While I have been exposed to inquiry based learning as a student, I do not remember it being a prominent teaching method. For elementary students this is used more often because there are many benefits students will experience socially and developmentally as we saw on the video. I remember being shown a map of America's expansion after settlement, and being asked to decide where you would like to live and why. As a young student my answers gravitated toward "being close to my family," "the "New York Yankees," and things of the like. As adults I am sure we could come up with more in depth reasons of where we would want to live if it was possible, and this might be something I could use in the secondary education system.
I would ask students to look at a map of the world and prompt them with questions about justifications to where they live. These questions would certainly lead to further discussion and inquiries that would not be anticipated.
How interesting that you remembered this classroom experience from your youth - these types of lessons really do make an impact, don't they!
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that inquiry not only involves questions, but also habits of mind - and that the questions ideally are formed by the students themselves (with some guidance from the teacher).