Inquiry and Testing: A Relationship That CAN Work

When you look back and think of your greatest memories in school what do you think of? Do you think of the hour-long lecture in Mrs. Monotone’s history class? Or do you think of the end of course exam in freshman biology? I highly doubt you think of these as the fun activities in you years of schooling. Students remember the fun activities in school like projects and interactive learning activities.

With the new implements of No Child Left Behind and Common Core, teachers and educators are scared of getting their freedom of teaching their creative ways taken away. They think that the new required tests and material will destroy inquiry-teaching methods. Mind Shift (2013) says this in an article, “If you’re a teacher in tune with the needs of your students, you sense the disconnect between the curriculum and reality. You’d like the freedom to respond more directly to student needs, but standardized information and testing remains a barrier to innovative teaching,” (p.1).

David Labaree (2011) says this in Targeting Teachers, “Teachers depend on students for success. Teachers can only be successful if students choose to learn,” (p.11). A common problem in education is getting the students involved and engaged in learning. Another point Labaree makes is, “The problem is that teachers don’t have much ability to impose their will on students in order to make them learn,” (p.11–12). This is where I disagree with Labaree. Teachers should not “impose their will” on students. I am a strong believer in inquiry-based learning. Here is a description of inquiry: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/

With inquiry based learning, teachers can get students involved and ready to learn in a fun manner. The only issue is finding the time to implement these types of lessons. It is a common misconception that Common Core prevents most of these fun lessons from being taught. This is far from the truth. Thom Markham (2012) says this from The Whole Child blog, “More than ever, curriculum will now start with questions rather than the delivery of information. Subject matter is important, but teachers will now need to know how to apply knowledge through designing a problem-solving process. PBL teachers begin by posing a significant challenge to students and capturing the challenge in a manageable problem statement or driving question. The question frames the project; the problem sets the solution process into motion. Choosing and crafting a suitable problem requires experience, curiosity, and passion, as well as thorough knowledge of the discipline,” (p.1). If anything, the Common Core encourages teachers to teach with inquiry.

When change happens people tend to react in some sort of way. When it comes to the implement of Common Core I think people overreact too much. I found it humorous when Dr. Wilder told us that there are only small and slight differences between Common Core standards and the new standards that were made by the board of education for South Carolina. Teaching the best way teachers know to educate their students can be done with high stakes testing and Common Core standards.

Inquiry Learning Vs. Standardized Content: Can They Coexist? (2013, May 20). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/20/inquiry-learning-vs-standardized-content-can-they-coexist/

Labaree, D.F. (2011). Targeting teachers. Dissent, 58(3), 9–14.

Markham, T. (2012, February 21). Project-Based Learning and Common Core Standards — Whole Child Education. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/project-based-learning-and-common-core-standards