Weekly Reflection #1
With the prevalence of technology in today’s societies, I believe education needs to be adapted. One of our main jobs as educators and teachers is to teach our learners how to be smart, inquisitive, informed citizens. Learning how to use technology in safe, informed ways can help our students navigate life both in school, and in other extracurricular aspects of their lives.
Reimagining education looks different for every grade, class, and school that you may teach in, as some may offer more pushback into changing pedagogies from the traditional class model and some may encourage a shift in the approach within the classroom. I think pushback often comes from those who have been in teaching for a long time and have not previously relied on technology in the classroom for most of their career and have never taught from an inquiry-based perspective before. Most of the schools I have worked in for the past 7 years have offered many professional development opportunities and encouraged adapting unit and lesson plans to include the use of technology. The integration of inquiry into the school day has also become more prevalent, with initiatives such as Genius Hour being a way to motivate students to explore a passion project of their choosing.
The Pacific Institute of Innovation and Inquiry reimagines education as it takes an inquiry based-approach and ensures student’s are meeting the BC curriculum while investigating a project that they are actually interested in and passionate about. In their model they outline the inquiry process, including the development of questions, research, assessing competencies and goals, and reflecting on the process and what you learned. This personal learning approach allows students to engage in projects they are curious about and promotes pursuing investigation in all aspects of their life.
Emma, thanks for a short but clear summary of inquiry education and PSII. Your use of links and images to support your post is well done. It is also great to hear that, in your experience, you see a focus on encouraging inquiry and integration of technologies in elementary schools. That bodes well for you and your colleagues who are entering schools, starting in April!
As for other teachers who continue to do what they are comfortable and familiar with, change is slow, but the direction is clear and helpful. Follow your path and vision. Some may tag along!