How to Create a Culture of Inquiry

I've experienced and heard other teachers say that it can be hard to spark students' enthusiasm for a project. I think it goes deeper than the project at hand. Do you agree? How do we create a culture of inquiry so minds are eager to learn? And at the project level, what are good ways to engage prior knowledge and pique curiosity for the learning ahead?

Tags: pbl

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Permalink Reply by George Mayo on February 3, 2010 at 12:16pm

You have a way with asking good questions Mrs. Krauss! I find having past examples of student work online and at my fingertips to be incredibly valuable. The work becomes an ever growing resource for me and my current students. I don't think there is a particularly "best kind of work" that tells the story of a past project. We'll look at past projects and talk about what we liked, and what worked. But we'll also talk about things that could of been improved.

I also try to find student work from other classrooms to share with my students. Sometimes whole projects originate from work I've come across that other teachers are doing and sharing. Kevin Hodgson and his student's work influenced me to try stop-motion with students last year, and prompted us to start a collaborative stop-motion project known as The Longfellow Ten:
http://lf10.wordpress.com

Permalink Reply by Nick Ryan on February 6, 2010 at 8:07am

All students - even those who act like they could care less about what's happening in the school or classroom environment surrounding them - are keen observers of adult behavior. Whether they are searching for appropriate role models, trying to find hypocrisy in school policy, or just trying to avoid the teacher's attention, they make it their business to know where the adults in their proximity are at all times. This keen awareness can be effectively leveraged to create a culture of inquiry via behavior modeling. While some might view sharing your own personal projects and inquiry with students as a breach of boundaries, I see it as the best way to demonstrate the value of inquiry and project based learning to real life. While students might not see the value that inquiry learning brings to their immediate lives, if they can see how it has enriched my life, they will eventually appreciate the everyday application of PBL. Whether it's a knitting project, a hunting trip, or even just a book that you're reading, taking time to share the products of your own inquiry will pay off over time.

Also, never be afraid to tell a student that you don't know the answer to a question. I've found that enthusiastically displaying my own ignorance (of which there never seems to be a shortage), and my willingness to eliminate it through inquiry and research, is a fantastic way to show students that it's not a crime to not know an answer, and that the real problem is not taking the time to find it.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on February 8, 2010 at 11:38am

I agree we should capitalize on their acute observation skills! And modeling curiosity and saying "I dunno, how could we find out?" opens the experience to collective wondering. I think we should indulge our sense of wonder and pose questions without always turning it into "work". Thanks for your thoughtful remarks.

Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on March 2, 2010 at 1:21pm

Learning so much from this conversation. Great references, too.

I'm so excited--we just began our third round of PBLs today. Here's a tiny intro on my blog on Fireside Learning. "Yippee--new PBLs are being launched right now!"

Permalink Reply by Danielle Hinton on March 4, 2010 at 9:31am

A number of people have already alluded to one way you can create a culture of inquiry - rooting it in the real-world / being authentic. The is one way I try to engage Undergraduates in academic skills (time management, essay writing, plagiarism etc). The tasks are often traditional in nature (literature review) but are presented in scenario and linked clearly to a job that students may go to on graduation. Understanding realword application can then inspire students to want to explore the theory - they why...

Permalink Reply by Derrall Garrison on March 4, 2010 at 11:50am

I was involved in a discussion on PBL on one of the Tuesday #edchat meetings and tried to think of how to engage students, and thought of the following: Give them real world problems and make them feel that collaboration will empower them to make positive change.

To engage prior knowledge I always feel like current events and problems that students are aware of are a good starting point. Tell them their solutions will be shared with a global audience outside the classroom and that what they are doing is not "pretend" but real and important.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 4, 2010 at 4:31pm

Derrall, great to see you here! Derrall and Danielle (above) you are both so right. An authentic context is essential. Sue Budreau, a guest in our Webinar series does a Take Action Project with middle grade students in order to solve modern problems. They learn about nonprofits and NGOs that are tackling problems, examine how well those are working, and find niches locally or globally that are yet to be filled.

Permalink Reply by Sue Boudreau on March 4, 2010 at 7:30pm

I have to push kids hard to go for a world issue they really care about to research, not just the 'easiest' one. And the same thing with picking an action they will actually have fun with, not another bake sale. They look at me with a mix of fear and dawning delight. It hurts my heart that I work within a system that is antithetical to student choice and student voice. But I encourage any of you who have not yet given project based inquiry a try, to dip a toe in. We have all the constraints that seemed for years to make PBL impossible and we figured out a way round that seems to be working and will slowly help to change the school culture. For what we did and are now improving this 2nd year, see www.takeactioncurriculum.org.