Reflection 1: Visit to Pacific School for Inquiry and Innovation.

Today we had the opportunity to visit an independent, inquiry-based secondary school in downtown Victoria. The school encourages students to pursue their passions and curiosity without the limitations of a strict curriculum or rigid schedule. Students’ learning is guided by an inquiry project of their choice. They still have to meet basic provincial requirements for learning math, science, and languages to graduate, but those topics are connected to a guiding project, and there is no strict timeline. Today, our guide told us about a student passionate about figure skating, who learned physics by connecting it to the rotation, momentum, and air time necessary to successfully land figure skating tricks, such as a double axle. The school had an art studio, music studio, a photography dark room, a science lab, a technology lab, and several other learning spaces that allow students to pursue their interests.

Although it will not be possible to completely adopt this method in a public school, I do appreciate the idea of letting students guide their own learning and connect their learning to their interests. I would love to give my students time to work on inquiry-based projects and the opportunity to make connections between their interests and their learning. I also love that the inquiry-model allows students to go further with their learning than the curriculum alone would take them. I have never believed that students should be limited to what they are required to learn, and I personally believe learning is lifelong and takes place outside of the classroom as much as inside the classroom.

In high school, we had time to work on inquiry-based projects every Wednesday afternoon. I chose to try to learn Spanish and used the time to meet with international students for conversations, use language apps, practice my grammar, and immerse myself in the language as much as possible. It was a wonderful learning opportunity because I was not limited to what could be done in the classroom and was not forced to complete worksheets or practice arbitrary grammar exercises for a test. I did complete some grammar worksheets independently, but I also had real conversations, got connected with a community of Spanish-speakers, and was free to choose how and what I wanted to learn. I gained real conversation skills and could go as far as I wanted with the project. As much as I enjoyed my public education, and I appreciate that I was taught a well-rounded curriculum, an inquiry-project allowed me to pursue something I otherwise would not have fit in my schedule and that I was genuinely passionate about. I plan to do something similar in my classroom to let my students explore their passions and have some autonomy over their learning.