At the Beginning …

I think inquiry learning is learning which has been initiated by the learner.  It involves their active engagement in the generation of questions, the answers to which bring about learning.  “I want to learn about V8 Super Cars.  I think I need to know what the V8 stands for first!”

On the other hand, information literacy relates to the knowledge of the process of obtaining information.  “So, I know what I need to find out … how do I go about finding the answers?”  It goes further than this.  Once this information has been selected it contributes to the formulation of new knowledge.

As a recently appointed Teacher Librarian, I am greatly interested in this topic.  I acknowledge that both inquiry-based learning and information literacy are central to the practice of a teacher librarian.  The Australian School Libraries Association stipulates policy regarding the implementation of guided inquiry in Australian school libraries.  Further, the Australian Curriculum stipulates the use of inquiry-based learning in their curriculum documents.  For example: “Geography will use inquiry-based learning to develop students’ capacity for self-management.  This gives students a role in directing their own learning and in planning and carrying out investigations, and enables them to become independent learners who can apply geographical understanding and skills to decisions they will have to make in the future.”

At what point can you say that you know a great deal about information literacy and inquiry learning?  I suppose because I am asking such a question suggests that I do not know anywhere near as much as I ought.  I can acknowledge that I can take fairly effective notes and I use an electronic notebook which allows me to search my notes.  This is particularly useful when I am planning a response.  Sometimes I cannot quite remember the name of the article in which I read information that I want to retrieve.  Remembering a term or key word is all I need to find the exact quote I am after.  My electronic notebook’s software also allows me to easily cite and generate a bibliography.  On the other hand, I am frustrated by those people [my husband!!] who can walk up to Google and simply ask the question directly to the “Googleiser” and in a matter of seconds … BANG … the answer they are after is delivered.

         So here we go …

A search of Google on “inquiry learning” reveals 62,200,000 results in 0.25 seconds!  Here are the top three results:

• Inquiry Learning | Developing Units of Work | Curriculum Planning …
• Inquiry Learning
• Inquiry-based Learning:  Explanation

… Will a six-month unit be enough?

I do have a number of questions I would like resolved by the end of this unit.

Firstly, how do all these concepts (below) fit together?  How are they related?  I want to tease this jumbled mass apart and bring order (in my own mind) to these concepts/approaches/ideals/models.

I have been inspired by reports of how students can produce meaningful products which make a difference; not only to themselves but also to their community.  What does that really look like?  What are the most effective processes for making that happen in our classrooms?

How do I go about orchestrating an information/inquiry continuum from Year 5 to 12?  What would such a continuum look like?