Over the past few weeks, several of my initial beliefs about inquiry-based learning have been confirmed. The most notable change has been my understanding of what qualifies as student-led, teacher-led, and student/teacher-led learning. Initially, for inquiry-based learning, I assumed that the vast majority of the lesson needed to be student-led (little to no teacher interaction/interference). From the example lessons we have been watching, it seems as though I was somewhat wrong. Inquiry-based learning can be employed in a classroom successfully even with teacher engagement. I think the crucial difference is that, in inquiry-based learning, the teacher becomes more of a guide rather than a teacher. It is still inquiry-based learning even if the teacher is asking guiding questions or helping to frame the inquiry the students are going to be experiencing. In retrospect, I believe I may have been thinking of inquiry-based learning more as grappling with no context nor scaffolding.
Overall, my intrigue of inquiry-based learning has not changed in the slightest. If anything, I feel as though I may be more understanding of it and willing to include it in my weekly lessons, as I’ve now found the teacher can have some say in the structure/content/flow of the lesson itself. Before, it seemed less feasible to implement in my own classroom, as I have a very tight curriculum to cover in a very brief amount of time.
I suppose the only “burning question” that I have yet is the question of how to precisely implement this into my classroom. We have had the opportunity to see and read about classes in action with inquiry-based learning, but none of the examples have tackled the kind of content that I am responsible for teaching. I find it hard to fathom how I might use inquiry-based learning to teach my fairly dry grammar concepts. They do not exactly inspire or incite many burning questions in my students, as it is a fairly cut and dry process.
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