Building a Community of Inquirers in your Classroom: Learning from our Global Colleagues

Abstract

Attention to inquiry-based teaching practices has surfaced as one vehicle for supporting the development of critical thinking skills in science classrooms. Despite the endless dialogue, professional development, and standards to support the teaching approach, in practice, inquiry presents teachers with a great challenge.  In fact “there has been a tremendous concern that our efforts are simply not resulting in the desired level of inquiry-based teaching” (Meyer, Meyer, Nabb, Connell & Avery, 2011).  Limiting factors include teacher knowledge and an understanding of inquiry (Anderson 2002; Minstrell and van Zee 2000; Meyer et al., 2011).  Ironically, the global use of this method allows us to learn from how others have overcome these barriers and are making inquirers of their students.  International studies of practices employed by top achieving countries such as Finland and China reveal effective strategies that their teachers use to foster inquiry in their classrooms. This summative analysis offers a rationale for learning from our “global colleagues,” defines the latest emphasis on inquiry-based teaching, and offers strategies for creating a community of inquirers in the science classroom as informed and evidenced by teachers in both China and Finland.