Curriculum as Inquiry - part 2

 Writing is a tool for thinking - Kathy Short and Carolyn Burke

Here are some more thoughts based on my reading about Curriculum as Inquiry.  This is another section that really stood out as I was reading:

Change for us begins with ... feelings of tension.  Something isn't right but we are not quite sure what it is.  Over time we begin to get a sense of what is bothering us and so we take action.  What often happens, however, is that our first steps stay within the same paradigm of beliefs and ... lead to a surface change in actions ... The same issues are present when educators mistake their initial changes in action within the same paradigm of beliefs for substantive changes across paradigms of beliefs.  When they make this mistake they are prevented from inquiring into and making the deeper and more substantive changes that are needed to transform themselves and society.  They need to keep inquiring, not assume they have the answers.

Last year I had quite a number of discussions about the difference between inquiry, research and fact finding.  PYP schools are committed to inquiry, but in some cases what is actually happening in some of these schools, what people think inquiry is, really isn't quite there yet.  It is just as mentioned in the passage above, there has been some change, some action, but they need to continue to reflect and to seek out others who are on the same journey in order to "think together, not just cooperatively work together".  We move forward by listening carefully to each other and by working together towards understanding what curriculum as inquiry really is.

Photo Credit:  Mask in Progress by Joel Cooper