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A Complete Guide To Inquiry-Based Learning

teacher and students in discussionEvery teacher would love to see their students totally engrossed in the task at hand, asking meaningful and pertinent questions, and then looking for the answers themselves.  Sound like an impossible dream? Perhaps not!  Inquiry-based learning seeks to do just that – engaging students in their learning process by having them asking questions that are meaningful for them and then helping them to find the answers.

 

What is inquiry-based learning?

We all know that engaging students in their learning process improves their learning.  Having students listening quietly to our explanations and then asking questions usually produces complete silence, and maybe another long explanation on our part.  Inquiry-based learning turns this process around, presenting students with an interesting topic, helping them identify what they already know, and then having them ask the questions that are important to know more.

 

What is the teacher’s role?

This doesn’t mean that the teacher’s role ends with presenting a topic. On the contrary, there is an important and central role for the teacher to play.  It simply has been removed from center stage to the side or back of the room, a role more of monitor and facilitator than only that of a provider of information.  It is important to identify where the students’ questions are taking them and make sure that they aren’t coming up with misinformation or a wrong idea about how the world, and English, work!

 

Empowering students to shape their future

What will students need more in the future, the ability to take notes and repeat what the teacher tells them, or to be able to find answers to questions that are important for them? I think we can all agree on the second reason.

Part of this involves having students work together collaboratively, to develop the skills needed to work with others, with each person making key contributions to solving the task.

 

Getting started

Many teachers find it difficult to let go of control in the class, perhaps thinking that their students don’t have the necessary level of maturity or motivation to work in a more self-directed way.  This might come from our previous experience when we have tried to encourage greater student autonomy and not found a very positive response.

Large classes and strict supervision from authorities might strengthen this idea that a more student-centered class is not possible.

I would encourage you to try an inquiry-based approach in developing a learner-centered environment. It doesn’t have to be a choice of all or nothing at all but can be done in small steps.   Try starting by having your students be the ones to ask a question about the topic the lesson centers on.  If the topic is Wild animals, have them each write down something they know about wild animals and something they would like to find out about them.  Using K-W-L charts is an excellent way to help them visualize the information.

 

Seeing the benefits

Using inquiry-based learning in the classroom will help your students feel more engaged in the class, and more in charge of their own learning process.  They realize that they are learning things they want to know, rather than just mechanically repeating what someone else thinks they should know. This will encourage them to see learning as a life-long activity, rather than just some boring classroom requirement.

 

Inquiry-based learning in the Secondary classroom

Secondary age learners are more mature and aware of their learning than younger learners. This can help develop greater autonomy in these learners.  Providing opportunities to reflect on their learning is also important at this age.  This can be done through self-assessment activities, or specifically designed questions that allow students to see their progress, and how they made that progress. Fostering these aspects (autonomy and reflection) can increase their motivation for learning in general, and learning English in particular.  They can also see a closer link to what they are learning and what happens in their lives outside of school, opening their awareness of global skills that they need to acquire.  Providing our learners with more opportunities to experiment with the language, and make decisions themselves also shifts the responsibility of learning to the learners themselves.

 

Are you interested in teaching with a course that uses an inquiry-based approach? You can find our new title, Oxford Discover Futures, here:

 

Find out more

 

Barbara Bangle is originally from the United States but has lived and worked in Mexico for many years. She is the former director of the CELe language institute at the University of the State of Mexico (UAEMex) and has spent the past 35 years both teaching English and working in the field of Teacher Education.


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Assessing in the primary classroom

We often talk about the teaching-learning process as if it was just one thing, but we know that even though they are closely related, they are two different processes. Assessment is a third process that is intimately related to these two, so I’d like to say just a bit about learning and teaching first, and then take a look at assessment.

Understanding learning

In recent years we have all been presented with workshops, ideas, and materials that are aimed at helping to bring about changes in the way we teach, leaving behind the very “teacher-centered” classrooms of the past and working towards increasing the “learner-centeredness” that educators (and most teachers) believe will lead to greater learning.  After all, education is about learning, not what the teacher already knows. 

This change reflects a better understanding of the learning process; learning, and especially language learning, does not come about as a result of a series of rewards and punishments for certain behavior. It involves a mental effort to comprehend new information – words and structures – and connect the new to what we already know. We learn by building on our previous knowledge and using that knowledge to make sense of the new knowledge.

Changes in teaching

This understanding of learning as a construction of knowledge on the part of the student, and not a simple transmission of the knowledge from the teacher to the learner, has changed the way we teach.  We don’t base the class on rote memorization, we try to scaffold our students’ learning through activating their prior knowledge of the topic, structuring the learning tasks so that they lead to improved development of understanding.

If there are changes in our teaching practice then necessarily the way we assess the learning that is going on needs to evolve and change, also.  Reliance on an end of unit written test is not going to be the best indicator of what has been learned.

The assessment process

Assessment is how a teacher gathers information about what the students know, what they can do, their attitudes and beliefs, and what they have learned.   Gathering this information is important for a variety of reasons.  First of all, we need to inform the parents, the administration, and society in general of how much learning is going on in our classrooms, we could call this an administrative reason. 

In addition, this information is of key importance for us as teachers – it can be reliable feedback on our teaching techniques and strategies.  Does our teaching match the way our students are learning? 

Finally, and probably most importantly, assessment is a way for students to receive feedback on how well they are learning.

Assessing learning

Teachers assess before even teaching anything to have an understanding of what the students already know, both what is correct and what misconceptions they might have.  This helps by allowing the teacher to better plan the lessons – finding a starting point for the new information.  It helps the students prepare to learn new information by getting them to think about what they already know.  Putting this information up on a K-W-L chart is a good way to let everyone show what they know and find out what others know.

As the class is progressing it is important to continue to assess, to ensure that students are understanding and making sense of what is going on in the class. Asking students to put into their own words what has been going on, or explain to a classmate, while the teacher is monitoring, are just two ways to check this.

After teaching takes place there are still many options for assessing besides giving your students a test. One way is the use of portfolios.  Portfolios are examples of use or production of language that are chosen by the student as representing their best effort.

Project work is another way to assess – not only does it integrate the language skills, but it also gives students an opportunity to use their XXI century skills too.  Critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity are all incorporated in project work.  Project work allows students to see more real-world applications of what they are learning.

Using a project or a portfolio for assessment means that we as teachers need to inform students very clearly of the criteria that will be used. Having a rubric that will allow the teacher to identify how well those criteria have been met gives the assessment process more reliability.

Conclusions

Assessment is sometimes the part of the teaching-learning process that is not discussed much. We teachers put a lot of time into planning our lessons, finding or preparing the materials to be used, making sure our instructions are clear, and in general working hard to create interesting and engaging classes. Using the appropriate assessment techniques to see if all this work has been worth the effort is just as important.

I encourage you to venture beyond “tests” and try a variety of assessment techniques.

Barbara Bangle is originally from the United States but has lived and worked in Mexico for many years. She is the former director of the CELe language institute at the University of the State of Mexico (UAEMex), and has spent the past 35 years both teaching English and working in the field of Teacher Education.

In addition to currently being an academic consultant for Oxford University Press, she has been a Speaking Examiner for the Cambridge University exams, and is co-author of several English language teaching books. In addition to working free-lance for Oxford University Press, she currently holds a full-time teaching position at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Mexico.


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On being a Mother and a Teacher | Barbara’s story

I have been a teacher for the better part of my life, and it has been both a rewarding, and at times, frustrating experience. In that sense, it is very similar to being a mother. In both cases, you feel responsible for the child’s development (on different scales) and you rejoice in their successes as well as feeling disappointed with them when they fail. I have always thought that being a professional woman – working outside the home – with all the responsibilities and demands that this involves, has been important for my role as a mother.

It has given me insight into other people’s child-rearing ideas, has given me more opportunities to grow and mature as an individual (not that a stay-at-home mom doesn’t) and has allowed my children to develop as independent individuals because I haven’t hovered over them or given them 100% of my time and attention. It has made me cherish the time we do have together and use it to the best advantage.

The biggest difference I see is probably on the level of emotional attachment. Although you come to care deeply about your students, it is nothing like the all-encompassing love that a mother has for her child. You know that the relationship with your students is temporary, while you hope that the one with your children will last your lifetime.

I think that being a mother has allowed me in my role as a teacher to understand some of the conflicts that arise in the classroom – between students and between the students and me as the teacher. As my own children grew older, it has given me the reassurance that no one stays a teenager forever, that kids will eventually grow up and mature, and appreciate what is around them.

All women face challenges in their careers, being a mother simply adds another dimension to this. There were times when I could not attend my own children’s school or activity performances because there was something equally demanding of my time at work.

I went back to school to finish my formal education when my children were in their teens and still living at home, and this meant that I wasn’t always available for them. But I always felt that they (and my husband of 46 years now) were very supportive of all my endeavors, and they never expressed any resentment towards my working or studying.  I think, sometimes, my kids were even proud to point out their mother as a teacher.

To the teachers who are about to become a mother – congratulations! There is nothing in the world that compares to the love you give your child, and the love they give to you (but be prepared to never have a good night’s sleep ever again! The concern for a child’s welfare never ends, no matter how old they get). Feel proud of your work as a teacher, so you can instill in your own children the value of an education, and respect for the people that devote their time providing it.

Barbara Bangle is originally from the United States, but has lived and worked in Mexico for the past 35 years. She holds a Masters of Arts in Education from Universidad de las Americas and a B.A. in English Language Teaching from Thames Valley University. Barbara has a long, successful career in ELT having taught English at all levels and in different contexts, including Teacher Training at the highest levels. She works for Oxford University Press as a freelance academic consultant.