Throughout all my school years I have never been given the chance to think for my self, come up with a solution for a problem, or question my textbooks. The classrooms back home have always been teacher centered where there is always the textbook, the teacher who feeds the students the content of that textbook, and the students who have to memorize the information if they wish to pass the tests. Therefore, and because I have had no knowledge or experience whatsoever with inquiry-based learning as a student, I have never used it with my students simply because I have never heard of it during my teaching career.
Learning about this teaching strategy through this course made me think how great it would have been applying it in my classroom. As an English teacher, I doubt if I could have used it in earlier grades, simply because students at this level didn't have enough language to help them. Nevertheless, it could have been applicable in higher grades where topics like pollution, obesity, fashion and shopping, and famous literature pieces could have been tailored for the purpose of research and discovery.
Introducing this strategy to the classrooms back home would be a considerable positive change in the school system and how classes are being run. Teachers' role will be the facilitators channelling students into the desired directions instead of being overwhelmingly responsible for delivering the content throughout every class period. Students, on the other hand, will get the chance to think for themselves, enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, be responsible for their own learning instead of relying solely on the teacher to feed them the knowledge. If this dream comes true, both teachers and students will have their negative attitudes towards school and the teaching and learning processes changed into something positive and productive for both parties.
Learning about this teaching strategy through this course made me think how great it would have been applying it in my classroom. As an English teacher, I doubt if I could have used it in earlier grades, simply because students at this level didn't have enough language to help them. Nevertheless, it could have been applicable in higher grades where topics like pollution, obesity, fashion and shopping, and famous literature pieces could have been tailored for the purpose of research and discovery.
Introducing this strategy to the classrooms back home would be a considerable positive change in the school system and how classes are being run. Teachers' role will be the facilitators channelling students into the desired directions instead of being overwhelmingly responsible for delivering the content throughout every class period. Students, on the other hand, will get the chance to think for themselves, enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, be responsible for their own learning instead of relying solely on the teacher to feed them the knowledge. If this dream comes true, both teachers and students will have their negative attitudes towards school and the teaching and learning processes changed into something positive and productive for both parties.
What a powerful statement - it sounds like you have the knowledge and willingness to introduce a method of teaching that might be new for your students back home. You can actually do this with young learners (young children are often more "at-home" with this type of learning because it is so natural) - but as you guessed, the activities may look a little different according to their level of vocabulary.
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