The approach to learning at AAS is characterized by inquiry, but what does that mean? Inquiry is all about students taking charge of their learning through discovery – they are the ones who do the heavy lifting.
To better understand the inquiry approach to learning at AAS, it’s helpful to “see” an example from a recent lesson in upper-elementary: to launch the beginning of a math lesson, students were presented with a picture of goats in a pen on a farm. The teacher explained that a single goat needs a certain amount of space in order to be healthy and that pens could be built to allow for more or less goats, but of course, fencing materials cost money. From there, students worked collaboratively, both with the teacher and with their peers to explore all the different configurations they could think of and how each affected the space allowed for the goats.
Within 20-minutes of the beginning of the goat pen lesson, students had already discovered patterns and correlations between pen configurations and space for goats. Some students designed visual models while others extended their thinking to share abstract algebraic functions to represent the correlation of materials to goats. With all students grappling, struggling, testing, making mistakes, and challenging their thinking, the teacher was able to work with individuals, small groups, and sometimes the whole class to push their thinking and introduce them to mathematical skills and strategies right for their level of learning.
Inquiry-based learning, like the goat pen lesson, almost guarantees students engage in and grow their skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, problem solving and perseverance (these are often referred to as 21st Century skills which are the skills needed for success in an ever-changing future).
Lessons driven by inquiry are the hallmark of an AAS education in all subject areas. In reading, students consider how ideas are formed, test ideas, and make use of feedback. In science, students investigate provocations, collect their thinking, and test hypotheses. In writing, students discover, through feedback and revision, how language can paint a picture rather than simply telling information. In PE, Art, Dance, and Music, students are challenged to push their thinking to uncover “the why” and “the how” rather than simply stopping with “the what.”
The end result of an AAS education is a flexibility of thinking characterized by the 21st Century skills mentioned above – these are the skills of lifelong learning, of endless growth, and of living life with wonder and awe.
As parents, there is a lot we can do to infuse this sense of awe into our children’s lives: in Tuesday’s edition of the Washington Post, there was a powerful article about How to Help Children Find Awe that I invite you to read if you are looking for some good feels and some inspiration of your own.
