The process of student led inquiry requires a constructivist philosophy where kids are investigating and making meaning for themselves, and the teacher needs to "let go" of some of the control, and give it to the students. This is not to say that students don't need guidance, scaffolding and lessons along the way. Mayer (2004) points out that the "constructivist view of learning may be best supported by methods of instruction that enable deep understanding of targeted concepts, principles, and strategies-- even when such methods involve guidance and structure (p.14). Lessons are needed before beginning this process and at key points throughout the process. See our implementation plan for some ideas.
One thing that we learned early in the process is students need time to immerse themselves in their topic before they can come up with a good question. We made the mistake of asking them for the questions too early. Next time, we will allow them to gain background knowledge for a while before asking them to formulate a question. We believe that this will enable them to come up with deeper and more thoughtful questions.
Students need guidance throughout. The older buddies needed different lessons and scaffolding during the buddy process than the younger buddies. This is why we have built in individual class learning time in our implementation plan. While the young buddies were learning how to question and read non-fiction text features in their class, the big buddies need to learn communication, how to be a leader, and how to scaffold their younger buddy. Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) talk about 6 features of the scaffolding process: Recruitment, Reduction in degrees of freedom, Direction Maintenance, Marking Critical features, Frustration Control, and Demonstration (p.98)
A more simplified version for teaching scaffolding is outlined by Hogan and Pressley (1997). They use the acronym INSPIRE to discuss characteristics of effective tutors. (130-138)
I-Intelligence (intelligence or amount of knowledge they bring to the situation) (Bring something to share).
N-Nurturant (affective support –building rapport/relationship, being attentive)
S-Socratic (Relies on questioning rather than statements or directions ?)
P-Progressive (have high aspirations for their students, slightly higher difficult each time, scaffolding) I-Indirect (Polite, unobtrusive in expectations, indirect hints instead of negative feedback)
R-Reflective (help look back and articulate reasoning)
E-Encouraging (encourage and motivate to work hard, enjoy, feel challenged, empowered and curious)
Making the big buddies aware of how to "inspire" will benefit their working relationship with their buddy, as well as give them skills to better collaborate and communicate with others in their future.
Something interesting that we found was that ALL the older students were able to effectively be a buddy to a younger student. Robinson et al., (2005) state. "There is evidence that average students, as well as those classified as low-achieving and "at risk," can benefit from serving as a tutor" (354). Many of the "lower achieving" or "at risk" big buddies surprised us with their interactions with their little buddy. For some, this was their most productive time of day.
Throughout this process the 3 of us have analyzed and discussed the data we collected and observed. We looked at our project with a critical eye and an openness for what needed to change. Based on our observations, the student interviews, work samples, reflections, and parent feedback, we feel confident that our students have learned new skills that will serve them in the 21st century!
**Excerpts and research taken from Bonny Kelly's Masters thesis.
One thing that we learned early in the process is students need time to immerse themselves in their topic before they can come up with a good question. We made the mistake of asking them for the questions too early. Next time, we will allow them to gain background knowledge for a while before asking them to formulate a question. We believe that this will enable them to come up with deeper and more thoughtful questions.
Students need guidance throughout. The older buddies needed different lessons and scaffolding during the buddy process than the younger buddies. This is why we have built in individual class learning time in our implementation plan. While the young buddies were learning how to question and read non-fiction text features in their class, the big buddies need to learn communication, how to be a leader, and how to scaffold their younger buddy. Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) talk about 6 features of the scaffolding process: Recruitment, Reduction in degrees of freedom, Direction Maintenance, Marking Critical features, Frustration Control, and Demonstration (p.98)
A more simplified version for teaching scaffolding is outlined by Hogan and Pressley (1997). They use the acronym INSPIRE to discuss characteristics of effective tutors. (130-138)
I-Intelligence (intelligence or amount of knowledge they bring to the situation) (Bring something to share).
N-Nurturant (affective support –building rapport/relationship, being attentive)
S-Socratic (Relies on questioning rather than statements or directions ?)
P-Progressive (have high aspirations for their students, slightly higher difficult each time, scaffolding) I-Indirect (Polite, unobtrusive in expectations, indirect hints instead of negative feedback)
R-Reflective (help look back and articulate reasoning)
E-Encouraging (encourage and motivate to work hard, enjoy, feel challenged, empowered and curious)
Making the big buddies aware of how to "inspire" will benefit their working relationship with their buddy, as well as give them skills to better collaborate and communicate with others in their future.
Something interesting that we found was that ALL the older students were able to effectively be a buddy to a younger student. Robinson et al., (2005) state. "There is evidence that average students, as well as those classified as low-achieving and "at risk," can benefit from serving as a tutor" (354). Many of the "lower achieving" or "at risk" big buddies surprised us with their interactions with their little buddy. For some, this was their most productive time of day.
Throughout this process the 3 of us have analyzed and discussed the data we collected and observed. We looked at our project with a critical eye and an openness for what needed to change. Based on our observations, the student interviews, work samples, reflections, and parent feedback, we feel confident that our students have learned new skills that will serve them in the 21st century!
**Excerpts and research taken from Bonny Kelly's Masters thesis.
Also check out the references we used to support our findings.
