Reflection 4

REFLECTION # 4 – INQUIRY LEARNING

A picture of the constructivist method, if not the same thing. Inquiry learning is thoroughly different from the conventional learning, where the teacher fill the mind of the students with a lot of information, make them memorize those topics and they have to be able to answer the questions in an evaluation, sometimes, with the same words they learned them.
Inquiry is quite different approach. The students have to work as a team to solve some situations presented by the teacher. It’s important to observe that the teacher does not give any answer, especially when the students are working. Meanwhile, if they have some difficulties to start their job, teachers can give some examples or can guide them to have a North, however they, the students have to find some solution. This is the scaffolding strategy to help them to build their own “knowledge house.”
On this way, teachers are not a recipient of wisdom and knowledge, but those who will make the things easier to be learned.
It is easy for a teacher to fill his/her classes with topics and definitions. But what about the learning process? On a constructivist view, the inquiry method comes to open minds and construct results. The scientists do like this. They search, and analyze and seek results, and by doing like that, their knowledge grows, their minds are developed and as a result, they, by themselves, end up traveling through new discoveries.
On the education process, or in any situation in life, there is a target to be reached. Sometimes it is very uncertain and the open lessons are the best way to find the way to get the goal. On the traditional way of teaching, the students simply are required to follow the master, just as part of a machine. They cannot confront ideas or deal with problems. On that way it is what it is, and that’s it. But, by using the open lessons or learning method, which is connected to constructivist or inquiry learning, teachers can motivate the students to interact socially, for they will learn to work as team, giving contribution, giving in and don’t giving up. In fact they will learn to face facts, and it might be a challenge for them, but it will contribute to make them grow in knowledge.
The best thing in this method is that the ways to be used to find the final solution will be set by the students themselves and not by the teachers. So, the growth is sure.