Intentional Teaching Of Historical Inquiry Learning

During my multicultural class my instructor asked us to explain what culture we were a part of. I thought long and hard on the topic, and identified that I was a Caucasian female, with English and German heritage. Needless to say, I was way off base. She wasn’t asking me to share my heritage, she wanted to know about my culture; what shared values did I have with people of my culture, what was my perception of the world in comparison to others of my culture. How did my culture change over time and through generations? These were the types of questions she wanted answers. I had a lot to learn.

Topic:  Discuss ways of incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures into classroom curriculum. In your essay you may wish to develop your ideas using the Australian Curriculum conceptual framework for embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures.

In James Baldwin’s article “A Talk to Teachers” he utilizes paradox, tone, and anecdote to persuade the audience that an educational system where students are taught the true meaning of American history and identity must be established in order to create a society where people of all races contribute their ideals to society.

It also provides students the knowledge and understanding of history by revealing “the importance of Country/Place to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples who belong to a local area” (ACARA, 2015,

The Chinese Proverb, “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”, applies to the 21st century skills that students need to have to meet the global challenges. Inquiry is a process of active learning that is driven by questioning and critical thinking. The understandings that students develop through inquiry are deeper and longer lasting than any pre-packaged knowledge delivered by teachers to students. Inquiry-based learning follows a process that progresses through phases, but is recursive and reflective throughout (Library of Congress n.d). Furthermore,

It is important to remember to children do not stop learning history when they finish their time at primary school. Maintained secondary schools follow the NC which maintains that all children will continue to learn history by means of the KS3 History Programmes of Study (2013). Therefore it is important to prepare children for more challenging and precise history learning. New topics shall be introduced so it is important children have the skills to ‘identify significant events, make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends’ (p.72). It is, furthermore, defined that pupils will ‘pursue historically valid enquiries including some they have framed themselves’ (p.72). This indicates towards children becoming independent critical thinkers, a valuable quality to have in adult

“The more typical view of learning resembles the mental equivalent of consumerism: the more knowledge we acquire, the better 'educated' we think we are. But as some of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field have observed, such education 'focuses more on memorization and static answers rather than on the art of seeking new possibilities through dynamic questioning.' Instead of teaching students 'how to ask powerful

The shared history of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in WA is not ancient and distant. Much has happened in this time, the effects of which are still felt today. Successive governments used differing policies in order to come to terms with a culture so vastly different from their own (Hayward, K. (2014). Chris explains that with the use of gatherings within schools, students have a chance to catch up on news from distant places with a sense of shared histories and kinship which links within the communities. Students then have a chance to reflect on these ideas and create an understanding of the process from a traditional perspective and where it stands today.

As Jeanine Leane observed, her non-indigenous students had a tendency to disconnect with genuine indigenous representations because they were too contradictory to the representations that they were familiar with (2010). An example of this could be the concept of colonisation versus invasion, and the Australian history in “ensuring that the timelines we use with students in the classroom do not start at 1788” (Harrison & Sellwood, 2016, p.

“…If our goal is for children to become knowledgeable, critical thinkers who are good at solving problems, we need to pay attention to the ‘how’ of teaching. We need to stimulate curiosity” (Crawford, 2004, p. 5).

Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning." Individuals carry on the process of inquiry from the time they are born until they die. This is true even though they might not reflect upon the process. Infants begin to make sense of the world by inquiring. From birth, babies observe faces that come near, they grasp objects, they put things in their mouths, and they turn toward voices. The process of inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the human senses -- seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and

The Australian Curriculum, through the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008), declares a national curriculum that is accessed by all students from diverse backgrounds. Its composition include three strands - learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities, providing teachers with flexibility to cater for student diversity and to personalise learning through curriculum adjustments, (ACARA, 2013, p. 5). The scenario of Malika and her class is an example of an activity meant to create cultural awareness but it is misconstrued and reinforced stereotypes, raised tension between students, or increased confusion.

Classroom culture of 2017 straddles a line between being able to teach culturally relevant curriculum to students while still adhering to state standards. Some ways teachers have done this is to teach thematically, where teachers choose a releva7nt theme to their students’ lives. This style also includes integrating pupils’ parents into their learning by having learners write and present personal stories. It seems, then, that the best way to be a culturally responsible teacher in 2017, is to find a way to incorporate these ideas into teaching practicum.

Questioning is one of the “essential nine” instructional practices identified by Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001. It is closely linked to higher-level thinking and Bloom’s Taxonomy. Teachers should design and use questions that engage students in higher-level instructional processes.

Them has been cxtensivc work in inquiry improvement since the enrly '70s. It is hardto capturethe breadthanddepth of this vast assemblage of work in a short article. Therefore,I havedecidedto center