Philosophy

in·de·pend·ent [ in-di- **pen **-d uh nt ] not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free

in·quir·y [ in- **kwahy uh r **-ee, **in **-kw <span class="ital-inline" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5;">uh <span class="pron" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5;">-ree <span class="prondelim" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5;">] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5;">a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Independent Inquiry Mission =

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- **Unify** learning at school, learning at home, and learning anywhere, anytime.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- **Empower** learners to engage in and reflect on their own inquiry processes.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- **Encourage** interest- and passion-driven learning.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">- **Integrate** peers, parents, communities, and global networks into the inquiry process.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">Informed by The Maker Education Initiative, Connected Learning, the National Writing Project, the 21st Century Fluency Project, and Constructionist Learning Theory.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Related to Genius Hour, Passion Projects, and 20% Time in Education, and iTime.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.5;">Philosophy Statement
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Inquiry - formulating questions and seeking answers - represents all learning. It takes many forms from casual wondering to scientific research, seeking out a spiritual guru to authoring a novel, training for a marathon to collecting rare coins.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Inquiry in the classroom also takes many forms. Modeled inquiry is excellent for helping to learn new inquiry processes. Guided inquiry is useful when content is complex and requires sequential steps. Some inquiries may focus on the acquisition of facts to answer questions while others develop questions to promote conceptual understanding. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">Provocations guide learners to discover their own questions. The answers they find lead to more questions, and the process continues.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">Mastery of the creative and collaborative processes of inquiry is the ultimate learning goal.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">This wiki is an open resource for documentation and reflection. The Independent Inquiry Reflection google form has been recently updated on the Resources page, and a growing list of inquiry goals and reflections can be found on the class pages. I invite anyone to utilize any resources and request to join in order to share their own discoveries.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">Learning is built upon a foundation of trust. I trust my students to pursue their learning and I trust myself to find ways to best support them. I believe that Independent Inquiry is the most authentic vehicle for pursuing this vision in the classroom.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">Bart Miller <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2013.08.09

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