Throughout annotating the Christian Studies unit of work, I kept coming back a quote in Kath Murdoch’s book, ‘The Power of Inquiry’. The quote from Sugata Mitra (2013) says this:

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‘We need a curriculum of big questions…We need a pedagogy free from fear and focused on the magic of children’s innate quest for information and understanding.’

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This was because as an educator, I need to constantly remind myself not to fear failure and to relish the moments that are driven by the students, that might look messy but lead to such in-depth discoveries that are meaningful and engaging. The annotations within the unit portray reflective thinking towards the Inquiry process, my role as an educator, the learning environment, learners and learning. All these aspects reflecting my journey throughout Equip and personal learning and reflections as an educator.

 

Below are some overarching changes that would be made to the Christian Studies unit:

 

+ Throughout the unit, come back to the driving question and link it with- How does this create connection with God? And why is connection important? Link the bible verses that help and support this as well. This creates an inquiry unit that is linked and driven by the Inquiry question as the focus is on questioning, researching and discovering rather than single ‘activities’ that are all planned (Murdoch, 2006)

+ Use Inquiry Approach throughout- with the understanding that the journey of inquiry can look different, in a variety of contexts, different lengths of time. However, they all require the same foundation and approach/mindset. In this unit I would be aiming to portray these elements which are vitally important as portrayed by Kath Murdoch in ‘The Power of Inquiry’ (2015). These elements are shown through the annotations of the unit in the changes I would make to the unit and others would be the focus when teaching and would appear throughout the unit and in the moment of teaching. These foundational elements include:

• Driven by questioning- through use of Wonder Wall and continually coming back to the Inquiry question to the effect of ‘Why is it important to build a connection with God?’. This allows the unit to be relevant as it is driven by the main idea and question.

• Active research- experimenting with students, having deep discussion with Respectful Dialogue and inclusive conversations, meaningful listening.

• Relate to students’ real-life experiences to make it relatable and relevant to ALL students and create an inclusive environment and engaging learning experience

• Focus on the process- as this is the journey, it might take a side turn and you may focus on a student’s question or passion for a week, this is a part of the journey and is what makes it meaningful. As the teacher, do not just go off the plan, be flexible and open to trying new strategies, methods, not knowing all the answers all the time.

• Whole inquiry rather than individual activities- something I would like to work on further when developing Inquiry units- makes it harder using a unit that is not your own- MAKE THEM YOUR OWN! It is ‘emergent’ (Murdoch, 2015)

• Collaborative- students sharing their challenges, understandings, own beliefs and views on aspects in a respectful manner, create a trusting environment for that to happen

 

CSCF

+Looking into the CSCF- Christian Church Band B outcome (CSCF, 2015, p.42-43), placing more focus on the following aspects would create more depth and discoveries relatable to students:

• Would have liked to focus on worship and giving praise to God, how God can move through worship and the Holy Spirit who is alive and active can speak and guide through these experiences. Comparing psalmist song of praise and now day songs to compare- what is their purpose

• How we live our lives and respond to God is an act of worship- following how God says we should live our lives and how that builds a connection with God.

 

I am still on the journey of developing and teaching inquiry units within Christian Studies.  I believe that reflecting on the learning experiences, my role as an educator and learner, the learners in the classroom and the learning environment is how I will develop further and discover more about rich and meaningful learning in a Christian Studies classroom. Some questions I am still grappling with are:

• How do I cover enough elements of the CSCF and do them justice?

• Finding quality student resources for Christian Studies

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References:
- Lutheran education Australia. Christian Studies Curriculum Framework. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.lutheran.edu.au/download/cscf-2015/?wpdmdl=1276&refresh=5d63cdef675bf1566821871

- Murdoch, K. (2015). The Power of Inquiry. Northcote Vic: Seastar Education. P.40-52