12 / 32
10
Havergal College
W
hen you think back to your school days, do you
remember your favourite project? What was your
topic? What made the experience so special? This
positive school memory probably involved a real-world
application that engaged your emotions, nurtured your curiosity
and stretched your thinking. It was likely research-based, which
allowed you to gain depth and breadth in a specific area of
interest, and included opportunities to share your learning with
peers and family. Learning experiences like this, that foster wonder
and excitement, continue to be an essential part of our students’
academic experience. Current best practices in teaching and
learning and a shift towards a culture of collaboration in which
students and educators share the responsibility for learning,
have made this process even more exciting, student-driven and
meaningful—we call it Guided Inquiry.
When, as adults, our current Grade 2 students reflect upon their
remarkable school moments, it would not be surprising if they
recall their recent inquiry-based study on the growth and changes
in animals, which has affectionately become known as The
Penguin Project. When the initial instructional team—consisting
of the Grade 2 Core teachers, Yvonne Stephens and Larissa
McIntyre, the Visual Arts teacher, Rosa Mastri and myself—sat
down to plan this integrated unit, we concentrated on designing
meaningful learning activities that would focus on the “big ideas”
and place student interests, questions and connections at the
centre of learning. The goal was to use the curriculum as a vehicle
to create rich and engaging learning opportunities that develop
the values, dispositions and skills needed to be knowledge builders
and innovative problem solvers. The teachers understood that
the nature of inquiry-based learning required them to accept and
plan for the unexpected as student needs and interests presented
themselves; however, even with this in mind, no one could
have predicted the passionate and student-driven path this
Grade 2 unit would take.
Student-Driven Learning
A Penguin
Story
By Nicole Davies, Inquiry and Literacy Teacher
Current best practices in teaching
and learning and a shift towards a
culture of collaboration in which
students and educators share the
responsibility for learning, have made
this process even more exciting,
student-driven and meaningful.
“
“
Missy McCleary / Larissa McIntyre’s (on leave) Grade 2 class
Junior School