As we work to give students agency in their own learning, faculty need to have agency in their professional development as well, making it self-directed, exploratory, collaborative and non-judgmental. In other words, when incorporating IBL and PBL into the classroom, risk, reward and sometimes failure are all options. These same concepts that make IBL and PBL exciting are also among the obstacles for developing a Culture of Inquiry or a Deep Learning School. (School ReTool.org)I worked on a change management plan over the summer that sent me down this path of professional development through Learning Communities. I have continued to dig in and read as part of a PLN (Personal Learning Network), not a PLC. To create a culture of inquiry, we must satisfactorily answer the "why should we shift our teaching to IBL/PBL?" question. How do we ensure teachers recognize what inquiry looks like, how it differs from the old project model and its real benefits for learning compared to practices that have worked for some learners in the past? We are challenged to make professional development relevant and engaging. The research and writing about IBL and PBL over the past decade has been prolific. From theory to practice these pedagogies have been examined from all sides. Entire educational industries have grown up around the concept of student-directed, teacher facilitated learning and include some groups with whom we have engaged like the Buck Institue Education and NuVu.
For an upcoming Middle School Divison meeting, I have been asked to create a learning opportunity about IBL that will be meaningful for the faculty, most of whom are in very different places on the spectrum of recognizing, embracing and integrating IBL and PBL in their teaching practice. With all of this information about IBLcluttering my brain and a strong personal commitment to being instrumental in developing a culture of inquiry, I've once again reached my own very real challenge of producing something meaningful and communicating it effectively while still being most comfortable in the information gathering stage. Now to put theory and ideas into practice
I do feel that I know the audience fairly well. And if I've learned anything over these past few months of working with teachers as they add choice, question formulation, reflection and authenticity to their "projects," it is that some are ready to dive in and replace existing "curriculum" with a rich deep dive into a topic, others would prefer small "hacks" (School ReTool) that are moving in the direction of IBL/PBL and still others are in the "this is what's driving me crazy about all of the IBL talk."
With all of that said, how do I make this forty-five minute examination of IBL effective for professional learners who are at very different places in this process? This is really the same challenge teachers face with a classroom full of students. Some are at the end of the diving board ready to dive in, completely comfortable with asking their own questions, defining their information needs, making meaning out of all they learn and communicating effectively through different mediated forms while others are still in the locker room, needing to be guided through the multiple steps and rigorous challenges to get to the diving platform. We also know that we would not send students out to the tip of the diving board without having coached them to the skill sets they will need to be successful. How should this professional development look? Read the next blog post with a framework for teacher agency and inquiry.
Ruebel, K. K. (2012, January). Professional Learning Communities [Blog post]. Retrieved from Association of Middle Level Education website:
School Retool