Module 2 Skype session 13.10.15

Last night I joined an online session with Adesola, Granger, Jess and Jodie. The focus of the discussions was on - The nature of questions. 

Adesola explained to us that through asking our questions in our inquiry that we want to gain knowledge rather that expecting a solid answer. We spoke a lot about assumptions. We started by sharing some example questions of things that have come up so far in our work. The question that I shared was - 

Do exams ( like LAMDA speech and drama exams) put a restriction on students creativity? 

Adesola wanted us to figure out what assumptions have we made in out questions because often the assumption is what you are actually interested in. We talked about how we have to take a step back from our assumptions. So for example in my question my assumption would be that exams do put a limit on 'creativity' - however before we could lead on from that Adesola asked people if the question was actually clear. A few said it wasn't because what did I mean by 'creativity'? I was assuming that we know what creativity is - but how do  you explain what it is? That could be something that I could look into. What have people said that creativity is? Ask yourself could you use that information in your practise. I then said that actually in private lessons students do come up with ideas themselves rather than being spoon fed but that it's difficult in group classes. So maybe what I'm actually interested in is - How do you teach large numbers of students? 

It was really interesting to see how my questions along with the other students were developed into more workable lines of inquiry. Adesola helped us all to start to see what question are asking for a definite answer and which will lead you to gain a good knowledge of ideas behind a topic. 

Adesola also said that we must remember that we are going to be making a REAL plan. The inquiry is foundational, it will give you the credibility needed to maybe question further later in your career. You don't just want to do an inquiry showing that your right. You have to follow the question. The question will indicate the tools needed to engage eg, surveys or interviews. The questions will indicate the ethics and vice versa. You could say looking at your assumptions is an ethical thing to do. 

You will only have 12 weeks to do the inquiry so you need to be realistic about how long it will take you? Who you need to talk to? What books will you read? Why?  Make sure that all the information you need is accesible.