Entry #3
Wolk & Fitchman
One thing that really struck me in Steven Wolk’s article was how much I would have loved to be in an inquiry-based classroom. I think if you asked my friends and family to find a common trait that described me, many would say curious. I am curious about almost everything. Sometimes I even get distracted while watching a movie because I want to know where it was filmed, how the costumes were made, who the director was, how they trained the horse to do that stunt, etc. I love asking questions!
When I got to my second year of university we were given a lot of freedom to research and write about what interested us. This was a dream come true. I remember a project we were given in our sustainable development course: research and write about a keystone species. They gave us a few example of land species we could use. However, I have always been obsessed with the ocean and emailed the professor asking if I could do something marine orientated. He told me to get in contact with another individual in the marine biology department, who then recommended some resources. To me the hunt was half of the fun. Moreover I was complete and totally engaged.
Having a class like ‘Exploratory’ would have hooked me, especially in subjects I didn’t particularly enjoy. As Wolk writes: ‘Students almost never talk about the content in any articulate or enlightened or passionate way. When students can talk about a topic with at least a modicum of coherence, it happens to be a subject they love, which makes perfect sense’ (3). So why can’t we make each subject interesting and purposeful for students?
Because I didn’t grow up with inquiry-based learning, its so important for me to learn about it. In Fitchman’s article she talks about teacher inquiry – a way in which teachers can improve their own practice through intentional and visible (i.e. journaling or talking) self-reflection. This inquiry is ‘systematic, intentional study of one’s own professional practice’ (5), which betters and reforms both the teacher and student experience.
