Kate Wall
@katewall.bsky.social
Professor of Education
Strathclyde Institute of Education
Professional learning, primary/EY, democratic ed, voice, visual methods & pedagogies for thinking. #StrathSTL #StrathEdD #StrathEduPGR
Education
58%
Psychology
18%
And a AI generated enquiry visual of the points above. See you next week. #PractitionerEnquiryTotW
It might be the 2nd half of September, but be patient. I maintain the advice to hold your enquiry nerve and keep with the search for right question for you. Keep thinking through the learner needs in front of you, which ones are most useful to explore a bit more. It will come/8
If you rush this decision making there's risk of your enquiry being unsatisfying (not being useful), it is also more likely to be extra (not fit with Dolly's rule) and false starts more likely (you'll need to change question or adapt mid cycle as another priority emerges)/7
So talk about process of not being sure. Talk through the different questions you're considering and why they might be relevant for you and the learners in your class. Talk through your target CYP. Voice your decision making (or lack of) and know this is all part of the process/6
This means enquiry can start at any time of year, focus on 1 child or 1 lesson or 1 scheme of work, I don't mind if your enquiry hasn't started in January if you're still thinking carefully about your focus. This thinking is just as important for enquiry based prof learning/5
Remember there are no prizes for size in practitioner enquiry. I don't give out certificates for the biggest or longest enquiry project. Size is not a marker of quality. I would rather that you did something small, meaningful and useful to you, then tried to take over the world/4
Well meaning SLT might add pressure by asking for enquiry questions and plans to be submitted. Colleagues might show off their plans for the coming year. But resist the urge to be rushed. SLT, keep some flex in the system for plans that need to change and model this uncertainty/3
I talk to many groups of enquirers at this time of year and there's a real pressure to have it all sorted. I've covered many times how ambitious teachers are, well we love to make comparisons too. So and so has their enquiry mapped out and started, but I am still not sure.../2
Practitioner Enquiry Tip of the Week: Be patient. Have you got your enquiry question sorted yet? If you have well done, but if you haven't don't panic. Its not a problem. It will come. Keep tuning in and thinking about what would be useful to find out/1🧵 #PractitionerEnquiryTotW