ELC News

Inquiry-based Learning – The ELC Playground

Lyn Pewtress, ELC Coordinator

The meaning of ‘knowing’ has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it. - National Research Council, 2007

There has been much interest from the children  this term over the development of our new ELC playground.  Many of the children have shown a natural desire to learn more about the process; consequently, the groups are focusing on this as a basis for learning. 

One of our key teaching methods is 'inquiry'. Inquiry-based learning is a broad pedagogical approach emphasising the student's role in the learning process. Rather than the teacher telling students what they need to know, students are encouraged to explore the material, ask questions, share ideas and ultimately make meaning. While teachers will guide and provoke the investigation and set parameters, true inquiry is internally motivated.

Characteristics that serve as hallmarks of inquiry-based learning include: 

• Equal emphasis on process (communicating, reflecting, collaborating, analysing) and content.
• Genuine curiosity, wonderment and questioning (by teachers and students) are central.
• Student ‘voice’ is evident.
• Led by the teacher, students are actively involved in constructing understandings through hands-on experiences, research, processing and communicating their understandings in various ways.
• Significant concepts and essential questions are identified which unify knowledge and understandings.
• Students learn from each other, together with others, and from those outside of the classroom context.
• Prior knowledge is ascertained and built upon.

The playground development has been a natural choice for this approach and will continue to ignite further learning.