On Saturday, 6th August, Ms. Anjalika Sharma, IB PYP Principal conducted a workshop on ‘inquiry’ for the PYP teachers. This session had no presentations, no detailed information and no note –taking. It was all about experiencing to teach and make a difference.
The teachers were divided into groups and asked to inquire into “ ways beliefs, values, and actions that people take are connected”. Five groups of teachers interviewed various stakeholders on school campus such as security personel, support staff, teachers, administration staff, etc” and gathered information about their cultural beliefs and values. They further collected data from the library as well as class room resources. The group learning engagement was time-bound.
The remaining five groups were sent to Patti and Velimala villages, where they interviewed the sarpanch and members of the villager community about their cultural beliefs and values. These gave the teams interesting insights into the cultural beliefs and values such as the use of turmeric, the 150-year-old stone grinder, etc.
The groups used various resources such as websites, books, individual interviews, etc to document their findings and shared the same with the entire team.
Each teacher understood the importance of time, resources, collaboration, and strategies while engaging in the process of inquiry. The team reflected on ideas such as the importance of personalized learning using a range of strategies, grouping strategies, formulating questions, data collection, and analyses, using the learning community, etc while ensuring inquiry becomes the pedagogy in the classrooms. Overall, the PD session was a great learning experience for the team.
Some highlights:
Leave A Comment