In a given subject, standards or benchmarks—and potentially state curriculum—there are skills and content students must master. Within a given curriculum map, the trick is to identify what skills and content students need to learn, and then identify where students will have the freedom to construct inquiry on their own. If the goal of an activity is acquisition of content knowledge, perhaps you can vary the presentation method. For example, students could have a checklist of information about a particular historical era and then choose a specific medium for sharing those facts with the general public—essay, slideshow, podcast, video, and exhibit being just a few of the options. Alternately, if the goal is skill mastery, students can apply the specified skill to problems and situations that they select on their own, such as applying the same mathematical formulas to analyze statistical data on a topic or field of their choice, be it professional sports or neighborhood crime. The most advanced students can be offered control over both content and methods—what's important to learn, and how to present it.
For his anatomy and physiology class, science teacher Tim Best built a few clever variables into how his students demonstrated their knowledge. Best knew that he needed to balance leaving room for student inquiry with ensuring that students gained a working knowledge of the systems of the body—without making rote memorization the cornerstone of the course, which is the typical approach to studying medicine. The result of his work is an elegant set of units that walk through the 10 systems of the body while also tracking the physiological phases of human life. A particularly popular project among students is the first one, which asks students to follow their "specimen"—from fertilization to 10 years old—and then make a scrapbook of its development, including its manufactured medical issues. The students are provided with a detailed checklist of the knowledge they need to demonstrate, as well as a list of portfolio "scenarios" that they must include in their final scrapbooks ("In Utero Development" and "Playground Accident" are two notable ones). Students have freedom in how they respond to these scenarios and must also write additional ones, checking off the learning objectives that pertain to the systems they've selected to study. At the end of the unit, the class has a set of highly individualized scrapbooks, as well as a working knowledge of the skeletal, nervous, and digestive systems.
By contrast, English and history teacher Joshua Block's "Crossing Boundaries" project has sophomores master a common skill and then get very personal with it. The class learns the methods of creating a successful interview podcast—listening to professional examples, identifying interesting topics and subjects, conducting interviews, and editing and producing the final product. These skills are explicitly modeled and practiced in class, from listening to and deconstructing episodes of the radio program This American Life to participating in mock interviews. The only prompt that students are given for the content of their podcast, however, is the phrase "crossing boundaries," which provides them with a meaningful focus without limiting their topic selection. Students have explored the stories that define them and those close to them, from immigrant tales to gender transition to questions of faith and religion. The project gives them the skills to make meaning out of the experiences that define us as humans.
Here are the first two steps to take to bring personalized, inquiry-based curriculum practices to your classroom.
- Make a list: What is the essential knowledge students need to master in your class? Do this activity "blind," without looking at your curriculum or lesson plans. When you think your list is complete, compare this to what you currently teach. This activity is designed not to make you throw out lessons, but to figure out what specific, nonessential content could be made variable. The particular experiment, poem, historical era, or application that you find fascinating might bore your students. Get ready to give them the chance to make their own choices there.
- Brainstorm: What are all the different ways that a student could display an enduring understanding of those essential pieces of knowledge? These ideas are the seeds of personalized learning. Try to make a list for each item, and when you are finished, look for any themes or patterns. These could become the basic criteria for an inquiry-based project.
