Jeff Hopkins and Inquiry

Jeff Hopkins’ TED Talk provided an analogy that I really liked: “Education is not the filling of a pail but rather the lighting of a flame.”

I appreciated this visual as many of the ideas that he shares in his talk, and similar ideas that I’ve heard from speakers and professors thus far, are ones that I am interested in using to inform my practice. I agree that the shift from an education system that is focused on “knowing” to one that focuses on “knowing about” is important – I think we’re beginning to see this shift happening – especially in the “new” curriculum (which now may just be known as the curriculum, although it’s new to me!), but depending on the classroom or school this transformation may still be in its infancy for some.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Jeff’s talk to our class, but from what I know from Jeff and PSII and what I know of other teachers and high schools, there are very big gaps in the amount of inquiry-based learning that students are doing depending on where they are being educated in the province. While a school model like PSII might not be possible everywhere, or potentially even useful everywhere, I am excited to see what lessons and inspirations can be drawn from Jeff’s ideologies and applied to a more mainstream classroom.

Rather than simply filling students with information, I really do hope to be able to spark and nurture and passion within each of my students – in a way that works for them.