can quote it verbatim, even giving page numbers and paragraphs.)

In my intimidation and, of course, my attempts at preparation, I am rereading this important document with a serious demeanor, green highlighter and post-it notes in hand.  I'm the first to admit that I am more than a bit intimidated that I am being entrusted with imparting IB wisdom or at least facilitating IB discussion amongst colleagues, many of whom will be more experienced and adept than I am at embracing and USING this framework for constructivist learning.

I thought I really knew this document, but there are so many things that are jumping out at me on nearly every page.  The section on concepts has given me my biggest "I really needed to reread and remember that" moments thus far.  I'm certain there will be many more such jolts as I continue my re-education.

According to "Making the PYP Happen," the concepts are key: they "drive the curriculum," but sometimes they have driven me a bit crazy in the sense that I have a hard time explaining them and thus using them as effectively as I might with my students in their inquiries.  They key questions have always challenged me just a bit.  I don't always completely get them.  Do you know what I mean?  (And should a woman who has been practicing PYP for 11 odd years and who is a workshop leader be admitting this on a public blog?  Probably not.  Let's just say I'm a lifetime learner and someone who forgets easily so I have to do a lot of re-learning.)

Anyway, as I studied my PYP bible today, and came to the concepts section of the Essential Elements, I realized I had not looked at it in a long time.  Big aha: for each concept, there is not only a key question, but a definition, a rationale, and examples of related concepts.  Now, I'm not admitting that I didn't know this; I'm just saying I haven't looked at this in a while and suddenly I am feeling much more conceptually confident.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about complete with my own thought bubbles, in case you can't rush right over to your own "Making The PYP Happen" and see for yourself.

Concept: Causation

(This is one of the eight concepts that I actually find the most challenging.  I've never been that good with cause and effect.  Maybe that's why I keep making the same mistakes over and over...)

Key Question:  Why is it like it is?

(We all know this question inside out and ask it all the time, right?)

Definition: The understanding that things do not just happen, that there are causal relationships at work, and that actions have consequences.

(Now why couldn't I share that definition (and all the others) with my students?  Of course I could!  (I'm sure many of you have it prominently displayed in your classroom.  I do, but the typeface is so small, I can't even read it. Tomorrow I enlarge.) As soon as I read the definition again today, I had a whole new understanding of this concept and its key question.  It helped me enormously.)

Rationale: This concept was selected because of the importance of prompting students to ask "Why?" and helping them to recognize that actions and events have reasons and consequences.  The analysis of causal relationships is significant within and across all disciplines.

(Thank you, IB!  I had forgotten that you have given us rationales for why PYP is constructed the way it is.  These rationales are embedded throughout the entire document.  It's very reassuring!  I know what I am doing works, but understanding why and how it came about lends a fair bit of credibility to this framework we've all bought into, doesn't it?)

Examples of related concepts: Consequences, sequences, pattern, impact.

(Those sure seem like mighty transdisciplinary concepts too, don't they?  Yahoo!)

Each of the concepts are unpacked in this same manner.  Form, function...you name it.  I'm all ready to dive into a conceptual cocktail of learning with my students this year and to figure it out together.  (Admittedly, cocktail is not the best word to use in conjunction with students and IB, but I liked the alliteration.)

So...even if you're a "seasoned professional" why not do some rereading of your IB documents to refresh and invigorate your practice?  Don't do it all at once: just a few pages a day, maybe five or ten minutes, with or without a cocktail in hand (probably without, especially if you're still at work).

Your students (and admin) will thank you!