Aha! Moment

Yes I've had my own little aha! moment. The lightbulb is flickering due to our essential reading "Introduction to guided Inquiry - What is it, what's new, why now?" Everything we've looked at so far is connected in this article: the roles of the TL; collaboration; leadership, constructivist learning; information literacy; curriculum; the information process etc. Guided Inquiry connects all this together and in my view should be the main instructional framework for all schools.
What challenges do I foresee in the implementation of such an approach? The main one is probably getting everyone on board - teachers, parents, students, executive. I think it would work best as a whole school approach but if that was not happening you could still make a difference with just a few classes and some teacher support. You are also going to get students who lack motivation, no matter what you throw at them but I think it would be great with the majority of students.

Information Process Models with Potential

So what information process models do I feel have potential for use in my school? I cannot be sure until I actually have the chance to use some because it would really depend on the students and their needs. A few things I am certain of however -

• I do not particularly like the one currently promoted by the DET. I have used that on a short term basis and I think in its current form it's a bit impractical and boring. I think a model needs a catchy name (ie PLUS model or BIG6) and there needs to be some great resources to support it thoughout the whole school.
• Whichever model used needs to include the students' perspectives, acknowledge their feelings and reflection.
• Ideally the model needs to be used throughout the school, in all subjects on a regular basis.
• Research by the TL/teachers is essential to gain knowledge in to how the students are learning and using the model.

Inquiry Learning and PBL

I've started reading about inquiry learning, PBL, constructivism, and 21st century learning and what does this mean for us at TLs.

A few points that stand out:

• student centred/student lead


• higher order thinking


• implementation of technology


• collaboration


• 24/7 anywhere,anytime learning


• adapt, adopt, modify


• cyclic inquiry model


• intuitive, deep, conceptual knowledge


• knowledge is created by dynamic interaction with the learning environment


• lifelong learners


• strategies can be interwoven


• student generated questions


• technology


• motivation

Why is this important to TLs?

• related to the information process/info literacy


• show leadership by modelling constructivism strategies


• collaborate with teachers to embed in teaching/learning strategies


• promoted by various pedagogical initiatives


• to help students develop lifelong learning skills in an info-rich environment.

I think as TLs we need to consistently think "outside the box" and consider constructivist strategies whenever we are planning units of work or activities or collaborating with teachers.