Veteran teacher inquires into more student-centered approach: Wendy Smith's story

After a long day teaching fifth-grade language arts and social studies in the Red Lion Area School District during the 2020-2021 school year, Wendy Smith sat down to plan her next social studies unit: the Civil War. She tried to focus, but local and national headlines about polarizing current events swirled in her head. How should she approach this difficult historical topic? Did she need to avoid certain phrases and/or resources? Even as a teacher with more than 33 years of experience, she felt unsure.

"Being a teacher mid-pandemic and being mindful that I might just be an outlier when it comes to certain issues," says Wendy, who recently started her second yearlong program with the Initiative, "I was all but desperate to find a way to address content without stepping on toes."

In spring 2021, when she first heard about the Initiative's partnership with the district, Wendy immediately knew she was all in. She quickly found she wasn't the only educator feeling uneasy.

"I felt like I would benefit from being a part of a group that was working towards creating greater possibilities for all students," Wendy says.

During the Initiative program, Wendy adopted an inquiry stance by developing a wondering about her practice, collecting and analyzing data, and taking action/sharing with others. In the process, she became more responsive to her students' needs, she says. "I was able to focus more on being an observer, a noticer, rather than having a preconceived goal about how to approach classroom issues.”

Wendy became a teacher who sought questions and possibilities instead of trying to have all the answers all the time.

Inquiry helped Wendy and her students interact with the curriculum with greater engagement. Utilizing the same inquiry cycle with her students in which she engaged as a practitioner, enabled her to facilitate deeper discussions and tailor learning to match student interests, while the students developed a richer understanding of grade-level content.

Taking an inquiry stance boosted Wendy’s confidence to teach the Civil War. She shifted her approach to sharing the ownership of the learning and exploration of these difficult topics with her students. They grew their knowledge and thought critically about the nuances and complexities of historical events while engaging in civil discourse.

Wendy’s new pedagogical approach positioned her students’ wonderings about the Civil War to align with curricular goals. She served as a facilitator of their learning, not a provider of content or knowledge.

"All kids can think, and all kids can think deeply, but you have to engineer it for them in a way that makes them comfortable with it and allows them the space to make mistakes," Wendy says. "There's a lot … here that can really make them better thinkers."

The inquiry cycle also propels personalized learning.

"Before using the inquiry cycle, there were days when I may have just tried to cover the material with hopes of student retention,” Wendy says. “With the inquiry cycle, I find that I tend to plan for learning 'the basics' of a historical event while allowing time for further student exploration, critical thinking, and civil discourse. This often leads to students having an in-depth knowledge of the historical event, guided by their own curiosity."

Wendy plans to solidify her inquiry stance this year as part of her second year with the Initiative.

"What I have experienced and learned in the professional learning inquiry community last year," she says, "has given me so much renewed motivation and joy in my work as an educator."