Inspiration--Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

When I reflect on my career in education, I can identify a constant theme: The need to be better. It drives every step I take and every decision I make. It is not a solitary journey, however. It is a journey made by "standing on the shoulders of giants." Sometimes, those giants are my colleagues; sometimes, teachers from across the globe whose work I follow; sometimes, authors of the professional texts I read; and sometimes, philosophers, social scientists and psychologists.

This year, I am embarking on a full-fledged journey into inquiry based learning. I stand upon many shoulders as I move forward. A few years ago, when I was moving back to kindergarten after years teaching other grade levels, my new principal recommended a book to me called The Literate Kindergarten by Susan Kempton. I enjoyed it, but was even more transfixed by another of Susan Kempton's books:

Talk about a giant! Here was a teacher working in an inner-city school in Denver doing amazing things with young learners. How? She invited them to inquire. She believed them capable. She allowed them to wonder. On her shoulders, I dared to try something new. I dabbled with inviting inquiry into our morning meeting and the payoff was huge! I was so inspired, I encouraged others to join with me in a book study of Let's Find Out and by doing so I stood higher still, thanks to their insights and reflections.

Along the way, I have been encouraged and championed by our school's occupational therapist, who believes in the path I have chosen and the methods I am using to get there. Standing on his shoulders, I see further.

In my desire to learn more, I began to Google the topic of inquiry based learning and that led me to another giant: Darla Myers from Inquiring Minds: Mrs. Myers' Kindergarten. Reading through her blog posts ignited a fire within me and I knew this was the direction I needed to go. Other giants were to follow.  I discovered the link between inquiry and Reggio inspired teaching by following Joanne Babalis from Transform Ed, which in turn led me to purchase and read books about emergent curriculum and the schools of Reggio Emilia. In the book Authentic Childhood by Susan Fraser I was educated on the discoveries made in behavioral psychology which support the need for an inquiry based approach to learning which emphasizes learning through play.

Just last week, I attended an educational summit which underscored the importance of teaching children the 21st century skills they will need to be successful in the world--a world that is changing at a phenomenal rate. Those skills cannot be taught through traditional methods of teaching. Armed with this information, I began to see further. It strengthened my resolve to find a better way.

Most recently, I had the honor of standing on the shoulders of another giant, Suzanne Axelsson, an educator from Sweden who writes the blog Interaction Imagination. In her latest post, she introduced me to Frances and David Hawkins and their philosophy of I, Thou, and It, which you can read about here. Talk about something that hits you hard! I found myself reading this page over and over, trying to memorize the message.

Where my journey takes me this year time will only tell. I hope that you will follow along, however, so that we can grow together. I will end with another quote which speaks volumes to me. I believe it was first written by Jose Popoff: