This week there was no prompt given for reflection, so I will be talking about my experience at the Pacific School Of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII).
Inquiry Based Learning
PSII’s style of learning is based around the student with inquiry being at the core of their process. Students engage with questions about something that is close to them, that brings out their own curiosity, and then they are directed to research that topic. More about the process can be found here or in this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwkerwaV2E
Pros
I think that the inquiry based model of learning is a fantastic model for some students, as it provides a frankly dramatically different model than conventional schooling. In my opinion, the students that benefit from this model the most can be broken down into two types of student: the overachievers, and the disinterested.
Personally, I know several students that went to PSII who have advanced degrees, largely spurred by the inquiry that they did at PSII. Before PSII they were also always overachievers, scholarship students and straight A students, but at PSII they were able to flourish and create fantastic inquiry projects, such as a full novel. The inquiry process allows them to not be hindered by traditional classrooms and keeps pushing the students further and further.
On the other hand, the classically disinterested students also found a place at PSII. Friends of mine that went to PSII that were generally considered “problem children” or “too energetic” and “hard to contain” were able to find their niche at school, and apply their energy to something that actually grabbed their attention.
Cons
Nothing is perfect however, PSII’s model does not fit for everyone. Unfortunately, a big problem for PSII’s model is that it requires a lot more individual support and attention, which means that the classic ratios of students to teachers needs to be a lot higher. I believe that the current numbers roughly work out to a ratio of 1:12 teachers to students, which is a significantly lower number than the usual public numbers. Another problem is drive and motivation. If students are not interested in schooling in general it can be hard, even with an inquiry based model, to fully engage those students in education, and having a school where there is the ability to do functionally nothing all day means that you will get some students who take that opportunity. The traditional schooling model provides checks and if you are not doing work all day, by virtue of being in classes it is easier for teachers to check in and catch those students.
