Posts tagged inquiry
Shifting the Inquiry Practice of teachers from teachers 'do inquiry' to teachers' own inquiry'

The New Zealand education council feel it's important, the latest research identifies that it is important for educational change to occur and leads to improved student outcomes1 (Sinnema & Atkin, 2016), so, why is it that schools and teachers don't give it the time it deserves?

So why should schools allocate time and energy for teachers inquiry?

In many schools, the inquiry is a tick the box process - the true value of inquiry is not completely understood. In some schools - where systems and process are in place - teachers ‘do inquiry’ but don't ‘own the inquiry’. Is it time for your school to make that shift for teachers?

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The Inquiry Sandpit

When we ask teachers and leaders what stops them from trying something new or doing something different, they inevitably identify that it is the concern around failure or judgment.

Teachers are often fearful of deviating from the norms when it comes to their classroom practice. Leaders are often accused of always leading in the same way. There is an intrinsic fear of failure - and of judgment - that take a grip on teachers and leaders and prevents them from stepping outside of their comfort zone. There is sometimes a perception of loss of control when trying something new. The outcome of this is that teachers and leaders operate in a state of stagnation around their toolkit of strategies that work.

The inquiry process provides a safe space in which teachers can use new strategies and measure the impact of these new strategies -something that can be likened to a sandpit at primary school.

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