Guided Inquiry Design

A way to get kids (and teachers) thinking

This year I have been lucky enough to dive deep into Guided Inquiry Design, created by Carol Kuhlthau, Leslie Maniotes, and Ann Caspari.

This form of Inquiry allows the teacher to work alongside the school librarian and support students in learning about topic areas from not only lessons taught by the teacher & librarian but also from their own research.

Over the last few years I have discovered that many students lack the ability to independently formulate questions, they worry about making mistakes and the rely heavily on the teacher telling them what to do.

I have also discovered that the curriculum in Australian schools has become more complex giving teachers worry that they need to cover a lot in a limited time. When we are bogged down in curriculum dot points teaching becomes robotic and prescriptive and really does a disservice to our students who need more than just knowledge - they need skills in critical thinking, creative thinking and metacognition.

Over the last two terms I have already seen a huge turn around in the students I have been working with - through guided support these students are excited about the lessons as they know that they do not need to sit and listen to the teacher but rather consolidate what they have heard through their own research.

Guided Inquiry Design is a wonderful process and I am keen to show readers of this newsletter some lesson ideas as well as work from the students.

So readers, have you heard of this process before?

I know many of you would have heard of Inquiry Design as there is a lot of information and resource out there BUT Guided Inquiry Design is so much more.

• Teachers can still work with the curriculum but allow students to make their own decisions.

• Students will see that learning how to use the library, how to note take and think creatively will give them more information to share with others.

• Teachers can develop various skills in their students during lessons over content (think things like: mapping skills, timeline creating skills, note taking skills) as the students can access the content on their own at the correct level.

• The school librarian will play a much more prominent role in the school and through this - the community will see how vital librarians are to our students and their learning.

• Students will be excited about learning as they have much more ownership of the pathway they wish to take.

Let me know your thoughts & I hope to share more with you soon.