Inquiry-Based Learning at KIS

One of the frequent questions that I get asked is:

What is Inquiry based learning?

There are some wonderful resources available already that everyone should take a look:

10 Benefits Of Inquiry-Based Learning

• http://ibo.org/en/programmes/primary-years-programme/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiry-based_learning 
• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/
• https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-heck-inquiry-based-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron
• https://www.edutopia.org/topic/inquiry-based-learning

• http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/4-phases-inquiry-based-learning-guide-teachers/

These sites will give you a comprehensive and sometimes an overwhelming overview what Inquiry-based learning is. But they do not answer what Inquiry looks and feels like here in KIS

Concept Driven Curriculum

The PYP aims to create a curriculum that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant for learners in the 3–12 age range. The curriculum is transdisciplinary, meaning that it focuses on issues that go across subject areas. – http://www.ibo.org/programmes/primary-years-programme/curriculum/

The Power of the Questions at Ralston Elementary School

In this video from Edutopia you can observe how a change in instruction has created an opportunity for these students to take ownership of their learning, it is simply just a moderation of how teachers guide learning to become more student-centered by allowing questions and provocations to guide learning experiences.

Mediating the Learning Experience

Mediated learning nurtures real learning in the classroom. It goes beyond simply being a facilitator. The facilitator may make things happen in, but never takes over the actual process of thinking and understanding. Our place is not to offer ready-made models of desired answers but to offer stimuli to engage the learners into deeper learning and metacognitive thinking