C122: How do learners visually represent their unit of inquiry journey?

​Hey there, wonderful people! It's your host, Lu Gerlach from thinkchat, and I am beyond excited for today's episode. We're going deep into the heart of the PYP philosophy exploring how learners visually represent their unit of inquiry journey. So, buckle up for Confession #122, where we'll dig into the nitty-gritty of shifting from showcasing finished products to emphasizing the process and giving every student a chance in the spotlight.  This will be the final episode of our PYP classroom success criteria series. 

A big thank you to Siba Shekhar, the PYP Coordinator at the GEMS Modern Academy Kochi for providing the inspiration for this episode.  

Shifting Focus: Process Over Product

“By displaying our learning to our school, we make a great impact toward changing our educational landscape” (MacKenzie, 2016).  This quote really has inspired my thinking about the unit of inquiry wall that is so highly coveted in most PYP classrooms.  

I remember focusing on a fourth grade unit on Sharing the Planet through the lens of ecosystems, our classroom walls, desks, and work areas transformed into living records of exploration. Particularly, there were sketches, mind maps, and snapshots of the process that adorned the space. The unit wall became a dynamic narrative, showcasing the collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking that unfolded throughout the unit. Student’s added reflections capturing a moment of initial misunderstanding and how their thought process expanded over time. It was truly wonderful to see the thinking come alive on the unit wall. 

During that time, I wondered if the thinking should leave a fixed wall space and permeate the rest of the classroom to reflect authentic thinking across the curriculum and unit of inquiry.  In short, the answer is yes.  In Confession #116, I spoke in-depth about the unit wall and how to create a dynamic display of learner work and thinking.  

In a recent chat with my PYP mentor (someone who writes courses for the IB), I discovered that the unit wall is actually a myth.  We need to have elements of the PYP in our classrooms, but it doesn’t need to be on one wall.  When we remove the constraints of a fixed wall space, we are more open to show natural connections across learning experiences.  This allows the process of thinking to be made a lot easier, because we walk away from constantly displaying works that show a finished product.  Something to consider.

Inclusivity: Every Voice Matters

Inclusivity is not just a term that we post on a wall.  It is a way of making international mindedness come alive into our classrooms.  A big part of this process is allowing for learners to demonstrate agency of what is visually represented and how it looks.  It’s allowing all learners to voice their opinions, making some choices about design, and being allowed to take ownership of the redesign process.  

Zaretta Hammond states in her book, Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students,  “Think carefully about what visuals are displayed on the walls. They send a nonverbal message about what and who is valued in the classroom.  Unconsciously, we pick up clues about affirmation and validation from our surroundings” (Hammond, 2015).

This quote makes me think about the purpose of each display and has it been designed for our needs or our learners or our own?  I remember a teacher once told me that she was designing her classroom to best fit her needs.  Shouldn’t it be the other way around?  How are we curating visual displays that represent the learning journey of all of our learners and not just the gifted and talented ones?  

To be honest, I have been guilty of it in my practice.  We need to finish a unit and we filter through the pretty ones and put them up front and center. The less desirable products go on the fringe.  What message does that send unconsciously to our learners of who is valued and who is not?  Yikes!
None of us purposefully allow this practice to happen, so we need to be more conscious of our choices, so we don’t repeat it. 

Learning beyond a unit: Spiraling Learning

In Dive into Inquiry, Trevor MacKenzie reminds us, “Public displays of learning are powerful tools in the classroom to further the connection between how student learning is meaningful and important to the world around them” (MacKenzie, 2016).  This quote resonates, because this is our goal as educators to create meaningful connections for our learners.  How are our visual displays representing the entire learning journey within a unit of inquiry and beyond? 

In 2014, I had the fortune of visiting Frankfurt International School, Wiesbaden while going through my first IBEN development.  One thing I noticed was a classroom with past unit spotlights that were referred to during the current unit.  The spotlight had the key language from the unit: theme, central idea, and key/related concepts.  The most powerful component was the reflections and interactive tools that were used to unpack the big ideas from the unit.  

This display stayed with me for nearly a decade, because the intention was to provide a means for learners to spiral back to prior learning and connect it to the present.  This is powerful, but it shows the relationship of learning over time and allows learners to transfer what they knew from the past into their current unit.  This is powerful.  

​Conclusion

In essence, the walls of our PYP classrooms become not only visual representations but living stories of inquiry, collaboration, and growth. Embracing the PYP journey involves creating a space that reflects the program's core values – inclusivity, diversity, and a commitment to continuous inquiry. 
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Thank you for sticking with this series with all of the breaks due to my crazy schedule.  I’m excited to go back to the beginning by completing an application series for local and global inquiry and the PYP classroom.  I hope you are ready to transfer your knowledge in a new way!