Chapters International

Critical to the success of any journey of inquiry is the degree to which the learner is able to both access information and process and communicate ideas. As we inquire, most of the information we encounter is in the form of some kind of text. This might be a podcast, a website, an art work, an article, a piece of music, a novel – anything that contains and communicates ideas to us that helps us investigate our questions.

Sophisticated inquiry-based teachers not only help learners access a range of texts as they explore but teach them HOW to critique and meaning-make as readers, listeners and viewers. Similarly, journeys of inquiry inevitably mean that students are producing texts. Inquiring into HOW to produce those texts in effective ways for real purposes and audiences can become a wonderful ‘layer’ in the integrative inquiry experience. For literacy across the curriculum, students need to familiar with and find out how to use the languages, texts, and literacy practices of different learning areas.

This very practical workshop is designed for generalist teachers working with learners from K-8 and explores the ways in which we can strengthen conceptual understanding, inquiry skills and strengthen reading, viewing, speaking and writing skills throughout a journey of inquiry. Based on the principle of transdisciplinary learning, the workshop will suit generalist classroom teachers or anyone with a role in supporting literacy learning in their school.

Over 4 x 2 hour interactive sessions, participants will explore the following questions:

How can we ensure that our inquiries are supported with a wide range of texts that go beyond ‘googling it’?
How can we use texts to power up skills and dispositions needed for inquiry?
How can we make the most of the texts we bring into the classroom to strengthen our students’ skills as readers, listeners and viewers?
How can we use journeys of inquiry to provide learners with real purposes and audiences for texts they create as writers, artists, designers and composers.
How can we harvest the language composed and produced through inquiry to learn more about how language works?
How can we build a strong repertoire of strategies to support learners in comprehension (meaning making) as they engage with texts in an inquiry?
How can we use texts to help strengthen learner’s skills as critical consumers of information?
How can we strengthen research skills by both accessing and producing authentic texts through an inquiry?
What questions do we need to ask ourselves when selecting texts for an inquiry? How can we ensure representation and multiple perspectives?

Throughout the weekend, participants will be exposed to numerous examples of high-quality texts that link to some common concepts for inquiry and will learn numerous strategies to engage with these texts. There will also be opportunities to share favourite texts with others and grow our collective resource bank.

Note: this workshop will feature texts and strategies in the English language.

Potential Audience:

For classroom educators teaching grades K-8.

KATH MURDOCH

Kath Murdoch is an experienced teacher, author, university lecturer and popular consultant who has worked for many years in schools throughout the world. With a focus on early childhood and primary education, she is widely respected as a leader in the field of inquiry based learning and integrative curriculum in which she has taught, researched and published for over 30 years.

Kath began her professional life as a classroom teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Her fascination in how students' constructed their understandings - and her interest in the way questions and big ideas could drive curriculum soon lead to a passion for integrative and inquiry based methodologies. This passion has become a career-long focus for teaching, research and writing and the methodologies in which Kath specialises are now central to curriculum frameworks in many parts of the world - including the popular International Baccalaureate, PYP program.

Critical to Kath's success is her continued involvement in classroom teaching. Whether it is to demonstrate techniques, coach teachers or build her own repertoire of practices, Kath is committed to regular and ongoing work with students. Her classroom work and research feeds a dynamic and ever-evolving expertise in the area of integrative and inquiry-based learning.

Kath's professional development offerings are diverse. They range from intensive partnerships with schools to develop inquiry programs and practices over several years through to one-day workshops for beginning or experienced inquiry teachers. Whether in her home town of Melbourne or on the other side of the world, working with a team or speaking to a packed auditorium Kath's style is refreshingly practical, inclusive and always connected to the real world of teaching.