A ‘Community of Inquiry’ is a group of people – students, teachers, colleagues - who use discussion to engage in deep thinking, explore big ideas, and grapple with the challenges and possibilities in a puzzling concept, idea or circumstance.
The process promotes critical thinking and requires members of the group to show respect for each other. It attempts to produce better thinkers and more caring members of society, who accept differences and at the same time, submit conflicts to reasonable scrutiny.
All participants are expected to respect one another as thoughtful people who together seek to better understand the issue at hand.
So, a Community of Inquiry works best when the group agrees that:
- The thinking they will do will be:
- caring (each member is an integral member of the community),
- creative (new ideas will be sought and encouraged),
- critical (good reasons need to be given for ideas and opinions).
- They can all make mistakes, acknowledge them and are willing to be corrected.
Preparing the group
Discuss with students what the process is about and how supportive and respectful behaviour will make it successful.
- This is a thinking process that can challenge assumptions and preconceived ideas. It may be that you need to change your mind.
- It is NOT about winning an argument.
- It IS about thinking more deeply about matters of importance to you as a member of the community.
- A sense of community is essential – sharing, support and respect for all.
- Differences are an important part of the process. Accept that others may disagree with you. Conflict and mistakes made in good faith are opportunities for learning and growth.
Guidelines for students
- Be prepared to take part in the discussion.
- Only one person is to speak at a time.
- There is a need to ask questions.
- Deep listening is the key to the process.
- Give reasons for any opinion you express.
- Check assumptions, reasoning, evidence – your own as well as others.
- Define and discuss points of difference as well as points of agreement.
- Ask others for reasons, definitions, evidence, examples, and assumptions if necessary.
- Admit when you disagree with something that you may have agreed with earlier.
Conducting a Community of Inquiry
- Have students seated in a way that maximises opportunity for communication and democratic behaviour. This is usually a circle.
- Establish appropriate guidelines (see above).
- Teach protocols -
I agree with. ………because ……
I disagree with …….because …...
- Decide on your ‘trigger material’ such as texts, current events, concepts, students’ brainstorm.
- Ask students what they found interesting or puzzling.
- Gather students’ questions on the board. Write the names of students alongside the questions they ask.
- Group questions that are the same or similar.
- Discuss the questions in an order decided by a variety of methods such as voting for the most interesting or discussing those that have easy answers first.
- Facilitate the use of ‘wait time’ during the discussion.
- Encourage participants to talk to the whole circle or directly to the person they are answering, rather than always through the teacher.
- Have students raise hands or use ‘talking cards’ to facilitate taking turns.
- Participate in the discussion, but, as the teacher, also ‘hold back’ sometimes so as not to influence too much.
- Facilitate questioning that signals cognitive moves that might encourage metacognition.
- Encourage students to recognize that many questions are complex and may never be answered.
- Have students take responsibility for their comments and be prepared to defend, modify or change them as appropriate.
All challenges made by students in a community of inquiry are to the ideas expressed – not to the people expressing the ideas.