Inquiry is a habit of mind!

Last week we had Kath Murdoch present a two day seminar for schools in Dunedin on Inquiry Based Learning. Kath's presentations embody her inquiry theory. She leads you gently, building on prior knowledge, creating wonder and curiosity, allowing you to find out and ask questions before coming to new understandings.

I have always taught in an inquiry way. I didn't know there was a model, or even what inquiry was, but it was how I believed students learned best and how I enjoyed teaching. I was excited as I progressed as a teacher to be able to reflect on my practice and give my beliefs a name. For me Inquiry was a belief system and not a model.

Working in schools it is sometimes disheartening to see inquiry reduced to a 'model' in the barest sense, rather than embracing the pedagogical shift that it can be. Today I was given the okay to share a new resource provided by CORE Education called EDtalks. EDtalks are a series of interviews with leaders in fields of education. These brief talks are very powerful and one that resonated with me today is below. Here is Sharon Friesen talking about Inquiry as a disposition.