The Spark Behind Sparking Curiosity and Wonder: Inquiring into Trevor Mackenzie's P3
- Noa Daniel
- Jan 8, 2018
- 4 min read
Trevor MacKenzie is an award winning English teacher at Oak Bay High School in Victoria, BC, Canada. After seeing his book in the hands of several colleagues and knowing of book studies on the text, I was eager to read Dive into Inquiry published by EdTechTeam Press. I got to know Trevor when we were on Sarah Lalonde’s podcast on inquiry-based learning, and I was so glad that we were able to connect to record his Personal Playlist. Trevor is a writer, a contributing blogger for Edutopia, a graduate student, high school English teacher, and an instructional coach. His newest book is coming out March 1st titled Inquiring Mindset: Nurturing the Dreams, Curiosities and Wonder of Younger Learners. Trevor strives to make learning public and meaningful, and support innovation and connectedness amongst educators. With his new book out, he will cover the gamut of school, addressing learners from K through High School.

Trevor told a great story about how his first book came to be. He was presenting on inquiry and its role in his teaching practice at an EdTech Team event hosted at his school. Afterward, he was approached by Holly Clark who was developing the press arm of the EdTech Team. She encouraged him to consider writing a book and asked if she could send him a sample contract to peruse. “I never set out write a book,” said our guest. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a teacher who is also an author who would be sharing what has happened so powerfully in my practice with a broader audience.” Trevor also mentions his wife, Sarah, noting that it was her support and encouragement that allowed him to accept this invitation and share the powerful tools from his practice with all of us.

When I began inquiring into Trevor’s nostalgic song choice, I learned a lot about the artist who passed away last winter. I learned that this singer/songwriter was the first guest on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke. It turns out that he had recorded another song by the same title when he was in his 80’s pop duo, so this song has a date in the title. It reflected the celebration of his new life, freeing himself from his record label and all the confinement that came with it. There is a documentary airing January 11th on Showtime on his life, aptly titled fro the name of this track . From his first solo album, Listen Without Prejudice, here is Freedom ‘90 by George Michael:
Liberation from binds and boundaries is a theme that transitioned well into Trevor’s identity song choice. Music can transport you. Trevor painted a fun picture of his family dance parties with his wife and sons blasting this song, his 5 year old on his wife’s shoulder and the 8 year old piggybacking on him. “This is THE song that my kids want to blast.... When I think of a happy track or happy times with our family, this is the song that comes to mind immediately.” Trevor took us to the beginning of his relationship with his wife who he surprised with tickets to see this band in concert when they were in university. ”They’ve kind of been that band that’s been with us from the start- from when we started to date up through getting married and, now, having children. The band is Coldplay and the song is Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.”:
#MeaningfulMonday was a hashtag started by Trevor last summer. Each Monday, he tries to publish a blog post that acts as a provocation. In the classroom and outside, a provocation is supposed to, “spark questions curiosities and wonders, and maybe even learning opportunities.” Whether using it with students or as professional learning, Trevor tries to get people asking questions. Watch the video about his work below:
Trevor's pick-me-up song is a very personal one. He had been travelling a lot last year with EdTech Team at conferences speaking about his work when he got a phone call that his mother had unexpectedly passed away. This song became a grounding force throughout his mourning process. “We would listen to this song together, we would hug to the song, and it’s turned into a song that I look back on as reflective of the happy times with my mom and with my step-dad.” Music can be so wrapped in one powerful song. “Music’s incredibly therapeutic, and, you know, this song calls on us to sing; to sing to rejoice, to sing to feel happy and to sing to share your identity. In that time of incredible loss and sorrow, finding those opportunities to reflect on all the happy times and the times ahead, and living in her honour, I think, are really important. Not on a sad note at all, it really is a song that reflects happiness in our lives and happiness in memory of her. I had to play the song in its entirety in honour of his mother. Here is Sing by Travis:
I always ask my guests if there is a song missing from their playlist. Trevor didn’t miss a beat noting”We have so many musicians in our lives,” and went right to considering what he asks his Google Home to play. After considering some of the artists from his playlist, he happily added the Tragically Hip to the mix. “There's nothing more Canadiana than the Tragically Hip,” selecting Blow it High Dough. It is always nice when a show comes together like this one.

Trevor is the kind of educator who walks the walk and lives his creed. In our conversation he said that, “So much of what I do as a teacher is rooted in my beliefs as a parent,” adding, “So much of who I am in the classroom is rooted in who I am with my own children.” This was so clear through his guest appearance on the Personal Playlist Podcast. So much of what he believes has been encapsulated in his quote: “The most powerful shift you can make in adopting inquiry into your practice is to begin learning with a question.” If you want to begin with a question, asking yourself how you can learn more about this great guest and what he has to share, your journey begins here. If you want to learn more about Trevor, go to his website, his blog, follow him on Twitter or Facebook, and read his books.

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