My first thought when I hear the term "Inquiry Learning" is RESEARCH (task). Although I now work as a teacher-librarian in a secondary school in QLD, my background is in the teaching of History and French. Inquiry Learning is not something I associate at all with teaching French, although I imagine my understanding of this pedagogical concept is somewhat limited. However, inquiry is something we do all the time in the History classroom. We research, gather information and sources, evaluate reliability and accuracy and make conclusions based on the available evidence. This is inquiry, is it not?
However, the style of "inquiry learning" that I used in my History classroom was very much teacher-directed and not particularly effective in helping students connect their learning to the "real world". Although I emphasised the importance of students making their own judgements on historical issues based on the evidence they uncovered, students had little freedom to determine their topics or choose their own adventure. In some classrooms, Inquiry Learning can have an almost magical effect on students' engagement and confidence in their own power as citizens of the world. This has not been my experience. So, with this investigation, I hope to learn how to use inquiry learning more effectively in a variety of classroom settings to engage students and to improve their ability to become active and responsible global citizens. This also ties in with one of my key objectives as the teacher-librarian: to improve students' information literacy skills.
Therefore, my three research questions are: 1. How can the Teacher-Librarian support teachers to implement Inquiry Learning models in the secondary school classroom? 2. How can teachers address the criticisms of Inquiry Learning to ensure its effectiveness with high school students? 3. To what extent can Inquiry Learning support the development of cognitive skills (key features of the new Queensland senior syllabi)?