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The planning and the teaching are certainly deeply connected but – too often, inquiry seems almost synonymous with ‘units’.   The cringe-worthy phrase “we do inquiry” usually means: we fill in an inquiry planner using a cycle/framework of inquiry

Inquiry is not just about knowing how to plan – it’s about how we teach

1. They talk less

By now, the growth mindset has approached the status of a cultural meme.

Regardless of their track record, kids tend to do better in the future if they believe that how well they did in the past was primarily a result of effort.But “how well they did” at what?

even some people who are educators would rather convince students they need to adopt a more positive attitude than address the quality of the curriculum (what the students are being taught) or the pedagogy (how they’re being taught it).

Formative assessments are simply little gauges or indicators of how students are progressing towards a learning goal

2) Real-Time Feedback

3) Building It In

Does every meeting in your school relate to or result in learning?

Does every lesson in your classroom contribute to meaningful learning, rather than completion of work?

‘Have you ever had to sit through a whole hour when you felt like the substance of the meeting could have been handled in five minutes?’

We should do less of spending money on assessment detached from designing learning and more of creating learning experiences that are irresistibly engaging."

"The integration of technology and pedagogy to maximize learning must meet four criteria. It must be irresistibly engaging; elegantly efficient (challenging but easy to use); technologically ubiquitous; and steeped in real-life problem solving."

"I hold out four criteria for integrating technology and pedagogy to produce exciting, innovative learning experiences for all students --something desperately needed to bring education into the 21st century. These new developments must be i) irresistibly engaging (for students and for teachers); ii) elegantly efficient and easy to use; iii) technologically ubiquitous 24/7; and iv) steeped in real-life problem solving."

Here are some questions I ask myself as I go through this process: Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to tap into their own personal interests and passions? Will the learning activities offer the learners the chance to put them “selves” into their work? Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to express themselves using their own authentic voices? Will the learners find the learning activities engaging? interesting? relevant? useful? What “cool” technologies can be used to help meet both the instructional and the learners’ goals? Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to have fun and to play? Will learners be able to do at least some of the work independently? Will the learning activities give all of the learners opportunities to shine? Will the learners get the chance to share their work with other learners, with a more global audience?

One of the first leadership decisions I made was to work with staff to audit our schools meta-curriculum. That is all of those programs, events, celebrations, operational arrangements and practices which are not core to the teaching and learning that happens inside classrooms.

My mantra was to “give teachers permission to spend their time improving the learning of the students in their class with minimal disruption”.

Students are spending less time out of classrooms and more time focused on their own learning.

Case StudySearching for information on an Australian poet I am writing a biography on the Australian poet Edward Harrington. What information is available on him? We can start by searching likely databases for entries on Harrington e.g. Australian Dictionary of Biography and AustLit It is always useful to search the Catalogue to see if the Library has any items relating to Harrington. A Catalogue search for "Edward Harrington" shows that we hold a portrait of him, a biographical cuttings file and an oral history recording by him. It is a good idea to check his published works to see if any biographical information is included in his writings. We can then search the Trove newspaper database to find articles that mention Harrington. If Harrington was involved in any organisations, such as a poet's society, searching for the organisation may provide some useful background on his life and activities

Who owns the material and it’s components when it’s published?

How can schools not only inform but encourage the school community to start using licensing and working safely to avoid being prosecuted?

Understanding what is and isn;t ok is a crucial skill for all to learn and I hope this information helps schools get more confident with publishing material online.