Regeneration and the Inquiry Process

An inquiry involves an investigation of some kind, but it all starts with a question. Somebody with an interest in the Vietnam War may ask, "Which side actually won it?" Or, that person might want to know what started it in the first place. So often in education, however, those questions come from teachers. They're the ones who start the conversation or get the ball rolling on experiments designed to test hypotheses. Wouldn't it be wonderful though if those questions came from the students themselves?

Perhaps that's our mission as future teachers, although it's not enough to simply encourage students to ask the  big, essential questions we want them to consider. More importantly, we need to get results. We need to prime the pump and get them to actually spit the questions out. The inquiry process might just get the results we're looking for. In John Lee's "Visualizing Elementary Social Studies Methods," the author refers to the "regeneration" that can occur with the inquiry process, a four-step cycle that begins with sparking learner interest in a question. Lee writes on pg. 58, "The development of a child's interest in learning is an essential task for teachers at the onset of an inquiry activity." The sequence continues with clarification of the question or problem, which the teacher does by considering matters related to standards and curriculum. An examination is then conducted, followed by the suggestion of an answer.

The great thing about the inquiry process, however, is that it can generate more questions from students related to the subject at hand. As Lee writes on pg. 58, "Students' interests in solving these problems may well fuel new learning opportunities - moving them to step 2 again for more clarification before they examine materials and resources to address the problem." Prior to reading the Lee book, I hadn't thought of the inquiry process in that way.

I love the idea of regeneration, this constant cycling of questions, examinations and the search for answers, which, in turn, can bring about more questions. It's the teacher's job to initially spark an interest in something, and they can do it by simply showing students a provocative photo or, as the example in the Lee book shows, by asking about the effects of high gas prices. It starts with such a simple question: "Has anyone seen the price of gas lately?" You might start a conversation in a restaurant the same way. That's what good interviewers do. It's all about getting people talking. In essence, it's the same thing in education. How often have teachers lamented the lack of student commentary in their classrooms? Perhaps the answer is as simple as asking the right questions.