Here is a useful set of questions to reflect on. Classroom strategies such as allowing wait time …

How do we use questions in the classroom to support children as they look for connections and refine their understandings?

What is a good question? How can student questions be used to drive inquiry?

These questions and more were discussed at the most recent ES parent coffee morning! At the heart of our discussion was the notion of inquiry as an approach to teaching and learning. As we look to move from teaching through thematic ‘topics’ to viewing curriculum as inquiry, our guiding questions move from, “what should we do?” to “how best can we support the development of conceptual understandings?” Our focus shifts from being activity dominated with the teacher’s knowledge being the limit to what can be learned, to classrooms where teachers’ questions bring new perspectives that the children have not considered as they explore significant concepts. Students’ questions stem from their curiosity to find out out more and are guided by teachers in order to deepen targeted understandings.

 “Three consequences of globalization will challenge schools in the 21^st Century… The first is diversity. The chances of working with, living with or networking with someone of a different culture are now very high… The second challenge is complexity. More information, new forms of information, different cultural perspectives and a greater sense of individual empowerment are all conspiring to make issues more complicated. The third challenge is inequality. Globalization produces winners and losers and the winners can no longer ignore the plight of the losers if the world is to live in peace.”

~ George Walker. Former International Baccalaureate Director General.

 “International education is:

• not teaching groups of students of different nationalities 
• not studying the history, geography and customs of other countries
• not arranging for foreign exchanges
• not having a strong foreign languages department

… though each of these might help.”

“In international education we are guided by three levels of relationships:

• How human beings relate to each other
• How they relate to a culture and
• How they relate to their shared humanity

It is making sense of these relationships, the personal, the cultural and the universal, that is the challenge to international education.”

~ George Walker, Former International Baccalaureate Director General.

An international education provides an opportunity to be multi-lingual.

“Apart from the obvious communication value, language learning is a key with which the psyche of other cultures can be unlocked, allowing much more to be learned from exchanges with people from other cultures and countries.”

~ Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres. Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education; and Director of the Latin American Centre at UCLA.    

 “According to a body of sociological literature devoted to children who spend a portion of their developmental years outside their “passport country”, the classic profile of a “Third Culture Kid” is someone with a global perspective who is socially adaptable and intellectually flexible. He or she is quick to think outside the box and can appreciate and reconcile different points of view. Beyond whatever diversity in background or appearance a ‘TCK’ may bring to the party, there is a diversity of thought as well.

“But ‘TCKs’ can also feel rootless and detached. The great challenge for maturing Third Culture Kids is to forge a sense of personal and cultural identity from the various environments to which they been exposed.”

~ Ruth E Van Reken. The International Educator, April 2009

“The greatest enemy of understanding is COVERAGE.

If we try to cover everything, we will understand nothing. But if we look at topics and concepts regularly and deeply from many perspectives and angles we can gradually become experts, we can gradually learn to understand.”

~ Grant Wiggins: Understanding By Design.

Investigating identity and difference through an integrated curriculum.

A guiding principle: teaching and learning in a context of mutual respect and an atmosphere of belonging.

~ Kath Murdoch and Julie Hamston. Knowing Me, Knowing You.

Why is it important to foster international-mindedness in education?

“Children educated for tomorrow’s world must be equipped with the habits of mind that allow them to act in meaningful ways, whether globally or locally. It is important to understand the ‘other’s point of view’ as it is to understand one’s own. When we learn to view our world not as ‘us and them’ but as ‘us and us’ we will come closer to finding fair and just solutions to the issues facing humanity. An education that promotes international-mindedness will provide young people with the skills, knowledge and values to confront these challenges and make meaningful contributions to society.”

~ Dr. Irene Davy. Director, Sunnybrook School, Toronto.

  “An international curriculum guides our students in developing the knowledge, values and skills necessary to be citizens of the world. Developing interpersonal and communication skills as well as thinking and research skills allows our students to be open-minded and inquiring individuals. Our classrooms must offer rich and varied opportunities to develop these skills.

Young people may not be able to care about global issues without knowledge of the world beyond their local communities. Knowledge will lead to caring, and caring will lead to action. Through action, our students can contribute to the building of a better world, whether it be through a fund raising activity for distant tsunami victims or a clean up in our own backyard. Thoughtful curriculum design will help our students develop an international knowledge base so they can develop the capacity for the action…”

~ Dr. Irene Davy. Director, Sunnybrook School, Toronto.

 “The Report to UNESCO of the International Commission of Education for the Twenty-First Century (Delors 1998) identified four pillars of education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be. The pillar which underpins international education more than any other is “learning to live together” and it requires, on a global scale, a high degree of intercultural understanding and empathy.”

“The essential elements of an international education are:

• Understanding cultural identities across national frontiers,
• Knowledge about global issues and the interdependence of nations,
• Critical thinking skills applied to trans-national issues and world cultures, and
• An appreciation of the human condition around the world.

There are degrees of intercultural understanding that move from the cognitive to the affective domains: from knowledge about other cultures, including language, to skills in speaking other languages and critically analyzing the reason behind certain behaviours, to empathy for those of another culture (which does not necessarily mean that we agree with all that the culture represents).”

~ Ian Hill. International Baccalaureate Deputy Director General. 2006

Inquiry – what does it mean to you?

Some thoughts:

-          Inquiry is a vehicle within which to implement important understandings about how we best learn in schools – ideas like: constructivism; play-based learning; reflection and developing metacognitive skills; collaboration and communities of learners, multiple intelligences and catering for individual learning needs and learning styles, differentiated instruction; concept-based teaching and learning, and Understanding by Design.

-          Inquiry is an approach, or even a philosophy of learning and teaching, that promotes collaboration, in its different permutations, between students, teachers and parents (e.g. student-student shared investigation; teacher-teacher planning; teacher-student dialogue and shared investigation; parent-teacher-student dialogue on student growth within the context of a meaningful and engaging learning environment…).

-          Inquiry allows us to tap into the ‘big picture’ in our learning by giving children the chance to spend time wondering, using existing knowledge and prior experiences, and to ask questions.

-          Through inquiry, learning doesn’t culminate with the presentation of research findings or the collection of lots of facts. The information acquired by students is used to refine their questions, to build understandings and theories, and, where possible, to develop an action plan that will transform the ongoing learning from ’school work’ to something that has personal significance for the child.

-          Inquiry encourages learners to look at an issue of significance from multiple perspectives (e.g. How would a scientist look at this problem? What would a person doesn’t speak English as their first language think? How and to whom might a student ask more questions? What would a person who is strong as a visual/spatial learner, bring to this conversation?…) and to find aspects of this issue that can be explored further.

-           Inquiry doesn’t preclude the acquisition of tools and skills necessary for learning – spelling rules, times tables, the scientific method, grammar, phonemic awareness for example – but gives students a purpose for learning them.

-          Inquiry asks teachers and students to look at ‘big ideas.’ Putting discreet facts together to build conceptual understandings is our goal. We want to move our curriculum from being content-based to concept-based in order to provide our students with the opportunity to ask themselves, ‘so what does all this mean for me, for others and for us?’ For example, understanding conflict as a concept is a more powerful tool for a learner, than knowing the dates and details of a specific battle at a specific time. Extinction is a big idea to explore that has the potential to shift the topic of ‘dinosaurs’ from an activity based program to a higher cognitive plane for children. Equally so, learning about the concept of adaptation from a study of the world’s climatic conditions enables learners to not only explain their understandings but also transfer them to different contexts, and to interpret or makes sense of related ideas. It also opens a window to seeing other points of view: why do people dress the way they do in temperate climates? How is language reflected in different parts of the world by a place’s climate and /or geography? These types of questions that come up throughout an inquiry give us the next step toward purposeful action and further in-depth exploration of an area of study.

-   Inquiry is recognized as being intimately connected with the development of children’s comprehension of the world. The inquirer stands at the “border of knowing and not knowing” Interpreted in the broadest sense, inquiry is the process initiated by the learner or the teacher which moves the learner from his or her current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding. (Judith Wells Lindfors, 1999).

The question is …

     … how come the teacher asks all the questions

buddies at Papaya

          when I’m the one who needs to know things.

          The question is

          why I’m supposed to have the answers

         to all the questions when the adults can’t answer mine.

          The question is

          why scientists ask ten questions for every answer they get

          but I have to answer seven out of ten to pass.

          The question is

          why politicians learn not to answer questions

          while I must learn how to answer them.

          The question is

          why questions have to be answered fast in school

          when philosophers take years to answer them.

          The question is

          why there are so many little questions in school

          when Marie Curie spent her whole life on one big question.

          The question is

          why I must find answers to already answered questions

          when I have questions that have not yet been answered.

          The question is

          why can’t I be in charge of the questions?

From: Jamie McKenzie

http://www.fno.org/parenting/questioning3.html