Tag Archives: Guided inquiry
Protected: Assignment 3 Part C: Developing the skills of the future through inquiry learning
Forum 5.3-2 Share your views on Guided Inquiry (GI). What advantages, challenges and/or disadvantages do you see for a teacher librarian wishing to implement a GI approach?
Guided Inquiry (GI) is the framework that teachers and teacher librarians use to help their students deepen their understanding of curriculum content during the information search process. It needs time for the students to be able to choose their own topic or question that will allow them to narrow their search process. The advantages of using GI is the student engagement in their own learning that deepens their understanding. Through collaboration with their teachers, teacher librarians and other students, metacognition skills are also developed which will help students in their lifelong learning journey.
The challenges of implementing GI is time and mindset. Firstly, time to collaborate with the teacher in designing a GI that can be implemented in class and library time that fulfils the curriculum requirement takes planning. Assessment of open ended assignments would also be more time consuming than that taken in assessing traditional research assignments. Time for the students to find their question after the opening, immersion, exploration phases would be a challenge. I can only imagine that students would move through the exploration, identification and gathering phases at very different paces. Some would know immediately and progress, while others might find some blind alleys and need more time.
Both the mindsets of the teacher and the students would also prove to be a possible challenge. Convincing teachers with a closed mindset that there is another way to better results is not always easy, especially if they have been using the same topic based research projects for some time. The students’ mindset that their ideas and questions are of value and the emotions that they are feeling during the information search process are normal could be challenging, especially if their independence and resilience is low.
Forum 5.3 – 1 Discuss either Lupton’s or Bonnano’s analysis and their potential impact on the need for an IL model in your school.
Bonanno (2015) has clearly outlined the Australian Curriculum content descriptors, general capabilities and suggested the introduction of inquiry skills for F-10 in the curriculum areas of History, Geography, Science, Civics & Citizenship, Economics & Business, Design & Technology and Digital Technology, in an easy to read table format. Included in the reading is the core skills and tools of the Guided Inquiry Design Framework with suggested web tools to assist implementation. The progression of implementation of a school based approach to information literacy is evident in all areas.
When there is an information literacy model in place in a school, students would develop and build their inquiry skills to the point that the process becomes natural and transfers across curriculum areas. Unfortunately, not all students are experiencing this progression. Assignments tend to be topic based with little range of choice. When the student identifies the problem or question that they want to answer on the topic they would be more deeply engaged in their learning. However, if method of information literacy is only deployed sporadically across year levels and departments the process would be daunting, for both the teachers and the students.
Bonanno, K. with Fitzgerald, L. (2014) F-10 inquiry skills scope and sequence, and F-10 core skills and tools. Eduwebinar Pty Ltd.
Perspective and Context in Information Literacy
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Behavioural or Sociocultural approach? Skillset or concept? Information literacy is a complicated and has a diversity of definitions and understanding. What has become apparent to me through reading the literature in this module is the importance of perspective and context. These two factors determine our view of information literacy. If our job as teacher librarians is to prepare students for the workforce or further study, we need to focus on the metacognitive skills that will allow students to be adaptive in the changing information landscape that is determined by the context they will be engaging with it. This will give students a broad skillset that is applicable to them in whatever context they find themselves in.
Information literacy instruction needs to instruct students using a behaviourist approach engaging them in contextual applications of the skills required to engage, but include sociocultural aspects of the world we now live in. Context and purpose of information literacy needs to be visible to our students if we want them to transfer their school based information literacy skills into their wider life.
The aspects of skill transfer or lack of it really interested me. Herring (2010) found that although both teachers and teacher librarians recognised the importance of information literacy skills, there was not a collective understanding of what they were, how they should be taught and reinforced with students (p294). If a school as a whole cannot define what it is they want their students to achieve, how can we ask students to be information literate? As teacher librarians I believe that we can be instrumental in initiating and pursuing that our schools have a whole school approach to information literacy as we are specialist who see the across all curriculum covered in the school. Only when students are getting the same instructions and similar experiences across all classes will they understand that the skills they are learning can be transferable not only across subjects but into their personal lives.
Herring, J. (2010). Year seven students, information literacy skills and transfer: a grounded theory (Doctoral dissertation, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga). Retrieved from http://bilby.unilinc.edu.au:1801/webclient/StreamGate?folder_id=0&dvs=1491002155919~448&usePid1=true&usePid2=true
Forum 4.2-3 Collaborative Practice
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When teachers see working with other teachers as a challenge the teacher librarian needs to act as the conduit of change. Finding departments that are willing to work with the teacher librarian or individual teachers who are willing and focus on them, would be the perfect place to start. Use the successes of this collaboration as an add on to other teachers if they are interested. The teacher librarian needs to show that what they are doing supplements and assists the teachers rather than taking away from them and their precious time with students.
Collaboration as a whole school approach allows for the students to develop the fundamental skills that will enable them to thrive in the fast paced innovative world we live in. It forces the system to have a shared vision of student learning and for all compartments within that system to be on the same page. This is where implementing an Information Literacy Model, such as Guided Inquiry Design, across the whole school would help. Collaboration is built into the stages of inquiry, both teachers and students learn the valuable skills of collaboration. Teacher and teacher librarian collaborate on a professional level in planning, implementing and evaluating.
Forum 3.1 – AITSL Standards
As someone who is new to the field of working as a teacher librarian and at the same time new to working in a secondary school setting I find the ASLA evidence guides extremely useful. They ensure that we keep the professional teacher within us accountable. We are both a teacher and a librarian. The tasks that we perform as ‘librarians’ need to be rooted in the education of our students and therefore directly tied to the curriculum and professional standards. We are afforded the rare opportunity of peeking beyond the curtain and witnessing all the key learning areas in all the year levels engage with the curriculum. They can guide my practice, show me what I am achieving well and where I need to improve.
Engaging with teachers in formulating and implementing guided inquiry tasks with the students, teacher librarians actively display all professional standards outlined by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2014). Australian professional standards for teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list
Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (2012). Publications. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/publications/evidence-guides.aspx