Inquiry-Based Learning

     I believe that as a student I have definitely used inquiry-based thinking and learning, but perhaps I have not been aware of it. I find that asking questions during a lesson is a way to further your learning, not an implication that you are confused by the content and need further clarification. That being said, I think that educators at any grade level should encourage their students to ask questions, and not give the impression that questions are wasting valuable class time or diverting from the subject matter. Who knows, a question that one student asks could give another student the answers they were looking for, but were too shy or uncomfortable to ask. A question one student asks could help others to look at the curriculum in a new way that they hadn't thought of and create some new insight.

     This being said, I believe that I, as a future educator, will be encouraging my students to ask questions. Although my students will be receiving special education services and may not be capable of the deep multidimensional thinking that typical students can do, this does not mean that they will not be curious about what they are learning. Students should always be encouraged to become excited about the subjects they are learning about. Discouraging asking questions is basically saying that we want students to memorize information and regurgitate it on a test, plain and simple. Students should take away something more from their education, because school is about learning new things and taking these ideas to another level of thinking, not passing tests and moving on. Now that I have been made aware of this type of learning, I will definitely be making an effort in the future to encourage student inquiry.