Do you know the biggest myth about inquiry learning?
- Jul 13
- 1 min read
That it means giving students complete freedom to choose what they want to learn.
I've heard comments like...
"Students just pick a topic, Google information for a few weeks, make a slideshow, and present it."
If that's your experience of inquiry, I can understand why you'd question its value.
But that's not the inquiry I'm talking about.
The most powerful inquiry learning I've seen is guided, structured, and knowledge-rich.
Teachers play a critical role.
They carefully design the learning, explicitly teach knowledge and skills, ask challenging questions, and create opportunities for students to think deeply, investigate, analyse, and apply what they've learned.
Students still have voice.
Students still have choice.
But it's choice within a carefully designed learning journey, not a free-for-all.
That's where the magic happens.
Students develop curiosity while building deep knowledge. They strengthen literacy and numeracy because they're using those skills for a real purpose. They learn to ask better questions, think critically, solve problems, and make connections across learning areas.
For me, inquiry isn't about handing over the curriculum.
It's about designing learning experiences that bring the curriculum to life.
I'm curious...
When you hear the words "inquiry learning", what's the first thing that comes to mind?
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