Prof. Philip Cam May 23 Afternoon Handout Special Session

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 • • • • • •

generate questions raise suggestions imagine alternatives formulate criteria make connections build on other’s ideas

Critical • • • • • •

explore disagreement give reasons consider implications apply criteria weigh evidence 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 upon other Speak to other rather than to the teacher. people’s ideas. No putdowns.

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): Reason giving using ‘because’ Duration 10 mins

Specific social skill(s): Building on other’s ideas Lesson 1 Outline

Resources Rule & tool cards

(1) Introduction to Rules & Tools

(2) Warm-up Activity 5 mins

10 mins reading time

Explaining with ‘because’. Round starting with ‘The boy jumped into the lifeboat because…’ (3) Stimulus for the lesson

nil

Copy of the book

It’s not fair by Pat Thomson

15 mins

(4) Gathering questions and setting an agenda

Duration

Lesson 2 Outline (1) Discussion based on selected student question(s)

Paper and markers Resources

Possible supplementary questions: 15 min

1.

Was it fair for the farmer’s wife to put the cat out of the house? 2. Was it fair of the farmer to send the cat out for what it 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

20 min

5 mins

“Is it fair?” Small group activity feeding into class discussion to further uncover criteria for an action being fair.

(3) Closing activity/ reflection

Koosh ball “because” icon Rule cards

Floor Set of scenarios Fair/Not Fair/?

“Thumbs”

How well did we do today in giving reasons? How well did we go at building upon others ideas?

nil

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  broken the classroom window,  so the whole class was made to  clean up the school yard. Naomi found some money in  the playground and handed it  to the teacher. As no one  came to collect the money, the  Jackson pulled the cat’s tail,  and the cat scratched him. Since Sally’s brother is older  than she is, he is allowed to  stay up later than her.

Although Robert worked  very hard at school, he  nearly always received  very poor marks. Bethany knew who had  broken the classroom  window, but she wouldn’t tell.  So the teacher punished her. Maria stole something  from you, and so you steal  something from her. Lola writes wonderful stories  without even trying. She won  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” QUESTIONS

The answer is in the book.

There is only one right answer

“BRAINSORMING” QUESTIONS

Any sensible answer will do.

There are a number of possibilities

The answer can be found in some other reliable source.

We will need to spend time discussing it.

“ASK AN EXPERT” QUESTIONS

“NEED TO DISCUSS” QUESTIONS

Exploring an Issue

Lying

MORE ACCEPTABLE

You Youknow tell a that big fat thelie person to your asking 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.

A group of bullies threaten to beat Procedure: Yourupgrandma hastell knitted a you if you themyou what 1. Briefly discuss the difference between an absolute judgement of takingdon’t something Youtotell her to much like to be either acceptable or unacceptable and a relativesweater. one judging aknow. thing beyouyou theyofwant So lie to it, when in you don’t like it at all. either more or less acceptable. (With younger students, you might introduce thisyourself. them in fact order to save 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 group you to for a loan present the reasons for its decision. Do not embark upon further discussion at this of some money. 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 though that’s a lie, because the spectrum. youThe know that he 7. Introduce all the other cases, with reasons to be stated briefly. members of wants the to buy any group who are unable to agree upon where to place their money 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 someone help establish appropriate behaviour in relation to speaking and listening. on the other team about your team’s tactics,toin order to 9. Discuss other disagreements as time permits, intervening when necessary keep the discussion focussed and to assist students to uncover any general fool them and help you 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 helping of pie for yourself, so you lie by saying that you didn’t have one earlier.

Doctor Smith didn’t think that Mrs. Jones could cope with the bad news about her health, so he told her that her problem wasn’t so serious.

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 crocodiles have big teeth.

All Potoroos are cuddly. All cuddly animals are furry.

Some Potoroos are shy.

So: All Potoroos are furry.

So: Some shy animals are not easily frightened.

So: Some Potoroos are easily frightened.

Miss Lily is a crocodile.

Some animals with big teeth are friendly.

No friendly animals bite.

No brave animal is easily frightened.

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.