The Anglo-American School of Sofia, located on the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, was the host of this fall’s Inquiry Workshop. And wow, it was wonderful in every way!
58 teachers and school leaders from 14 international schools in the region arrived on Friday, September 25 ready to ‘see’ inquiry in action in classrooms being taught by our three consultants, Kath Murdoch, Matt Glover, and Megan Holmstrom – all experts in Inquiry as a pedagogy.
This was our seventh Inquiry workshop and the number one comment from our participants ties right back to the the first line Kath Murdoch wrote for the copy on the home page of our webpage – “Yes, but what does it look like?” Kath had heard over and over from teachers that they knew about inquiry, had attended lectures on inquiry, that they had stand alone inquiry units within their weekly schedule, but they were still unsure what the pedagogy of inquiry “looked like”.
Participants of the workshop shared with us the power of sitting in a classroom with 15-25 students and watching Kath, Matt and Megan teacher a group of students with an inquiry mindset. Watching Kath teach science or social studies, Matt teach writing, and Megan teach math, participants can see the ‘throughlines’. What are the moves that they all use, regardless of the grade level or content area? What is the common language? What kinds of questions and provocations are they using? What is the pace of the class? What do they do to engage students, and build curiosity and student agency?
Participants jot notes in their notebooks as they observe and then have time to reflect. But those notes are based on that singular teacher’s experience and perspective. The real power comes from sitting in the debriefs with the consultants, sharing “why” they made certain moves and decisions in real time and then discussing the experience with a group of teachers with different experiences and different perspectives! Learning in community elevates the learning to a whole other level.
Teachers and school leaders come to the workshop with a working theory of Inquiry and leave having shifted that working theory, growing in knowledge and new skills. They have their own inquiry experience… just like the students they observed on Friday!
Enjoy some pictures from the workshop and consider joining us at a future workshop. Locations and dates can be found HERE
