Redefining Inquiry: From Myths and Buzzwords to Research-Informed Practice

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Instructor: Tonya Gilchrist
Inquiry-based learning is often misunderstood and as a result, misapplied. This course invites educators to challenge common myths about inquiry and instead recognize it as a powerful, purposeful approach grounded in learning science and responsive to student needs. Together, we’ll explore how to design inquiry-rich experiences that involve both explicit teaching and student agency, empowering learners to become curious, capable, and self-regulating. This course is about recalibrating, not rejecting, inquiry, and discovering what it can look like when it’s truly research-informed. If you’re ready to move beyond buzzwords, build better inquiry from the ground up, and collaborate with educators who want to do the same, this course is for you.

Course information

For school leaders and teachers and support staff
Duration: 12 hours
4 sessions
Live peer-to-peer learning

The methodology

Teachers will learn in small groups of 2-5 colleagues, meeting once a week for 4 weeks. Sessions are 1.5 hours and can be in-person or online.

Course syllabus

Session 1: Inquiry Isn’t Chaos: Understanding Intentionally Designed Exploration

  • • Examine how inquiry thrives when it includes shared learning goals, healthy scaffolding, and responsive teaching
  • • Learn how explicit instruction, when just in time, not just in case, can support inquiry rather than compete with it
  • • Explore how co-creating structures, rituals, and routines creates space for student curiosity, ownership, and independence to grow

Session 2: Beyond the Buzzwords: Clarifying What Inquiry Is (and Isn’t)

  • • Explore the role of explicit instruction within inquiry, and learn to pair teacher clarity with student agency in a way that deepens, rather than dilutes, inquiry
  • • Explore how routines and co-regulation build the foundation for student independence and metacognition
  • • Contrast common myths with examples of real-world, responsive inquiry

Session 3: Learning Science Meets Inquiry: What the Research Actually Says

  • • Examine how the proactive and responsive teaching of designed inquiry (rather than the extreme of little to no guidance) aligns with learning science
  • • Ground your inquiry practice in key findings regarding teacher clarity, cognitive load, spaced, retrieval practice, and formative feedback that feeds forward
  • • Design learning sequences that honor both the science of how people learn and the art of teaching

Session 4: Sustaining Research-Informed Inquiry: Culture, Community, and Continuity

  • • Explore how routines, reflection tools, and goal-setting practices foster student self-regulation over time
  • • Design collaborative planning structures that honor professional judgment while staying grounded in research
  • • Plan for continuous learning, both for students and teachers, in a school culture that values thinking and learning, not just activity

Instructor

Tonya Gilchrist's profile photo

Tonya Gilchrist

Tonya is a renowned international education consultant and learning strategist with a mission to help schools hold tightly to less, so students can learn more. From supporting schools with inquiry, self-regulation, literacy, mathematics, Universal Design for Learning, and more, Tonya specializes in designing tailored professional learning that’s equal parts research-informed and relationship-driven.

How it works

You will join a group of 2 to 5 colleagues, and as a group, you will meet 4 times, either in person or online, at a time you all agree on.

1

Join a circle

Organize your study group with colleagues. You'll have 3 days to "match," from January 2 to January 5.

2

Agree on a schedule

Decide the most convenient time for your sessions, online or in person.

3

Join and collaborate

When the session arrives, connect with your colleagues and complete the activities together.

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