Cultivating Questioners

A new crispness can be felt in the evening air here in Maine, which can only mean summer is coming to a close. I’m just a handful of days from welcoming a new group of Curious Questioners and I’m feeling more energized and calm than I can recall being at this point in any other teaching year.

In between all of the small tasks — labelling mailboxes, finding homes for all of the random items in my classroom, and meticulously measuring for wall hangings — I’ve been trying to keep a focus on the big picture, the real reasons I pursue teaching. Having time to think about these things is a luxury that I’ll find harder to come by in just a few days.

I came across a quotation this morning while I was reading Working in the Reggio Way by Julianna Wurm and it reminded me how important it is to be rooted in a particular philosophy of education and to name it, if only to yourself.

“It is not a question of right and wrong answers, but of determining what you really believe about children and education, and then making sure that all of the millions of decisions you make as you work with children reflect that vision to the best of your capacity” (Wurm, 2005, p. 13).

With the idea of firmly aligning my practice with my views of children and education, I’ve crafted the following three big goals for the school year.

1. Create a classroom grounded in discovery-based learning.
   
   “When you teach a child something you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself” – Jean Piaget I am strongly in the constructivist camp, and I am committed to letting my students figure out as much as they can for themselves this year. I’ve worked more and more in this direction over the years, but I think I’m ready to allow room, time, and opportunity for students to uncover learning, to create their own connections, and to let students follow their thinking, wherever it might lead. I’m most interested in pursuing this in math — the subject that I think often is considered the least open for discoveries.
2. Leave room for and honor wonder.
   
   “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had an influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over all children I should that her gift to each child in the world would be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last through life.” – Rachel CarsonLeaving room for wonder was an area where I thought I was doing well — until I read a few books this spring and summer that allowed me to see how much further I can push the foundations that I’ve laid in this area of my practice. I’ve always honored student questions and spent time exploring them, but this year, I’m making wonder a solidified part of our schedule. We’re going to have “Wonder Workshop” on Fridays, where students will begin by writing their wonders of the week, which I will display on our “Wonder Wall.” Each week, I will select one of these questions to be our “Wonder of the Week” and students will be able to use Post-Its to share their thinking about that question. Finally, during “Wonder Workshop,” students will be working on exploring their wonders and creating projects and products that matter to them. Wonder Workshop is very open and I cannot wait to see how the students will shape it and where they will take it.
3. Maintain an ever-present curiosity about my students.
   
   “Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.  – Loris MalaguzziWorking with kids is exhausting, frustrating, and exhilarating. Too often, I’m  finding myself falling into the trap of being very closed towards my students after a while, making assumptions about their motivations or how they’ll react to certain things. I think this is natural, but want to work a bit more against this instinct by finding more time to be an observer, to document what I see, and to pay closer attention to what my students are trying to show me, what their behaviors reveal to me. This will be a bit of challenge for me, particularly in terms of documenting my observations, but I am eager to see what insights such a change of perspective and practice will provide.

Having these three big goals defined makes me feel laser-focused as I begin the school year. Now comes the hard work of making sure that, as much as I can, the decisions that I make on a day-to-day basis align with this vision of teaching and learning.