C108: Local and Global Inquiry for Specialist and Supporting Teachers

At the Crafting Inquiry Conference, I had the chance to pal around with a new friend, Denise Kraft.  She is a PYP Coordinator in Middletown, CT, which is about 1.5 hours from New York City.  Denise and I met each other when I led a virtual PYP exhibition workshop for Rice University.  Over the past couple of months, we were reunited and she has become a thought partner. 

While reflecting on Day 2 of the Crafting Inquiry Conference, we began chatting about my podcast.  She told me how much her teachers appreciated the ATL series being separated into early years, primary, and specialist and supporting teachers.  She told me her specialist teachers rather appreciated the examples related to their roles, because they often feel left out of the planning and development experience when looking at available resources. This made me sad and more committed to specialist and support teachers for each of my series.  

From now on, I commit to always laying the foundation of the learning and then exploring from the lens of my specialist and support teachers.  I get distracted and sometimes forget to consider your role.  I’m sorry for providing support for some ideas and not others. 

To make up for the shortfall, I am going to have a podcast series just for specialists and supporting teachers.  Think about the topics we have already explored..  Were there ideas that interested you, but you needed more support in applying it to your practice?  Be sure to jot your ideas and questions as you think of them and send them to me at @thinkchat2020 on Twitter and Lu Gerlach on LinkedIn. 

For now, we are going to explore local and global inquiry from your roles and see how we can make deeper connections to what you do. Sounds like an awesome plan to me!

A Lesson from Trevor MacKenzie

On the second day of the conference, I was able to spend most of the time with Trevor MacKenzie.  His unique focus was on inquiry and assessment, but I think it still applies to your roles.

Trevor asked, “How do we assess with optimal in mind?”  He provided some interesting things to consider when answering these questions: 

• Nurture assessment (inquiry) capable learners
• Value learning mode (learner ownership of the process)
• Honor the mess of the process
• Take risks to test failure (to learn from our mistakes)
• Recognize performance mode (assessment of learning)
• Explore a student-centered assessment practice

These ideas really made me think about how we are exploring inquiry in specialists and supporting classes with fidelity and nurturing these ideas above.

​Applying ideas to specialist and supporting roles

​Let’s deconstruct Trevor’s ideas and apply them to local and global inquiry in your context.  

Wondering:  How do we use local and global inquiry with optimal in mind? 

We nurture inquiry capable learners & learner mode
As teachers who support learners in short segments within a week, how can we honor inquiry capable learners?  Here are some possible suggestions. 

• Ask a variety of open and closed questions
• Allow for learner choice with the use of activities
• Encourage learners to manipulate materials to create something new

Example in action

• In an EAL pull out session, learners are asked a variety of questions to bring about their creative and critical thinking in the primary and second languages.  There are two activities planned and the learners are able to choose which one they would like to explore.  The teacher asks the learners to create a new activity with the same materials, so they can transfer their learning to a new situation. 

We honor the mess of the process
Due to the limited time period, we often want to create learning experiences that are short and contained within one session.  The problem with this mode is that learning is limited to short increments that don’t often connect together.  Checklist teaching, rather than making meaning and connections to other things.  Here are some possible suggestions: 

• Break apart different elements across several lessons
• Have learners to compare/contrast, sequence, or cause/effect of elements
• Think of connections between parts and how they work together as a whole
• Make connections to how ideas are expressed in the local culture and ways it looks the same/different around the world. 

Example in Action

• In Art, learners create pieces that indicate varying tone using light and dark colors 
• After creating several pieces, have learners examine them through the lens of patterns and relationships
• Highlight various artists within the local and global community who express themselves through a certain use of color
• Allow learners to express themselves through the same lens

We take risks to test failure (to learn from our mistakes) and explore student-centered inquiry practice
One of the most difficult things to do is allow our learners to make mistakes.  We take risks to test failure, so we can grow.  It’s through our mistakes that we learn the most.  Here is a way that we can put it into practice no matter how we support learners.

Example in Action

• Co-design a learning engagement with your learners, so they are clear of the expectations, but they have a say in the process and product.
• Allow learners to choose their own materials.  For this to happen, materials need to be organized for optimal usage, labeled, and a picture is on each container. 
• Encourage learners to test out their ideas without it being reflected in their grades, so they feel free to create without consequences.
• Showcase people who tested out their ideas expecting to fail and how they turned their journey into a success.  First highlight local and national individuals and then go globally. 

​First Steps

As you can see, there are many ways that you can make local and global connections within your curriculum.  Start small and work your way deeper.  Here are possible question starters to think about. 

• What events have occurred that humanizes the content? 
• Who are the people locally and globally that help to make the ideas relatable? 
• How can I go from a topic to something that my learners care about?
• How can we bridge the content to everyday life? 

I know you will take these ideas and give them new life in your practice.  Please share your ideas on Twitter @thinkchat2020 and LinkedIn @lugerlach