Inquiry is a powerful term to develop significant learning in our student. It was one of the biggest issues that I had to discuss when I was studying in Chile and also here at Bank Street. Why is it important? Why our student should learn through this process?
It was a spring morning in Chile and I was with my group of 3 and 4 years old. The theme to develop for the next two week was “the spring”. I explained them that something was happening in the nature because the spring was coming. I asked them what happen when the spring is coming. They knew a lot of information but at some point a group of kids just stop and got very busy looking into the floor. I did not pay attention because the rest of the class still had some ideas but after a while all the kids were looking the floor. What happened: they found a line of ants going to a hole.
I was so concern trying to explain what spring meant that I never realized how many thing they would be able to learn if we had just taken a moment to look the ants. Learning by inquiry is to let our student to discover the world. Learn by inquiry is to realize we do not need sophisticate material to explore the world. Learning by inquiry is to make an experience significant and unique.
I never thought before that technologies can also help teachers to develop this process in students. Materials are a big part of learning by inquiry and tools as Google earth, for example, can help our student to discover the world. Student can make comparisons between neighborhoods; they can take a trip to Italy and discover how a street looks like in Rome. It is our job as teachers to discover different materials and different tools to develop this kind of learning. The question is what am I going to discover to engage my students in learning by inquiry?
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