Chapters International

Overview:

Inquiry-based teaching and learning and differentiation share many beliefs, attitudes, and practices that can be important in engaging learners from a wide range of cultures, interests, strengths, and entry points. For example, both are learner-centered and learning-centered, both aim to create a classroom environment that is safe, respectful, empathetic, collaborative, and responsive to learners’ strengths, interests, cultures, entry points, and needs. Both advocate flexible use of materials and time. Both stress the foundational role of formative assessment in supporting both teacher and learner agency. Both models are also aspirational in that they have high expectations for both teacher and student growth.

Still, teachers who are already inquiry-focused in their orientation, those who are beginning the journey toward leading an inquiry-focused classroom and who are simply exploring the possibilities of inquiry frequently grapple with some pivotal questions, for example:

What prior content learning is necessary before students are ready to work successfully as inquirers, and how can I address students’ varied points of development with key knowledge and skills?
In what ways can I think about time use in an inquiry based-setting when I feel a responsibility to ensure that students master content standards?
How can I best ensure consistent forward movement in content learning for students who bring learning challenges with them into the classroom?
How can I ensure that students with advanced knowledge are stretched through inquiry? How can I ensure that every student is challenged through inquiry?
How can I determine which skills and habits of mind are most important for an inquiry when individual learners are markedly different in their development of those skills?
What does a good balance between student and teacher voice look, sound, and feel like in an inquiry-based classroom when students vary widely in academic, intellectual, emotional, and social development as well as interests?
How can I best encourage a broad range of learners to aim for quality work and work products?
What are effective ways to assess learner growth in inquiry-based classrooms when that growth will necessarily vary significantly across learners? In what ways can formative assessment help me teach more effectively and help each student learn more effectively?
How can I communicate effectively with a student and his/her parents/caregivers about their student’s achievement? How can I help them understand the role of both inquiry and differentiation in supporting their learner’s growth?

AGENDA:

(All sessions will include both foundational knowledge and exploration of classroom examples of differentiation in inquiry-based classrooms as well as time to talk with colleagues and pose questions for the instructor.)

Session 1 - Exploring intersections between inquiry and differentiation; the importance of learning environment in both inquiry and differentiation

Session 2 - Thinking about curriculum, inquiry, and differentiation; Managing time use to address goals of inquiry and differentiation

Session 3 - The role of formative assessment in inquiry and differentiation to support both teacher and learner growth

Session 4 - Talking with students about the role of inquiry and differentiation in their learning and partnering with students to ensure a classroom in which students support and learn from one another

Potential Audience:

The webinar is designed for teachers in K-12 who are experienced practitioners of inquiry-based instruction and those who are new to the practice or who are contemplating use of inquiry in their more “traditional” classrooms. It should also be useful to instructional coaches who work with teachers in diverse inquiry-based classrooms and to learning specialists (such as those who support students with learning challenges, English-learners, advanced learners). In addition, the sessions should contribute meaningfully to growth of school leaders in contexts where inquiry common practice as well as contexts where inquiry is of emerging interest.

CAROL ANN TOMLINSON

Carol Ann Tomlinson is William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education and Human Development where she served as a Program Coordinator, Department Chair, and as Co-Director of the University Institutes on Academic Diversity. Prior to joining the faculty at UVa, she was a public school teacher for 21 years. During that time, she taught students in high school, preschool, and middle school and also administered programs for struggling and advanced learners. She was Virginia Teacher of the Year in 1974.

Carol was named Outstanding Professor at Curry in 2004 and received an All-University Teaching Award in 2008. In 2024 she was #12 on the Education Week Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings of 200 university-based academics who are contributing most substantially to public debates about schools and schooling. In that same list, she was ranked as 4th most influential voice in Curriculum, and Instruction. She is author of over 300 books, book chapters, articles, and other educational materials focused on differentiation and inclusion, curriculum, and assessment. Her books are available in 14 languages. Carol works throughout the United States and internationally with educators who seek to create classrooms that are more effective with academically diverse student populations.