Semantikos: The Greek way to address misconceptions in the PYP

This article from Issue 30 of the PYP Inclusive newsletter, was published by the Victorian PYP Network in June 2010. It was written by Guy Chartier O’Connor (PYP coordinator) from Canadian International School, Singapore.

Warning: This article was written under the influence of fierce conversations with passionate colleagues (Franklyn Heisler, Calico Clark and Leanne Sunarya). It only reflects my own interpretation and I ask forgiveness for any confusion or enlightenment!

I am French! Actually, I am French-Canadian which means that I grew up in Montreal, Canada. I went to school in French and my parents and friends all spoke French. I learned English when I moved to Vancouver at the age of 24. I remember having headaches trying to keep up with conversations that were happening in a language other than my own. I became fascinated by how people were using different words. I was also fascinated by the fact that even by translating word by word, I could not understand the meaning of the conversation. I came to love semantics! Semantics, according to the Oxford dictionary means “relating to meaning in language”. It is often used in language to denote a problem of understanding that comes down to word selection. If this seems like an abstract concept, just think of a unit of inquiry planning meeting when a bunch a teachers discuss (or argue!) a central idea…for ever! That’s semantics…and that’s more than important, that’s fundamental! Throughout this article, I will argue the importance of semantics and the misconceptions around the word “inquiry” within the context of the PYP. Don’t get me wrong! I am not an academic who wants to have an argument for the sake of an argument. I am an educator working with teachers and children and I came to realize that we need to have an in-depth understanding of the word “inquiry” so that our planning, learning experiences and assessment meet the objectives of the PYP.

Did you know that the word “inquiry” is used 349 times in Making the PYP happen! The publication is 138 pages so an average of 2.53 times per page (for the math lovers out there)! That’s what we call a high frequency word! It is also used 66 times before we get a glimpse of a definition. On page 29, the document states:

“[Inquiry] is the process initiated by the students or the teacher that moves the students from their current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding.”

That’s a really good clue as to what inquiry is within the context of the PYP. Another clue to help us is in the definition of the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. At this point, I would like to thank Bernadette Dowling from St Leonard’s College for reminding us that there is only one learner profile and 10 attributes of the learner profile…semantics is important! The definition of an inquirer is:

“They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.”

Basically, we value learners (read not only students, but teachers and parents) that are curious, skillful, independent and enthusiastic! I will argue that curiosity and enthusiasm (as well as creativity) are inherent in children and as they move along their educational journey we take it away from them! The trick is not to extinguish their natural ability and passion to discover the world around them. Another important clue on page 15 states that:

“Central to the philosophy of the PYP is the principle that purposeful, structured inquiry is a powerful vehicle for learning that promotes meaning and understanding…”

Now, wait a minute! People talk all the time about “inquiry”, but rarely about “structured inquiry”. The PYP with a programme of inquiry and a PYP planner definitely supports “structured inquiry”. There is a continuum for inquiry learning and at one end is independent and student-initiated inquiry. This is mainly happening in “free” schools like Sudbury Valley School in America, because they do not have a curriculum, teachers do “nothing” meaning that they wait until a child comes to them to ask for help and most importantly, children decide what they want to do, based on their interests and  curiosity. This is very far from the reality of most PYP schools. Therefore, in PYP schools, students are allowed to pursue their interest but as long as it is in line with the central idea! Then, “only” if you feel comfortable and “only” if you have time, can you support student initiated inquiries outside of the central idea!

OK, now let’s try to explain “inquiry” using the clues we gathered so far. We know that it is a structured process that connects to and reaches beyond current level of understanding. The process encourages independence, natural curiosity and the acquisition of skills. Not bad! This is actually pretty close to Kathy Short’s definition of inquiry as stated in a brilliant publication called Taking the PYP Forward. In her article entitled, “Inquiry as a stance on curriculum”, Short defines inquiry as, “a collaborative process of connecting to and reaching beyond current understanding to explore tensions significant to learners”. As a matter of semantics, notice that she uses “tensions” as opposed to “questions”.

We can find a few more clues about defining “inquiry” in a most recent document entitled The Primary Years Programme: A basis for practice published in 2009, two years after the latest edition of Making the PYP happen.

On page 4 of the document, the first quote states that:

“Inquiry, as a leading pedagogical approach of the PYP, is recognized as allowing students to be actively involved in their own learning and to take responsibility for that learning.”

Interesting! It says that the process must allow the students to be actively involved which means that sitting on a chair with a textbook is probably not the best option, right? In my view, the best option for having students actively involved is for them to make choices! In his bestseller book Differentiate or Die: Survival in our Era of Killer Competition, Jack Trout mentions that consumers today are faced with an explosion of choices. The problem is that  when students enter a school ground their availability of choices is close to nil! If we let students make choices, they have to take responsibility! This is only possible when we as adults step back, offer options and ensure that students take responsibility for choices made. A this point, I must praise New International School of Thailand (NIST) not only for stating in their core values that “Individuals have the right to choose and are responsible for the consequences of their choices” but for living and breathing it even at the kindergarten level. Kudos!

The next interesting clue on page 4 states that:

“Inquiry takes place at the knowing / not knowing intersection (Wells Lindfors, 1999) and can take many forms.”

This is where the PYP has been grossly misunderstood! It says right there that inquiry can take many forms! The problem is that most people stop at the first one, which is “exploring, wondering and questioning”! Questioning is one third of one form of inquiry! I challenge you to ask any educators within the PYP about a definition of inquiry and most of them will say “it’s about students asking questions”! Remember that we are talking about inquiry WITHIN the context of the PYP because this is the framework under which we work! Going back to Making the PYP happen, one of the bullet points on page 7 states:

“Students are encouraged to be curious, be inquisitive, ask questions, explore and interact with the environment environment physically, socially and intellectually”

This is pretty clear to me! We ENCOURAGE students to ask questions, but we do not sit down in front of them at the beginning of a unit of inquiry and ask them “What questions do you have?” For this reason, I am not a fan of “KWL” because how can you ask a child what they want to know about something they don’t know. When was the last time you asked a question about something that was “insignificant” to you? What we ought to do is provide them with a rich and stimulating environment that will provoke their thinking and hopefully they will become curious enough so when the teacher uses questioning techniques, the magic happens! This leads me to the last extract of The Primary Years Programme: A basis for practice which states on page 4 that:

“They [many forms of inquiry] are most successful when students’ questions and inquiries are genuine and have real significance…”

Now, think about it for a second! This statement makes a lot of sense. In order to get genuine and significant questions and inquiries, we must provide students with experiences that will allow them to experiment and play with possibilities, make connections with previous learning, make predictions, collect and report findings, make and test theories, take and defend a position and solve problems! All of this is INQUIRY! I can already hear some people out there saying to me, “Guy, have you not read the first paragraph of Making the PYP happen on page 29 that says:

“In the PYP it is believed that this is the way in which students learn best—that students should be invited to investigate significant issues by formulating their own questions, designing their own inquiries…”

It says there that we should invite them to formulate their own questions, right? However, like the dilemma of which came first, the egg or the chicken, my question to you is what MUST come first: the formulating of questions or the significant issues?

H.R. Halderman, White House Chief of Staff under President Nixon was found guilty for his role in the Watergate scandal. He said during his court  defense, “We are getting into semantics again. If we use words, there is a very grave danger they will be misinterpreted.” The PYP is now implemented around the world in many different languages and cultures.

The word “inquiry” means different things to different people and many misconceptions have been built over the last 13 years. This is why we must go back to the documents: Making the PYP happen and A basis for practice so that we re-establish a common understanding! For me, WITHIN the context on the PYP, I define “inquiry” as a structured process that:

• connects to and reaches beyond current levels of understanding
• encourages taking responsibility, collaboration and the acquisition of knowledge and skills
• takes many forms (exploring, questioning, solving problems, testing theories, …)
• provides students with significant experiences and a stimulating environment

By the way, the word “semantics” is derived from the Greek word “semantikos” which literally means “significant”. So, in the matter of semantics, what is your definition of inquiry and how significant is “inquiry” to you?

References:

• Davidson, S., Carber, S. 2009. Taking the PYP forward. John Catt Education Ltd. Melton, Woodbridge. p 12
• International Baccalaureate Organization. 2007. Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education. Cardiff, United Kingdom. Pp 4, 7, 15, 29
• International Baccalaureate Organization. 2007. The Primary Years Programme: A basis for practice. Cardiff, United Kingdom. p 4