Guided-inquiry learning (GI) aims to promote learning through student research and investigation. (CEEBL, 2010). While a relatively simple construct, GI learning can have various challenges and advantages in its application (Kuhlthau, 2012). Inquiry learning can provide more opportunities for students to engage in classroom content and gain a sense of ownership. Teachers can encourage students to become efficient researchers and prepare them for life outside of school grounds. This is why in my personal opinion that applying GI learning can be effective in all aspects of school education, especially with teacher librarians (TL).
A TL’s role in helping students access and interpret information by themselves is crucial to the student’s learning and education experience. Time, planning and research are central in determining the structuring of teaching content, and passing onto students their own ability to navigate the content themselves. This is especially important considering the immense collection of resources available for both students and teachers. (Oddone, 2016)
With growing importance to learning in the Australian curriculum, the role of a TL in educating students and teachers alike in inquiry learning is essential. (Lupton, 2012). With growing need for students to navigate the increasingly digital and print world around them, the need to educate about accessing information is critical. Especially with other sources quoting the rapid changes in technology and information access (Oddone, 2016), (Southworth, 2013).
Navigating the world of education has personally been a challenge for myself. Most of my education experiences from the perspective of a teacher have been limited to a practicum and the occasional casual position held for up to a Term at a time in different schools. And this was more than 3 years ago.
While my main workplace position has allowed me to create content based on the Australian Curriculum guidelines for academic tutoring, the content I create has to be outcome based leaning in order to monitor student learning and be able to explain content quickly and efficiently (D2L, 2016). With my limited time frame to teach a class in a school context, it can be difficult to plan ahead to allow students to find the answers themselves and adopt approaches of GI learning.
Even from a student’s perspective, the thought of inquiry learning made a lot of students feel on edge. It personally felt like we were being let loose without a clear direction. While GI learning can provide a sense of self-worth and motivation towards learning, without correct application, the navigation of diverse content can leave students feeling overwhelmed.
Lupton (2013, p. 10) highlights these feeling of inexperience and fear for both students and teachers when applying inquiry based learning as an information model. The risks can be high. Inquiry learning can lead to more questions than answers. Students may not find one clear concrete answer. The control of learning is left to students. Teachers are left unknowing if students have retained/learned the essential skills required. (Lupton, 2013, p. 10)
I believe that while there may be some challenges in applying GI learning into classroom practice, the pros outweigh the cons. The role of a TL is a diverse position. They are responsible for being curriculum leaders, information specialists and information service managers (ASLA, 2014). They are to me individuals who help bridge the gap between finding and learning knowledge.
TL’s can foster students’ abilities to function and navigate a 21st century world with the help of GI learning. The combination of utilising print and digital forums for student centred learning with information access and interpretation I believe further proves the argument that TL’s are essential in any school environment.
While there are a variety of models used in education to empower students with information, GI learning allows research and learning completed in a flow pattern. With one concept naturally leading onto the next phase and can be used back and forth in the learning process (Maniotes, 2017). While GI learning is just one idea of learning, it is an effective tool in facilitating student centred learning.
The one main experience I have with effective GI learning within the library was a mini unit program targeted at Year 7 students. The lessons were held during student’s pastoral care and went for the course of 5 lessons. These lessons were run by the librarians at the school and the lessons were to guide students with using the library; not seeing it as a place for reading, but for learning and education.
Students were given a small booklet which went through different activities. These tasks were sometimes group work, individual searching, or whole class centred work. The librarians had given students a task to complete and it was their job to utilise the libraries resources and information to come to their own conclusions.
While some elements of the activities were Project Based Learning (Buck Institute for Education, 2017), the majority of the tasks required students to work together or individually to answer a single question as the theme of the lesson. The librarians and pastoral care teacher were there if students had questions. Most students if not all responded well with the task. It helped teachers identify strengths and weaknesses amongst students and those who struggled were able to ask for assistance from both their teachers and their peers. They were more likely to retain the information after the unit was complete, and students were able to keep the workbooks to help them as a reference point when they had to complete projects of their own.
While I have not been regularly updating my blog, I have been enjoying reading some of the other members of the group writing and sharing their own experiences in teaching and applying different methods to engage students. Whether it be success or failure, their passion for applying theory into practice makes for strong motivation to stick it out till the end. Perhaps I need to employ my own GI learning model to ensure that I stay on task for the rest of my degree.
References:
ASLA. (2014, March 2). What is a teacher librarian? Retrieved from Australian School Library Association: http://www.asla.org.au/advocacy/what-is-a-teacher-librarian.aspx
Becker, N. J. (2017, August 20). “Information access” computer sciences. Retrieved from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/information-access
CEEBL. (2010, 6 30). What is enquiry-based learning? Retrieved from The university of manchester: http://www.ceebl.manchester.ac.uk/ebl/
D2L. (2016, September 26). Unboxing outcomes-based dducation. Retrieved from D2L: https://www.d2l.com/en-apac/blog/whats-outcomes-based-education/
Education, B. I. (2017). What is project based learning (PBL)? Retrieved from Buck Institute for Education: http://www.bie.org/about/what_pbl
Hamilton, B. J. (2011). Creating conversations for learning: school libraries as sites of participatory culture. School Library Monthly, 27(8), 41-43.
Kuhlthau, C. M. (2012). The research behind the design, in guided inquiry design: A framework for inquiry in your school. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Lupton, M. (2012). Inquiry skills in the australian curriculum. Access. Vol. 26, no. 2, 12–18.
Lupton, M. (2013). Teacher librarians’ understandings of inquiry learning. Access (10300155). Vol. 29, Issue 4, 12.
Maniotes, L. K. (2017). Why GID? Retrieved from Guided Inquiry Design: http://guidedinquirydesign.com/gid/
Oddone, K. (2016). “The importance of school libraries in the Google Age” Connections. Retrieved from SCIS: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_98/feature_article/importance_of_school_libraries_in_google_age.html
Southworth, A. J. (2013). speaking my mind: poised to partner: the 21st-century school librarian. The English Journal, Vol. 102, No. 5, 94-96.
Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2007). Motivation in Learning and Teaching. In A. Woolfolk, & K. Margetts, Educational Psychology 2nd Edition (pp. 372-418). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.