Part C: Reflective Practice

Before beginning this topic, I understood inquiry learning as an outside observer of the International Baccalaureate (IB), a Primary teacher guided by the England National Curriculum, watching Secondary teachers moving into this approach after GCSEs. We use the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) to teach through projects and have started to move towards a concept-based approach to teaching and learning by Dr H Lynn Erickson and Dr Lois A Lanning. This introduction to inquiry prepared me for modules 3 and 4 of ETL401, but it was still a new way of teaching to me and continues to be.

I was undoubtedly unaware of the number of years that research focused on inquiry learning and its importance for curriculum development. Knowing how to introduce 21st-century skills into teaching and already appreciating the importance of these skills to ensure our students are prepared for life after education, I had not realised that various inquiry learning models had been created and adapted to support this, such as Guided Inquiry Design process and FOSIL as a starting point and how these have often been developed from an information literacy perspective.

The acknowledgement of information literacy as a fundamental aspect of lifelong learning, as discussed through the Alexandria Proclamation, was something I was able to relate to. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (2005) states that information literacy enables individuals from various backgrounds to actively pursue, assess, utilise, and proficiently generate knowledge to accomplish their own societal, professional, and educational objectives, viewing it as an essential human entitlement in the digital realm and fostering the incorporation of all nations.

As an educator in an international school with students transiting from all over the world, this statement could not resonate with me more. Our goal is to provide continuous learning and empower our students, and this is something I see coming through in the inquiry learning models. However, we could argue that there is a newfound pressure on teachers to understand and adapt to new approaches to teaching immediately. I found some of the demands addressed by Gonski (2018) to the Australian curriculum very relatable, whereby teachers are required to incorporate the teaching of broad capabilities into specific learning areas, with the implementing and evaluating of the General Capabilities in education considered an exceedingly intricate undertaking. Teachers must comprehensively comprehend how to instruct these talents and provide captivating content that promotes progress in both academic subjects and overall skills. We are expected to effectively integrate the teaching of General Capabilities into various learning areas, as the relevance of general skills differs across each of these. I wonder if we, as educators, have been prepared for this change in expectation and curriculum demands and how we can be supported successfully through these developments.

I found the Information Fluency Framework from the New South Wales Department of Education. (2022) was fascinating to read, primarily as it focused on teachers’ and teacher librarians’ perspectives. When looking at the teacher librarian’s role in inquiry learning, its strength was serving as a tool to facilitate this collaboration and guarantee that learning is genuine and suitable for each stage. I appreciated how it still emphasised the importance of young children acquiring essential skills to navigate information sources, as Laretive (2019) addressed and highlighted the importance of engaging with, creating and utilising information and technology across various platforms. As we have moved to a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) model for Year 4 upwards, we have seen gaps in the student’s abilities to access technology effectively, with the Year 5 and Year 6 students needing more support than Year 4. Again, it makes me question how we have prepared teachers to guide this process and how collaboration with teacher librarians appears even more critical and necessary.

Moving forward, I am interested in delving further into the FOSIL inquiry model and how this can support the development and understanding of students’ research and the skills required to succeed. Linking concepts will hopefully provide more opportunities for self-research and, in turn, engage the students more effectively.

References

Gonski, D., Arcus, T., Boston, K., Gould, V., Johnson, W., O’Brien, L. Perry, L., Roberts, M., (2018) Through Growth to Achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools. Australian Government, Canberra. https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-schools-package/resources/through-growthachievement- report-review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2005, 9 November). Beacons of the information society: The Alexandria Proclamation on information literacy and lifelong learning. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions,. https://www.ifla.org/publications/beacons-of-the-information-society-the-alexandria-proclamation-on-information-literacy-and-lifelong-learning/

Laretive, J. (2019). Information literacy, young learners and the role of the teacher librarian. Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, 68(3), 225-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2019.1649795

New South Wales Department of Education. (2022). Information Fluency framework. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/media/documents/Information_fluency_framework.pdf