Inquiry-based learning in Perspective

"Children are the message we send to a time we will not see."
Neil Postman

At Howick Intermediate, we acknowledge that the world today is very different from the one that we grew up in. Whole industries exist now that did not 10 years ago. There is so much information that people have to sift through to find out what is relevant to them. The ability to change with the world is the key to being able to cope with it. We are unable to predict what knowledge will be important in the future.

At Howick Intermediate, we recognise that the students we teach are very different from what they have been in the past. They are digital natives, able to cope with multiple sources of information from the digital world. They are very aware of global issues as they deal with events in real time. Information is presented raw to them and they must make sense of global events themselves. They see the world differently from an emotional point of view where they are very much a part of the issue.

At Howick Intermediate, we recognize that the future will require the ability to change, be organized, sift through information and make sense of it. Large global issues about energy and resources will be solved by this next generation. People will need to think and act with a global conscience while keeping their identity.

At Howick Intermediate, we recognize that we need to teach programmes that prepare our students for the future, whatever that may be.

At Howick Intermediate, we teach for the future using the Inquiry-based Learning model. This takes advantage of students’ natural curiosity. It requires well-developed questioning skills. It helps students to develop strategies and processes for collecting and evaluating information.

Students immerse themselves in the topic of global and personal significance. In this inquiry process, students form a question that becomes the focus of their investigation. They form subsidiary questions, form hypotheses, plan and carry out their research, come to some conclusions, and decide how they could make change happen.

During this time the students will cover selected achievement objectives from the New Zealand curriculum, integrating as many curriculum areas as their questions lends them to. The teacher's job is initially, with the students' help, to recognize the skills and knowledge each student will need in their Inquiry focus and then to help them plan when, how and from whom they will receive their lessons. Students can get expert knowledge from any of our staff, or the outside community. They get lessons that are relevant to them. They get lessons in small groups or individually. They get lessons at their level, extending them where appropriate. They get lessons challenging them to think, use their values, be organized and be ready for the real world.

The Journey

As teachers, we accept that not all students learn in the same way, some learn best by reading, some by doing, others learn best when the material is presented visually. It is the same with adults, some follow the outline of our journey of inquiry-based learning best by reading, others by discussing. For those who prefer a visual approach, the following graphics were created to show pictorially the steps of our approach to inquiry-based learning.