There is a lot of great educational research out there. You can get ideas from books, articles, Twitter and colleagues. They can sound like amazing ideas! The science can be compelling.
Enquiry to me is about finding out if those great ideas work for you, in your class, in your school, with the people you teach. Because whilst ideas may well work in theory and in other contexts there may well be something about your situation that means that your idea won’t work. Enquiry lets you figure that out in a controlled measured way. You can dip your metaphorical toe into the water and find out if it is worth going for a swim, rather than jumping in and getting a fright because the water is freezing.
This means that enquiry can save you time, effort and heartbreak if your idea doesn’t work compared to just going full on. But better yet enquiry lets you share your findings with condifence. Other teachers can look at what you did, what worked, what didn’t work, and adapt that to their own circumstances. That type of ‘real world’ experience is invaluable and absolutely worth doing.
