Lines of inquiry

It was revealed earlier this year that children are spending more time playing and socialising online than watching television programmes.

Childwise, the research agency that conducted the research, claimed we have reached a ‘tipping point’ as conventional media consumption gives way to a new, more individual and user-led approach.

This is significant, and nursery and Key Stage 1 teachers should take note because the changes in attitudes and expectations children have towards media has an impact on their approach to learning too.

In other words, in an age where information is so readily available, and children are faced with multiple choices, we need to think deeply about learning methods and how we can build students' learning power.

When given the opportunity to explore – through play or through more open-ended learning experiences, young children have always had the capacity and drive to learn for themselves. When teachers nurture curiosity and allow students the opportunity to make decisions and follow through interests we bring out the best in the young learner.  

From my research and experience teaching in schools across the world, I strongly believe that education systems should be placing an emphasis on inquiry-based learning. This approach recognises the importance of student voice and choice (which children now exercise every day through their tablets, mobile phones and on-demand television) and supports them to ‘learn to learn’.

The UK has recently moved strongly in this direction. Even from Australia, where I am based, it is noticeable that a significant shift is taking place in towards inquiry-based learning. This is demonstrated by the huge numbers of schools who chose an observation-led approach to Baseline Assessment in 2015.

Inquiry is something we all do every day. It’s how we learn. People are born inquirers and inquiry from a teacher's perspective is designed to sustain, grow and nurture this natural disposition.

So what does inquiry-based classroom look like? It’s a place where teachers support their students to investigate questions, problems, passions and interests about the world both around and within them. In an inquiring classroom the student is a researcher - both in collaboration with others and as an individual. This may be in the form of a guided inquiry where a group – or the whole class – explores a question or problem that has emerged from a teacher-designed provocation or it may be an individual child investigating something they have become fascinated by.