Inaugural Inquiry Based Learning Cluster Meeting

Dr Adrienne Watson, Deputy Head: Curriculum Innovation and Research, St Stithians Girls’ Preparatory, and Ms Renee Koch, Head of Project Based Learning, Redhill School book-ended proceedings. Dr Watson’s presentation, Feet on the Ground and Eyes on the Stars: the What and the Why of IBL, provided the context for this kind of learning. She divided her presentation into a the ‘stars’, the concepts which we want our pupils to understand, b the ‘grounding’ of the assessment process and, finally, c the planning of the lessons, the ‘play’ aspect.

Ms Renee Koch demonstrated in The Paradox of Structure and Self-directed Learning: Motivation, Theory, Practice how pupils can be encouraged to explore/take risks/think effectively and creatively. She equated uncertainty with creativity and unlimited possibilities. Although pupils need constraints, they definitely require choice.

Marivon Booysen, Grade 4 Coordinator: St Stithians Girls’ Preparatory, and Mr Sean Creamer, Grade 5 Teacher: St Peters Boys’ Preparatory, both discussed how they had used IBL in their respective schools. Mrs Booysen’s presentation, An Emotional Approach to IBL: a Teacher’s Reflection on a Journey of Growth and Discovery for All, had pupils exploring sound and vibrations and a number of subjects, including music and art, could play a role. Sean Creamer focused his boys on the concept of energy and combined IBL and Mind Maps. It was most exciting to see IBL in action in two different schools.