Investigating Inquiry

Guiding Inquiry through Questioning

Another open-ended question. Another set of blank stares. As I gazed back at the sea of incomprehension I speculated, “This is going to be harder than I thought.” I was in a new kindergarten classroom in a school that was very different from my last. I was used to working in a school that promoted inquiry based learning but had just been placed in a very traditional school. 

Typically, when I read The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, I could ask the question, “Why do you think the animals are scared of the Gruffalo?” and receive a plethora of responses. 

But not in this classroom. I could quickly see that if there wasn’t a distinct yes or no answer, the students could not respond.

That evening, as I sat at my cramped writing desk, I wondered how I could structure my practicum so as to not overwhelm the students but still be able to introduce inquiry based learning. I decided to infuse inquiry based learning into only one of my five units. 

But first, I had to remember what inquiry was all about. It was about forming questions, investigating to find the right answers and through that investigation, coming to a new understanding about their world. Finally the students must grasp that new understanding and be able to communicate it to others. 

But what unit could I use to introduce inquiry into the classroom? Leaning back in my rickety fold-up chair I decided that I wanted to use a unit that could be kinesthetic, not language heavy and take the students out of the traditional setting. Since the PLOS were to have the students learn about 3D shapes, I decided to use that as my jumping off point.

Over the course of the next six weeks, I bombarded the students with activities that took them away from the traditional Math class. I invited them to become Pirate Explorers, armed with telescopes on the hunt for the “shape treasure.” I turned them into photographers that must document all of the shapes in their society and finally they became curators of their very own shapes museum. 

It was during a typical lunch about three weeks into the unit that I was finally able to see that the students were becoming curious about their world. 

“Look! Bobby’s cheese is a rectangular prism,” exclaimed Timmy. Astonished, the rest of the students quickly crowded around Bobby’s cheese. Suddenly they began connecting their lunches to different 3D objects and a discussion soon ensued. 

Not one to pass up such a spontaneous learning opportunity, I began to question, “Why is a juice box a rectangular prism and not a sphere? Why is bread not shaped like a cube? Why are oranges spheres?”

The answers astounded me. My students were becoming articulate and could reason and back up their answers with logical soundness. But this was just the beginning. They began creating sculptures out of clay and then out of toothpicks and marshmallows as they deconstructed different shapes and then recorded their observations on a chart. 

Finally, they were given building blocks and a photo of a famous building. They had to recreate the building out of different shapes and then explain why they chose each block. Were there columns/domes in the buildings? What shapes did they use to represent these? How could they make a pyramid? 

Through it all, I continued to question, probe and instigate their curiosity. Teaching through inquiry tends to appear messy to outsiders, but I feel that my students walked away from that experience with a deep understanding of their subject matter and a curiosity to look at their world with a more critical eye. But most importantly, they were not daunted by open-ended questions but excited and opinionated. 

According to the British Columbia Education Plan, schools in BC will become centered on more personalized learning so that students can reach their full potential. To provide students with the chance for success, inquiry based learning will allow students to “pursue their individual strengths and passions” (3). 

All student names have been changed to respect their privacy. 

BC Education Plan.Retrieved July 28, 2013. http://www.bcedplan.ca/assets/pdf/bc_edu_plan.pdf