Trevor MacKenzie - Inquiry-Based Learning

The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

This is the latest in a series of podcasts where I focus on a particular part of English instruction or English related matters in detail. In this episode I’m talking with Trevor MacKenzie. Trevor is a world-renowned speaker and author and is best known for his work with inquiry based teaching approaches. As an IB educator, inquiry is a word, strategy or concept that comes up on a daily basis with students and colleagues. Given its fundamental role within the MYP and DP, getting Trevor on to ask him questions and learn from his experience was a massive privilege.

We discuss,

1. What is the best literary text he’s ever read, taught or been taught?

2. What does an inquiry classroom look like and sound like in Trevor’s experience?

3. Typically what would be the ratio between need-to-know or non-negotiable skills/knowledge and the inquiry process time wise?

4. How do teachers strike a balance between non-negotiable exam / coursework specification in English and student passion?

5. What are the difficulties or challenges Trevor’s faced with asking students to design their own assessment in middle-school?

6. What Trevor thinks of statements of inquiry and real world assessment in MYP unit planning.

7. And finally, what Trevor thinks of the increasingly popular explicit instruction over the inquiry approach.

From beginning to end, this conversation continually clarified things I’d heard about the inquiry approach and left me with plenty of considerations for how to enhance my own approach to the classroom. Thanks again to Trevor who spoke concisely, passionately and transparently throughout.

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Links:

Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga

Trevor’s books

Kath Murdoch’s YouTube Channel