Topic 7 Reflection
Pictures by Amy Simons
Today we were lucky enough to get to have a tour of The Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII)! It was a fun field trip and was nice to get out into the community to explore other education avenues. Everyone we talked to during our visit welcomed us and was happy to answer any questions we had. While I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, by the time we left I was definitely buying into the model that they have created.
At first, I think people can think that an inquiry model means that students can do anything they want. While students have agency over their own learning, they are still expected to fulfill certain course requirements like any other student, including competencies. I now have a better understanding of assessment in an inquiry model. At PSII, they have 8 main competencies that I found myself really aligning with. I like how they have structured the different categories of competencies and agree that they are the core building blocks. The 8 competencies can be found here.
As a music teacher, I have been brainstorming ideas of how to include inquiry in my classes. I think it can look different in music, specifically band classes because everyone is usually doing one activity all together. Something that would encourage more inquiry amongst students would be to include more solo or small ensemble opportunities. This way students would be able to have more of a say in what aspect of music they learn and explore. Maybe one group wants to explore baroque string quartets while another explores vocal hyperpop. Maybe one group wants to learn about recording music while another learns drums. Currently in public schools certain genres or aspects of music are separated into different courses such as band or production and composition.
Another way I thought inquiry could easily be included would be in music history unit. Students could explore anything to do with music history or even music theory, perhaps a genre, style, or composer. This project could include many things such as a composition, presentation, interview, skit, costume design, etc. The beauty of an inquiry based approach is that students get invested in their work because it’s actually something they want to do. In a public school setting I think deadlines and time restraints could be a bit of an obstacle but that doesn’t mean it would be impossible. It would be difficult to go full steam ahead with an inquiry model but I do think there is room to do a unit that focuses around inquiry.
Debriefing over coffee post field trip, picture by me