The "I can, we can" cluster day yesterday was very informative and gave an insight to all our cluster members the inquiry journey that Coley Street School in Foxton have been on for the past 4 and 1/2 years. A wonderful example of transformation using inquiry as a basis for curriculum change. We also listened to Ross Kennedy from College Street Normal School in Palmerston North share their journey using Habits of Mind and Hyerle's thinking maps, again another great example of a school's transformation to become more effective centres of learning. On reflection what I would take back to my school is to share the ideas that we heard today and the importance of consistency of thought and process and 'buy-in' by all teachers to make it a success. The benefits to the community locally and to the students are too great to not try Inquiry at our school. The beauty is our school already have a fantastic foundation for great inquiry to occur in that our school culture reflects a positive environment and emphasises Maori tikanga such as tuakana-teina (collaborative learning), whanaungatanga (supportive relationships) and manaakitanga (sharing and caring).
What we will trial at our school:
- Continue with our ICT foundation; having an effective environment for the context of inquiry learning
- Continue with exploring inquiry models, approaches, thinking tools and having ongoing discussions
We will work towards:
- Develop our own Inquiry Model (down the track)
- Visit Inquiry Schools as a staff
- Discuss ways with staff to accentuate displays by incorporating inquiry in these displays/planning with inquiry incorporated.
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