It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride through discovering what inquiry actually is. This has not been a bad thing as it has meant that my understanding has become deeper and clearer as to what we need to do.
Inquiry means to me... well first and foremost it is child owed and driven. It is from their questions and ideas that we base our focus and direction. This creates the interest and makes it more meaningful for the children as it is something they want to find out or do.
Inquiry is hands on, doing, developing, and moving through a process to an end product or idea. It shows the children ways in which they can solve problems, order and organise ideas and clarify their thinking.
Inquiry is giving the children skills to locate-use multiple skills and resources , analyse-what is important, what information helps me to move on to the next step, and finaly an ACTION, in which they can put there ideas and findings into a doing activity.
With inquiry I can combine a lot of learning areas and competencies. Like for our gardens we have been using a lot of maths to design, measure and test our structures. There is a hive of activity through group discussions, reporting back to the class and organising their time. Writing up investigations or predictions. Art and presentations of ideas through ICT or posters. The list goes on!!!
I am finding inquiry organised chaos at times. Kids working at so many different levels and at times on totaly different activities. This means to me that I have to be a relaxed and go with the flow, not expecting structure in all areas. I love this part but at times it also feels so all over the place. If the kids have taken ownership of the inquiry then this chaos should mean that there is also action and involvement by all.
Naomi
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