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Inquiring Selfward

As I was watching the Nina Simone documentary on Netflix this weekend, it got me thinking about many different things. Surprisingly, one of the many lines that’s got me percolating about was when she said, referring to her audience and fans, “My job is to make them more curious about where they came from and their own identity- to be more curious about themselves and where they came from.” She was speaking to black people. As the civil rights movement was gaining traction, she was finding her voice as an activist, both on and off the stage. Nina used her platform to evoke pride in people for being themselves- who they are including where they came from and all of their lived experiences. The high priestess of soul spoke to the soul of her audience, and it encapsulates one of the things I aspire to do as an educator.


I love inquiry based learning. Outside of the IB (International Baccalaureate) world, inquiry is often misunderstood. Trevor Mackenzie does such a great job of making inquiry accessible through his books and all of his work. Yesterday, he posted the sketchnote below by Sylvia Duckworth informed by his thinking about inquiry. Every single one of these features can be addressed and encouraged through a self inquiry.

A few years ago, I was teaching in a IB school and came to the profound realization that my projects are a form of inquiry. They were not primarily about the kind of real-world connections most people speak of when they unpack IBL (Inquiry Based Learning). BOBs catalyze an investigation into the self and feed a world of possibility. There are many avenues into people, and I try to create my projects so that they are meaningful catalysts for self inquiry. Self inquiry may not always be part of the vision of inquiry based learning, but I wish it were more prevalent on that landscape. The chart below illustrates the possible questions that could be implied by some of my BOB projects:

I was a recent guest on Mike Washburn and Glen Irvin's OnEducation Podcast. It was a lot of fun, but when they asked me if music was a key catalyst in my classroom, I had to redirect them. I love using music in my classroom, and the P3 and other BOBs use music, but music is often a means, not an end. What I was trying to explain was that my work was about finding conduits to invite the whole child/person into their learning experience and remind them that they are an essential part of the learning equation. All of my BOB projects provide an avenue, some larger than others, for a self-inquiry. Glen even quoted my TEDx Talk where I share that music is a way in and a way out for people. That's what I look for when I build a BOB.



A few months ago, I wrote a post called Making the Case to Face Selfward. I love how thoughtful inquiry can be activated through simple provocations (Trevor posts amazing provocations all the time and I highly encourage that you follow him on Instagram and Twitter). It’s about creating wonderment and fostering curiosity. I wonder about driving student curiosity about the world, too, and I create opportunities for that, but I like to include their world- themselves.

In these Covid Times, with students going through a lot of different emotions, mental health challenges and other possible issues as a result of quarantine among the many other unknowns right now, isn't it a particularly good time to send students on a self inquiry? The more curious they become about who they are, and the deeper they dive into themselves from different angles through a variety of provocations, won’t they build the bevy of skills and outcomes on Trevor’s list? Wouldn't that also contribute to their well being and ground them in a deeper sense of who they are and what they need.


It would be amazing if one of the outcomes of a student’s time with each of us included helping to invoke pride and a deeper sense of self. The journey selfward is a wonderful direction for an inquiry. On the long list of things that describe my job, I want to add that line from Nina Simone. “My job is to make them more curious about where they came from and their own identity- to be more curious about themselves...”





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