Community of Inquiry

Workshop

with Philip Cam

An Outline of Basic Procedures

 for Collaborative Inquiry
Begin with a warm-up: This is a brief activity to prepare students for the lesson,
often dealing with one or more focus skills.
Introduce a stimulus: The subject matter needs to be introduced in such a way as
to stimulate questions about issues and ideas.
Set the agenda: Assist the students to identify issues or problems and ask
questions for discussion. Help them to organize their questions into an agenda for
discussion.
Guide discussion: The teacher should aim to facilitate dialogue amongst the
students, through which they generate responses to the question under discussion
and explore and evaluate those suggestions. In order to extend and help structure
discussion the teacher will need a Discussion Plan. The discussion should involve
the students in both critical and creative thinking, some aspects of which are
indicated below.
Creative Critical
• generate questions • explore disagreement
• raise suggestions • give reasons
• imagine alternatives • consider implications
• formulate criteria • apply criteria
• make connections • weigh evidence
• build on other’s ideas • question assumptions

Introduce activities or exercises: An activity may be introduced at an appropriate

point to give greater depth and structure to the discussion of a concept, problem or
issue. Exercises may also be used to focus attention on a focus skill. Exercises and
activities may be incorporated into the discussion or run separately. They normally
involve work in pairs or small groups.
Provide closure: Closure is usually provided by way of reflection on the work
carried out. It should involve student evaluation of the progress made in addressing
the question or issue under discussion or having students assess one or more
aspects of their social and intellectual conduct. It is often useful to do this as a
group, but teachers may also make use of written work, including responses in
reflection logs.
 Some Basic Rules
Only one person speaks
at a time.
Pay attention to the person who is speaking.

Give other people a

chance to speak.
Build students
Speak to other upon other
rather than to the teacher.
people’s ideas.
No put-
downs.

Some Basic Tools

Questions: Identifying and asking open intellectual questions as well as
using procedural questions in discussion.

Suggestions: Offering suggestions by way of answer to a topic question.

Reasons: Giving reasons for what is said using ‘because’.

Agreement/Disagreement: Expressing and exploring agreement and/or

disagreement with other’s opinions.

Examples: Giving examples to illustrate or support what is said.

Counterexamples: Giving examples to show that a generalization is wrong.

Distinctions: Making distinctions when necessary in discussion.

Thought experiments: Using “What if…” or “Suppose that…” to examine

ideas, issues and problems in terms of imagined possibilities or scenarios.

Class Level: Year 4 Number of children: 30

Content learning outcome(s): Students to have a deeper understanding of what makes something fair or not
fair.
Specific inquiry skill(s): Specific social skill(s):
Reason giving using ‘because’ Building on other’s ideas
Duration Lesson 1 Outline Resources

10 mins (1) Introduction to Rules & Tools Rule & tool cards

(2) Warm-up Activity

nil
5 mins Explaining with ‘because’. Round starting with ‘The boy jumped
into the lifeboat because…’

10 mins (3) Stimulus for the lesson

reading time Copy of the book
It’s not fair by Pat Thomson

15 mins (4) Gathering questions and setting an agenda Paper and markers

Duration Lesson 2 Outline Resources

(1) Discussion based on selected student question(s)

Possible supplementary questions:

1. Was it fair for the farmer’s wife to put the cat out of the
15 min Koosh ball
house?
“because” icon
2. Was it fair of the farmer to send the cat out for what it
Rule cards
did to his chair when he had let it back in after all the
other things it did?
3. Were the other animals fair to the farmer?
4. Was it fair that the cat was allowed to be in the house
when the other animals weren’t?
5. What makes an action fair or not fair?

(2) Exercise or Activity Floor Set of scenarios

20 min Fair/Not Fair/?
“Is it fair?” Small group activity feeding into class discussion to
further uncover criteria for an action being fair.

5 mins (3) Closing activity/ reflection “Thumbs”

How well did we do today in giving reasons? nil

How well did we go at building upon others ideas?

Conceptual Exploration: Is it fair?

This activity asks students to judge whether a scenario is fair or not fair. Divide the class
into groups of three or four students and give each group given a card containing one of
the scenarios. Allow the groups no more than ten minutes to discuss whether their case is
fair or unfair and to write out the reasons for their decision a large sheet of paper for
presentation to the class. If the members of the group cannot agree, they should write
down their conflicting reasons. (Butchers paper and a heavy marking pen are best.)

Before you resume your discussion circle, place a piece of card marked “FAIR” at one end,
one marked “UNFAIR” at the other end, and a third marked “?” in the middle, and ask the
groups to place their cards where they think they belong, making sure that any group
which has not reached agreement places their card in the middle. Now invite a group to
present its findings and to field discussion of the reasons for its decision. When the group
presents its findings, and during the discussion, you should assist the class to recover
any criteria that are being used to apply the concept of fairness in making a judgment as to
why what happened in the scenario was fair or not fair.

Discuss as many cases as time permits, adding to and refining your list of criteria as you
go. The discussion should end with a list of criteria for what makes something fair or not.

        
No one would own up to having  Although Robert worked 
broken the classroom window,  very hard at school, he 
so the whole class was made to  nearly always received 
clean up the school yard. very poor marks.

Naomi found some money in  Bethany knew who had 
the playground and handed it  broken the classroom 
to the teacher. As no one  window, but she wouldn’t tell. 
came to collect the money, the  So the teacher punished her.
Maria stole something 
Jackson pulled the cat’s tail, 
from you, and so you steal 
and the cat scratched him.
something from her.

Since Sally’s brother is older  Lola writes wonderful stories 
than she is, he is allowed to  without even trying. She won 
stay up later than her. the school writing prize.

Scaffolding for Question Formation with Young Children

Example: “Ask 3 Questions”
 Procedure: After reading the story, teacher asks three questions:
•What were you thinking about when you were listening to that story?
•What things did you like about, or agree with, in the story?
•What things did you not like, or disagree with, in the story?

• The teacher underlines words used by the children that would be suitable to
ask a question about.
• The children then ask a ‘big’ question.
 Activity: What kind of question am I?

Procedure:
1. Make up Question Quadrant questions of all four kinds in relation to a story
that you will read to the class. (Alternatively, have the students make up the
questions.) Write these questions on pieces of card so that they will be legible
from across the room. You will need half the number of questions as you have
students in your class.
2. Lay the Question Quadrant out on the floor and explain it to the class if it is
unfamiliar. Say that you will be reading a story and then handing out questions
that they will be asked to place on the quadrant.
3. Read the story.
4. Distribute the question cards, one to each pair of students, reminding them
that they are to discuss where their question belongs on the Question
Quadrant.
5. When the students are ready, go around the class, having each pair read their
question and place it where they think it belongs. Ask each pair to justify their
decision. If they are unable to reach agreement or are unsure where to place
their question, ask them to give their reasons for this, and then have them
seek help from the class.
6. Always check for any disagreement or uncertainty in the class before going on
to the next pair.

“LOOK & SEE” “BRAINSORMING”

QUESTIONS QUESTIONS

The answer is in the book. Any sensible answer will do.

There is only one There are a number of

right answer possibilities

The answer can be found in some We will need to spend time

other reliable source. discussing it.

“ASK AN EXPERT” “NEED TO DISCUSS”

QUESTIONS QUESTIONS
 Exploring an Issue

MORE ACCEPTABLE
Lying

You
Youknow
tell a that
big fat
thelie
person
to yourasking
little
you
sister
forjust
help
to has
see often
how she’ll
lied toreact.
you,
so you decide to lie to them.

The following activity asks students to judge how acceptable it is to lie in one
circumstance or another. Through discussing a range of cases and exploring their
disagreements, they are drawn into giving and evaluating reasons for their judgments,
and thereby to make considered relative judgments. The aim is for students to carefully
consider their reasons, rather than necessarily to end up in agreement.

Procedure: A group of bullies threaten to beat

Yourupgrandma
you if you hastell
knitted
themyou a
1. Briefly discuss the difference between an absolute judgement of takingdon’t
something what
to be either acceptable or unacceptable and a relativesweater.
theyofwant
one Youtotell
judging her to
aknow.
thing much
So beyouyou like
lie to
either more or less acceptable. (With younger students,it, when in
in fact
you might
them you
introduce
order don’t
to save like it at all.
thisyourself.
in terms of good vs. bad and ranging from better to worse.)
2. Place a card marked “MORE ACCEPTABLE” toward the edge of the discussion
circle and another marked “LESS ACCEPTABLE” diametrically across from it. If
you like, you can also run a cord right across the circle to form a connecting line.
3. Divide the class into groups of three students and give each group a card
containing one of the scenarios set out below.
4. Give the groups around five minutes to discuss their scenario.
5. Now ask for a group that took their scenario to belong toward one end of the
spectrum to place their card where they think it belongs, andAinvite friendthe asks you
group to for a loan
present the reasons for its decision. Do not embark upon further discussion
of some money.at this
You tell him
stage. There will be an opportunity to do so later. that you don’t have it, even
6. Do the same for a group that took their scenario to belong toward the other end of
the spectrum.
though that’s a lie, because
7. Introduce all the other cases, with reasons to be stated briefly. youThe know that he
members of wants the
any group who are unable to agree upon where to place their money to buy
card should be drugs.
asked to give their reasons, but to withhold their card.
8. Call upon other members of the class to assist any such groups to sort the matter
out. As students enter into discussion and begin to explore their disagreements, it
is generally useful for the students to pass a beanbag from speaker to speaker to
You lie to
help establish appropriate behaviour in relation to speaking someone
and listening. on the other team
about your
9. Discuss other disagreements as time permits, intervening when team’s tactics,toin order to
necessary
keep the discussion focussed and to assist students to uncover
fool them and help you any general
win the game.
conditions or considerations that make some scenarios better or worse than
others. As these are extracted, the teacher should record them on the board.
 You save the people on your
plane from hijackers by telling
a terrible lie about an innocent
passenger so that they kill just
that person instead.
Hijackers have taken over your
plane. You save the people on the
plane by lying to the hijackers.

You want the last

Doctor Smith didn’t think that Mrs. helping of pie for
Jones could cope with the bad news yourself, so you lie by
about her health, so he told her that saying that you didn’t
her problem wasn’t so serious. have one earlier.

LESS ACCEPTABLE
Exercises

Drawing Distinctions: The Same but Different

Can you state some respect in which the following pairs are the same and some other respect
in which they are different? For example, a brother and his sister might be said to have the
same parents, but to be of the opposite sex.

1. A mother and father 8. An entrance and an exit

2. Slippers and shoes 9. A rifle and a cannon

3. A lake and an ocean 10. A fort and a prison

4. Pushing and pulling 11. A door and a gate

5. A hill and a mountain 12. A nail and a screw

6. A pebble and a boulder 13. A planet and a moon

7. A tunnel and a cave 14. A reason and an excuse

 Reasoning Exercise: “So”

All Potoroos are cuddly. All crocodiles have big teeth.

All cuddly animals are furry. So: All Potoroos are furry.

Some Potoroos are shy. So: Some shy animals are not easily frightened.

So: Some Potoroos are easily frightened. No friendly animals bite.

Miss Lily is a crocodile. No brave animal is easily frightened.

Some animals with big teeth are friendly. Some shy animals are brave.

So: Some animals with big teeth do not bite.

All shy animals are easily frightened. So: Miss Lily has big teeth.