Going Further with Inquiry: The Critical Friend
Going further is a stage in the inquiry cycle.
During this stage, there’s a depth and complexity to learning as connections are made and questions are answered and evaluated to determine next steps in the process of learning. Our findings and conclusions are shared with peers and help cultivate the landscape for conversations and dialogue. We take our learning deeper by inviting different perspectives through more collaboration as we continue to make sense of our learning and reflect on the ways it’s changed over time.
This stage of inquiry is one where we see that “ah ha” moment within the faces of our learners. It’s the part of learning where we begin to see the fruits of our hard work and commitment to the task at hand. It’s the part of learning that doesn’t feel quite as hard because learners have had quality time playing with ideas and sitting in the process of meaning making with their peers. It’s the part of learning that reminds us that allowing space for our learners to sort is rich with personal connection and meaning.
So, how do we “go further” in our professional practice? How do we take our professional learning to a deeper level of reflection and further make meaning with what we are learning with students? And how do we cultivate space for this integral part of the natural learning process?
While it’s important to give ourselves time to reflect on where are students are at with their learning by taking a close look artifacts of learning, consider our anecdotal notes we take during classroom discussions and analyze data and other forms of feedback, it’s as equally as important to bring in a critical friend do that with us.
Critical friends, or thought partners, allow us to share what’s happening with our learners. They lift up questions we hadn’t asked ourselves because of potential blind spots, they softly nudge us towards taking creative risks and challenge our thinking towards places we hadn’t yet considered ourselves. Pulling in a thought partner, however, isn’t always easy. It requires trust, a sense of open mindedness and the ability to be able to listen to possible feedback in ways that we may not be prepared for.
Some of us only know school cultures where we engage with our colleagues only in the hallways in the mornings upon our arrival or during obligatory PLC meetings mandated by our school leaders. Some of us enjoy the company of our colleagues during lunch hour and relish in the personal stories we share about our lives and yet, hardly ever, question the decisions about instructional practices. And then, there are others that feel the pressing need of the finite resource of “time” wanting as much of it we can have for ourselves to tackle our never ending to do lists and curriculum mandates.
While it may feel like the structures of our educational systems force us into these constraints, it doesn’t mean we have to stay confined to them. There is space to rethink the way we approach our practice and having a critical friend to push the boundaries may just be that.
The Instagram Live series, Going Further with Inquiry, is the framework for the very conversations we need need to be having with one another in our school buildings. And while Trevor Mackenzie and I each lift up more of the “how” of each our practices, you’ll notice some common language within each of the sessions that push the conversation to new places.
Watch any of the Live’s we have held so far and phrases such as, “I wonder what would happen if…”, or “But what happens when…”, and even,“Tell me more about…”, or “Ya, but…” are littered throughout these chats. What makes these statements and questions for one another different, however, is the tenderness and insatiable curiosity that we have for what is being shared. When an idea of mine is being challenged, instead of being defensive, I remind myself that a colleague is curious to know more or is lifting up a perspective I had not yet considered before. When we approach and hold conversations with thought partners in a way that’s playful and curious, we leave space for ourselves to stop and pause and wonder what could unfold if we just listened with a different lens.
Whether it be these Live sessions or other interactions I have throughout my day with a colleague, I leave each of these conversations with critical friends with new wonderings I bring into my professional role, action steps or new things to consider trying and a sense of community that is not found making sense of my learning alone. I know I am better because I lean in and invite others into my practice.
As you consider who your critical friends are, I wonder…
Who are the people you return to for advice time and time again? What draws you to them? Who calls on you for support?
What strengths do they have that you can lean into and learn from? What blind spots can they possibly help reveal for you?
What values do they have that align with yours? What values are different than yours, yet stretch you towards edges you may need?
Who creates a safe space that allows you to be vulnerable enough to share, yet balances their honesty with a softness that push you to grow?
What ways do you best receive feedback? How do you remain curious to see where these conversations go?
And, if you haven’t considered inviting others into your practice in this manner, why not? What’s holding you back? Who can you pull in closer to help you take your practice to a level that’s just waiting to be uncovered?
I’m sure you’ll find this reflection an insightful one, one that helps you go further into your inquiry practice, one that brings you closer to others in our inquiry community, and one that helps you step forward with just a bit more curiosity and wonder about your role, yours values, and your identity as an educator.
*Cover image courtesy of Holdsworth Center
