The play on words in the title of this post isn’t lost to me.

After reading Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching by Paul A. Kirschner, John Sweller & Richard E. Clark (2010), and Teaching for Meaningful Learning by Dr. Barron & Darling-Hammond, StanfordU, I can recognize both sides of the coin. However, they are still of the same coin. Ultimately both articles are arguing for what they believe to be what is best for the learner.

As someone who teaches in a space that makes room for both guided instruction and inquiry learning I think there is a fine balance between the two that can be found and implemented into our classrooms.

Our world has changed a lot since 2010, and because of this, there is a need for education to continue to change as well. In 2010, I was in middle school, and looking back on my experiences and the structures we had in our classes I have a hard time seeing how an inquiry style of teaching and learning would have worked. We were so focused on learning the content, there was no time for learning the skills needed for inquiry to be successful.

However, I can confidently say that since then, there has been a shift in curriculum, which now focuses on competencies rather than content, allowing for more space in classrooms for inquiry. Just look at the BC curriculum page for Social Studies 9, the core competencies are the first thing you see, followed by the big ideas. These big ideas are conceptual ideas perfect for inquiry projects.

This is not to say that there isn’t a time and place for guided instruction, because it is used within my classes, however, I see it as a tool I can use to prepare students for finding success in inquiry learning.

Guided Instruction in my Inquiry Class

Most days, I use guided instruction to teach my students the skills they will need for an upcoming inquiry task. It’s rarely, if ever, used in my class to teach students specific content that I want them to memorize. I cannot remember the last time I used guided instruction to teach content, but I am hesitant to say it never happens. However, I regularly use guided instruction to help students with skill development.

In my room, the skills students are working on developing are my focus, and content becomes the secondary part of learning, and that is for two reasons:

  1. In an increasingly digital age, students can use Google (or more common recently ChatGPT) to find the content specific answer to almost any question
  2. By teaching students the skills to be independent, curious learners, they will be able to find the answers they are looking for when they reach the point of content specific answers being to complex for a quick Google search to easily answer

What does inquiry look like in my room?

The focus of any inquiry task is for the students to practice, and further develop the skills taught at the beginning of a unit through the guided instruction. Students are guided on the how-to for learning the basics of a skill, but the development and practice of deepening their understanding of the skill is directly student-driven. The skill is used in an exploration of content which in turn, leads to students knowing and understanding the content, however the focus is always directed towards skill development.

It is at this point that the minimal guidance comes into play. Given the age of my students, guidance is given when choosing their inquiry topic to help them in their choice. There are suggestions, and examples, and conversations are had between myself and students and redirection occurs when necessary. At no point is it a complete free for all. Students explore what is interesting to them, all while developing their learning skills. I don’t force them into a topic they aren’t interested in, but I provide guidance in choosing a topic that is appropriate for the skill we are developing.

With this, students are able to develop content knowledge, and skills, like team-work, creative and critical thinking, solving complex-problems, applying knowledge, knowledge-transfer, and a whole lot more.

When students are given a choice in their content, the learning becomes so much more meaningful because they are able to choose what they find most interesting. When a student is interested in the content they are exploring nothing can stop them from further developing their understanding and skills.

So what is meaningful learning to me?

I want my students to be able to walk away from my class with the understanding that the skills we have learned are applicable to many different parts of their lives, whether it be other subjects, volunteering, potential jobs, or university applications. When looking at the bigger picture, the course content is not the most important piece of learning students do, if they can google it, they will. Being intentional and making the learning of skills memorable is far more important in the larger context of their lives within a digital age where content is easily found, but thinking cannot be done for you.

It makes me think of a TedxTalk by Priyam Baruah, where she explores how we as educators can foster engagement in our classroom in a meaningful way, from the perspective of both a student and teacher.

All this to say, there is a balance in what we do, in how we guide students, and give them the opportunity to try and to fail, and all of these experiences are times when students are learning and growing. As education continues to evolve in our increasingly digital age, the way in which we engage with students, and students engage with learning needs to evolve with the world around them.