Weekly Blog Post 1

Touring around the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) gave me a new perspective on what inquiry-based education can look like. In a sense it felt like they reimagined education.  My experience with inquiry education has been narrow minded. When I think of inquiry-based learning I remember Friday afternoons spent doing genius hour in grade 6. I remember attempting to learn ASL, knitting, crocheting, sewing, writing, soccer, gymnastics and a variety of other seemingly random hobbies. For me genius hour was time spent goofing off with my friends and trying to find something that interested me. I imagine that the lack of motivation among some students to pick a topic and stay with it would be a common pitfall to this pedagogy. In learning more about PSII through the tour I learned how inquiry-based learning can benefit so many students of diverse needs and bring back the joy of school to learners who do not thrive in a traditional environment. Knowing my younger self, I am not sure if PSII would have been the place for me but I admire and appreciate how it caters to its students and can be a place where so many learners find their stride. 

One of the most useful things I found at PSII was their Inquiry Process model. The model clearly shows the process for inquiry based learning and showed me how inquiry based learning can be structured, assessed, and connected to the curriculum. Although I plan to teach primary grades not the high school grades that PSII teaches, one day I hope to include portions of their inquiry model into my own classroom.