Me: What did you learn about yourself as a learner?
Student: I learn much more when I’m inquiring into something I choose for myself and am really interested in.
Me: What message do you have for teachers?
Student: We need more opportunities to explore things we care about. Having a choice and working independently makes us learn more.
Me: So it’s better than ‘school subjects’?
Student: My inquiry had lots of school subjects! Maths, Science, English, Art.
I had many such reflective conversations about learning with Year 6 students at the end of their PYP exhibition (expedition) process. Each inquiry was unique, every journey different and their passion shone through in the ways they chose to tell their learning stories…
Some focused more on what they had learned, others on how they had learned. They spoke of skills acquired and knowledge gained, about what had benefited their learning, who had influenced them, how they overcame challenges and action they had taken. In many cases, they referred to sketch notes of their journeys, as they talked…
It was fitting to end the school year with such a powerful example of student ownership.
Our Year 6 learners had agency in what they chose to explore and how they chose to explore it. They chose with whom to collaborate and how to support each other. They chose how to express their learning creatively through art, film, dance, model-making…
What Ed Said 
Love it…
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Interesting to see how their learning journeys unfolded through their sketch notes. I was so intrigued by a student’s sketchings that I actually copied it with his permission.
Refreshing to see how passionately personal interests were shared.
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What a great way to end, Edna. I can’t help but wonder about where some of them will go next?
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To high school and a different focus…
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Yes! I was blown away by the depth that all the students were digging. It was also amazing to see how they dipped in for expert advice and took what they needed to go in another direction that wasn’t expected. The students also seemed to know about what each other was involved in and volunteered to help and collaborate with each other at different times. I heard more than once “Oh I know, I could ask — he/she is doing their project on that”. By having limited visuals when they presented their learning meant that the ‘audience’ too experienced ‘dipping in’ and out of little worlds of knowledge. A real credit for all involved and I hope this reaches out to more schools.
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