Welcome!
This topic page is designed to foster a dialogue about teaching the whole child, with an emphasis on research and inquiry through the school library. We will explore how we are meeting (or struggling to meet) the challenges and opportunities inherent in our efforts to enable our learners to make sense of the information that threatens to overwhelm them and to collaborate with our classroom teachers to create a culture of inquiry in our schools. I hope you'll visit often to read new selections of curated resources and engage with me and my guests in continued conversation.
Barbara K. Stripling
Barbara K. Stripling
How Can We Motivate Our School Community to Engage in Inquiry?
by Barbara K. StriplingWhen I reflect on my own role as a teacher, school librarian, and learner, I realize that I have often made the assumption that all my colleagues share my belief that inquiry is a stance on learning that empowers students to be independent and lifelong learners. My passion and commitment to the power of inquiry has, at times, made me ignore any hesitations, doubts, or challenges to inquiry-based teaching and learning.
With these Teaching Research pages in School Library Connection, I am trying to push my own thinking and our collective insights about inquiry. Asking questions is a good place to start. I began to wonder how school librarians could motivate teachers to engage in inquiry. Read More >>
Video
![The Intersection of Media Literacy and Inquiry [41:08]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2295/2295999s.jpg)
Barbara Stripling sits down with Washington school librarian Jennifer LaGarde, to talk about how educators can integrate media literacy lessons into inquiry-centered curriculum.
Video
![Inquiry and the New York Times Learning Network [31:18]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2260/2260142s.jpg)
Katherine Schulten takes Barbara Stripling and us on a tour of the New York Times Learning Network, demonstrating innovative ways the resource can inspire student inquiry.
Video
![Student Motivation and Inquiry [19:18]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2259/2259802s.jpg)
Barbara Stripling and Judi Moreillon discuss the connections and interplay between motivation and inquiry in this engaging video dialogue. How can we motivate students to adapt an inquiry stance and how does inquiry motivate students to learn?
Feature
The research unit, for many educators, is a tedious, formulated lesson that does little to actually teach the act of inquiry to students. Imagine though, if research were taught throughout the school year as a method for learning.
Article
Through cultural self-reflection, schools can create an empathetic framework for understanding the world. In this article from Edutopia, Stacey Goodman describes how exploring the works and ideas found in philosophy, literature, history, and artistic expression can benefit schools and students.
Video
![Inquiry-Based Learning: From Teacher-Guided to Student-Driven [5:25]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2258/2258479s.jpg)
This video from Edutopia illustrates how Ralston Elementary School is creating a culture of inquiry to support their students.
Feature
Student engagement, excitement, and motivation were lacking, and these were the traits that I wanted to cultivate. My quest became this: how do I empower students to take charge of their learning while properly teaching them the skills needed to succeed outside of school?
Feature
Sue Kowalski shares six steps that have helped her embed inquiry instruction into more and more of her work with students.
Article
Judi Moreillon and Michelle Luhtala examine the 21st century landscape and evidence-based learning, demonstrating the central role of the school librarian using New Canaan Public School District as an example of how to teach students and make the learning "stick."
Feature
Read the story of how a New York district's library program was able not only to survive the transition to a 1:1 environment, but also to thrive.
Grab 'n' Go
FAIL stands for "First Attempt at Learning." This Fantastic Failure reflection sheet encourages students to learn from failure by examining where their projects went astray.
Article
Community building has the ability to transform the way in which a school is able to tackle issues within teaching and learning and that school librarians can play an important role.
Article
In this article from Edutopia, Christi Alper discusses the guided inquiry curriculum for biology that she developed with a colleague and what they needed in order to make it a success.