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Module 5.3a: discuss Lupton’s article “Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum” and the potential impact of her analysis on the need for an inquiry learning model in your school.

Mandy Lupton (2012) offers an analysis of the 2011 Australian Curriculum in Science, History and Geography – with History and Geography being in the draft stage at the time. Her analysis compares and contrasts the learning objectives, skills and abilities expected of students across different year levels, finding inconsistencies and limitations especially in the Science curriculum.

Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum for Science are limited to predicting, planning, conducting, processing, evaluating and communicating data – what’s missing is ‘interpretation’ (Lupton, 2012, p.14). The focus is on gathering data which can better reflect the inquiry process (as opposed to history which emphasises the need to gather information, which implies ‘facts’) (p.15) Science also restricts independent student questioning to a Year 7 start (p.15). Overall, the “role of information literacy is weak” with the emphasis on gathering empirical data through experiments (p.15).

I am especially interested in this as I have selected Year 5 Science for my inquiry learning assignment (Assessment Task 3).  Lupton notes that the US National Research Council identified a need for information literacy but that this has not been reflected in the Australian Curriculum: Science. As such, school science inquiry is not ‘authentic’.

Lupton sees this as an opportunity for the teacher librarian to “unite the strands” of Science Understanding, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills (p.15). I am interested at where the crossovers are between the science inquiry skills and the General Capabilities, especially Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT). This could further support Lupton’s view that “a lost opportunity for ACARA” is a new one for teacher librarians (p.18), as the CCT strand fills in the gaps in the Science curriculum’s Inquiry Skills strand.

References

Lupton, M.(2014)  Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum v6, Access, November. pages 12-18. https://search-informit-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.584040093322031