Spiral of Inquiry and how I got here.
I began this journey prompted by the reading of “the Spiral Playbook”. I have always personally been a curious person willing to challenge people’s thinking. That said, I have rarely been directed to apply a why or how to my questions. The directive of finding an inquiry to guide me through my education felt rather simplistic. I have tons of ideas! As the weeks went by and time ticked closer and closer to the start of practicum, I find myself feeling like a butterfly stuck in a jar. I am fluttering around just trying to find a way out of this and know that I will end up pinned down eventually. I have so many questions that will lead me down a path of inquiry but feel unsure of what the correct one to follow is.
Taking the plunge, here is what I’ve ended up with after weeks of consideration. Many students seem to be caught up in jumping right into being ‘grown’. There is a desire from students that they should be treated in a mature manner and supported with more mature content, but noticeably lack the skills to understand what is being shared. It feels like there is a poor game of leapfrog being played and many students are missing critical elements required for their educational development.
How do we know this? I personally have a skewed perspective because I work with youth that have fallen between the cracks. I work with youth suffering from addiction and homelessness, and there are so many attributes between my weekend youth and the students I see in school. These similarities make me wonder what is happening in schools that contribute to this type of lifestyle. If I can see similarities between an 18-year-old and a third grader, is there something I could be doing to support that student and make them feel prepared for the world and happy to be in my classroom?
Are we teaching things that are important to these youth? I personally remember saying that I wish we had learned how to do taxes in school because that is a point of stress for me as an adult. That being said, are the subjects being taught too nuanced when considering their real-world application? Is this where students are finding a lack of value in content? What would happen if we had practical coursework starting at kindergarten? Should we be instilling the value of resume-worthy experiences from a young age?
The more I think about the what-ifs and how I would approach stuff, the more I feel tied up in knots and unsure of where I want to go from here. I hope to continue to develop this post as I push through the wild jungle of inquiry.