Inquiry Levels
Our ultimate aim should be to have students independently carrying out their inquiry from start to finish. However young students and those new to inquiry simply do not have the information literacy or other skills necessary for completely independent inquiry. Scaffolding students and working within their "zone of proximal development" (Vygotsky, 1978) are important if students are to successfully develop the skills they need for independent inquiry. Eventually students would have sufficient skills to complete independent inquiries.
Levels of Inquiry
Inquiry can be initiated by either students or teachers, or in some cases a combination of both. Students often need some background in the topic before they can frame a rich question. I have often started with a teacher guided inquiry then branched off onto a more student-directed inquiry which arose from that topic. For example, we were talking about Antarctica and the discussion, guided by me, got round to what there is to do and see in Antarctica. The students investigated this and came up with their ideas on what a tourist visiting Antarctica should go and see. While doing this some students started to have doubts about whether tourists should be allowed to go to Antarctica at all and this led into a separate inquiry topic of which they had full ownership. For more on student ownership of inquiry see the Authenticity and Student Ownership pages.
There have been various models of levelled inquiry including Schwab (1962), Herron (1971), Trevor McKenzie and Banchi & Bell. I like the way these models talk about the levels of inquiry but they are a little too rigid for me as they often don't allow, for example, for the students to choose the topic but the teacher to provide the resources. I've adapted these models to come up with my own version on the right.
Inquiry can be initiated by either students or teachers, or in some cases a combination of both. Students often need some background in the topic before they can frame a rich question. I have often started with a teacher guided inquiry then branched off onto a more student-directed inquiry which arose from that topic. For example, we were talking about Antarctica and the discussion, guided by me, got round to what there is to do and see in Antarctica. The students investigated this and came up with their ideas on what a tourist visiting Antarctica should go and see. While doing this some students started to have doubts about whether tourists should be allowed to go to Antarctica at all and this led into a separate inquiry topic of which they had full ownership. For more on student ownership of inquiry see the Authenticity and Student Ownership pages.
There have been various models of levelled inquiry including Schwab (1962), Herron (1971), Trevor McKenzie and Banchi & Bell. I like the way these models talk about the levels of inquiry but they are a little too rigid for me as they often don't allow, for example, for the students to choose the topic but the teacher to provide the resources. I've adapted these models to come up with my own version on the right.
Shared, Guided and Independent Inquiry
The Shared, Guided and Independent Inquiry approach (thanks to Barbara Reid for this suggestion) which is already used for teaching reading for example, fits well with the levels of inquiry.
In a guided inquiry for instance the teacher may, based on the purpose (concepts, strategies etc. they wish students to understand and develop), present an activity, display thought-provoking photos or a video, invite a guest to the classroom or provide some other motivation or provocation and then, when discussion ensues, guide the students to develop a rich question arising from that discussion. The teacher would provide some suitable resources, students will be able to find some of their own resources in addition to those supplied by the teacher, but they will have a good resource base to start from.
In order to guide the inquiry teachers need to be really clear on the purpose of the inquiry. This should be related to the Curriculum and more specifically to their own school curriculum based on the needs and interests of the students and their community. Having a clear purpose will mean teachers can allow for student agency while keeping the inquiry on track to achieve the purpose.
Independent inquiry is self-explanatory. Shared inquiry is undertaken with younger students and those very new to inquiry. It is a variant of guided inquiry but with high levels of teacher guidance and support. There will be more whole class work at this level, for example examining a website together to gather evidence or completing a PMI together as a class the first few times they use this tool.
The levels are flexible within an inquiry and when planning the teacher will look at different concepts or skills being used and make decisions on the level of support needed. For example in a guided inquiry there should only be a small number of new skills that are introduced at the guided level. In addition there will be skills that are needed but for which a shared approach will be used in order to prevent cognitive overload in students from encountering too much new information. There will also be skills used with which the students are already proficient. These would be completed independently by students.
Inquiry Models
There are a variety of models of inquiry which outline the procedures that are undertaken during an inquiry. More detail on these can be found on the Inquiry Models page.
The Shared, Guided and Independent Inquiry approach (thanks to Barbara Reid for this suggestion) which is already used for teaching reading for example, fits well with the levels of inquiry.
In a guided inquiry for instance the teacher may, based on the purpose (concepts, strategies etc. they wish students to understand and develop), present an activity, display thought-provoking photos or a video, invite a guest to the classroom or provide some other motivation or provocation and then, when discussion ensues, guide the students to develop a rich question arising from that discussion. The teacher would provide some suitable resources, students will be able to find some of their own resources in addition to those supplied by the teacher, but they will have a good resource base to start from.
In order to guide the inquiry teachers need to be really clear on the purpose of the inquiry. This should be related to the Curriculum and more specifically to their own school curriculum based on the needs and interests of the students and their community. Having a clear purpose will mean teachers can allow for student agency while keeping the inquiry on track to achieve the purpose.
Independent inquiry is self-explanatory. Shared inquiry is undertaken with younger students and those very new to inquiry. It is a variant of guided inquiry but with high levels of teacher guidance and support. There will be more whole class work at this level, for example examining a website together to gather evidence or completing a PMI together as a class the first few times they use this tool.
The levels are flexible within an inquiry and when planning the teacher will look at different concepts or skills being used and make decisions on the level of support needed. For example in a guided inquiry there should only be a small number of new skills that are introduced at the guided level. In addition there will be skills that are needed but for which a shared approach will be used in order to prevent cognitive overload in students from encountering too much new information. There will also be skills used with which the students are already proficient. These would be completed independently by students.
Inquiry Models
There are a variety of models of inquiry which outline the procedures that are undertaken during an inquiry. More detail on these can be found on the Inquiry Models page.
2021
