Margaret Clarke's blog
Attending Ross Toddâs Guided Inquiry seminar, I was eager to hear Ross Todd speak, as Iâd heard him speak before and had found him inspiring. In my own practise, I was struggling with a less than victorious attempt to mesh the information process in my RBL units with higher order thinking as a means of basing my inquiry based learning on questions and topics that were meaningful to students.
I couldnât help but notice student lethargy, with assessment tasks often resulting in an elaborate cut and paste, including poor editing, citation and inappropriate information. I felt I wasnât getting âthroughâ to them, repeating the process again and again, and frequently facing frustrated students who felt that all their âeffortâ to deliver what they thought I asked for, was not appropriately rewarded.
Ross opened by telling a large ballroom full of teacher-librarians whose practise is probably not dissimilar to mine, that we were all barking up the wrong tree. That was a real attention grabber, and less than immediately inspiring. It had never occurred to me to question if the âBig Sixâ had itâs foundations in research, or analysis of good practise and successful student outcomes. It had seemed to work quite well last century. I had noted the need for students to gather information âtwiceâ, once to gain a general concept, and then to fine tune their ideas, and had naturally come across student resistance to doing something twice. To students, gathering copious notes, shuffling them, often plagiarised, and handing them up in a new order seemed to be what I had asked for They had spent hours researching, often off the topic. There was enormous resistance to drafts, filtering notes or anything that they perceived as a waste of time or confusing.
Over 100 teacher- librarians were riveted to their chairs to find out if he had an answer. He claimed research had paved the way, and he didnât fail us, even if he did deliver our salvation so fast, you could see the stunned look of shock on everyoneâs faces.
Ross introduced âGuided inquiryâ, based on research and good practice. Analysing the structuring of tasks for successful student outcomes that allowed teachers to measure increased student knowledge and understanding throughout the task, led to devising the highly supported framework of guided inquiry. The student is lead by the teacher through a carefully scaffolded procedure that supports and counsels students where the Big Six left students to their own devices under a pile of notes.
I was impressed with the procedure, finding that âmissingâ second research period. Ross threw out ideas on how to inspire students, how to motivate them in their own research, and how to track their development of knowledge as they progressed through the task. He had useful templates and demonstrated plans other teachers had designed for specific stages of assessment in the process that made perfect sense and seemed ridiculously simple and logical.
He managed to tell us in one day that much of what weâd been doing was ineffective, and then proceeded to inspire us with the work of himself and fellow researchers and practitioners. Thank heavens teacher-librarians are flexible and versatile people who do not resist change! Out with the old, in with the new!
For me, Ross Todd delivered again. He challenged us all before we left, to decide what our first step would be in our respective schools towards implementing guided inquiry.
I have located two teachers, one the senior school coordinator, the other the middle school SOSE teacher that I feel confident will be willing and enthused. They havenât disappointed me, and with ELI on the horizon, I expect more positive results in student outcomes as we collaboratively structure student tasks on the guided inquiry model. We are starting with the year nines, and are using the templates to guide us in our unit planning, and intend to demonstrate results at a T&D next term.
The books and charts Ross recommended are ordered, hopefully arriving in time for me to design the introduction and template component of the T&D unit, during the holidays.
If Iâve failed to impress you, but you are scratching your head with disappointing student outcomes, loan or buy the recommended texts and see if you canât find some answers as well.
Recommended: âGuided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st centuryâ by Carol Kuhlthau et al 2007
âBan those bird unitsâ by David Loertscher et al 2004, âBeyond bird units!â David Loertscher âWe boost achievementâ David Loertscher & Ross Todd, and âSeeking meaningâ by Carol Kuhlthau.
Chart: âUsing the Information Search Process (ISP) in Guided Inquiryâ All available from Syba Signs.
Tags:
libraries
Posted at 07:42PM Sep 25, 2008
by Margaret Clarke |
