Excite, Engage, Empower
your primary learners
with Inspiring Inquiries for ELT
Training for teachers in inquiry-based learning for the English language classroom
Be different, embrace change
You’re an ELT teacher looking for ways to inspire and engage your young learners.
Maybe you’re a primary teacher using English in a CLIL or EAL setting.
Or you’re a DoS in charge of training for a language school.
Perhaps you run your own school and are looking for ways to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Whoever you are, Inspiring Inquiries has training options for you.
Making language learning meaningful
Research shows that active learning approaches are the best way for younger students to learn. Language learning is no different.
Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.
– John Dewey, Philosopher and Educator
Teaching a language shouldn’t just be about vocabulary and grammar. We want students to be able to use language for meaningful interaction. And we want the language they learn to be relevant to their lives.
Read on to find out how inquiry-based learning can achieve exactly this.
What is inquiry-based learning?
Inquiry-based learning is a pedagogical approach in which learners explore a real world topic. It follows a simple framework during which students identify what they want to learn about, do research and present their findings.
The inquiry framework structures learning into a series of stages that can take just a few lessons to a whole term. During an inquiry, students learn a variety of skills including:
- collaboration
- problem solving
- creative thinking
- digital literacy
Curious kids with inquiry-based learning
The best lessons harness our students’ natural curiosity about the world. With inquiry-based learning we use this curiosity to design engaging learning journeys that help students build understanding about the real world and develop their communication skills.
Training programmes
Inspiring Inquiries offers training programmes in a variety of formats, both for individual teachers and for schools.
Online training course for teachers
A six-week online course with live workshops every week, community support and practical tasks.
Online group programmes for schools
Take the course as a closed-group with personalised support for implementing inquiry-based learning in your school.
Face to face training in your school
Intensive and semi-intensive workshops over two to five days to fit in with your school timetable.
But what about the language?
When we use such an approach in the ELT classroom, we embed language learning naturally into the syllabus. Students will learn vocabulary that is relevant to the topic and structures that will help them carry out each stage, creating a meaningful context for language learning.
We can develop inquiries around our curriculum. Or we can choose to follow our students’ interests and adapt our syllabus as needed.
This type of teaching can have a wonderfully positive impact on learners, especially those who don’t thrive in a more traditional classroom environment.
Inquiry-based learning – connecting your classroom to the outside world
We can connect what we’re teaching to our students’ lives by focussing on topics that our students are really interested in.
Inquiry-based learning provides a familiar structure to each project, enabling you to focus on the finer details in each lesson and help your learners where and when they need it.
It also empowers students to take charge of their own learning, fostering responsibility and independence.
The course is very clear and easy to follow, with the added benefit of being able to discuss and try things out in the live sessions. Michelle guides you through the ideas behind inquiry-based learning, but the course is very practical so it gives you ideas you can use straight away in the classroom
How Inspiring Inquiries can help you
Whether you want to try out inquiry-based learning for a few lessons or give your ELT course a complete overhaul, I can help.
Inspiring Inquiries offers training programmes in a variety of formats, both for individual teachers and for schools.
Training
Learn more about the Training Pathway and the Pathway for Schools here.
Resources
Check out my growing range of thematic Resource Packs to get started.
FAQs
I’m completely new to inquiry-based learning. Where should I start?
The Resource Packs are a great way to get started. They include step-by-step instructions that guide you through each stage of the inquiry. Choose a topic that your students love here: Inquiry-based resources
Which training for schools option is right for me?
I offer face-to-face intensive courses and online versions with weekly workshops for closed groups. Find out more here:
Is the Training Pathway online or face-to-face?
The original Training Pathway for teachers is an online course with videos, activities and weekly live workshops. Find out more about the course content here:
Can I sign up when I want or is there a specific start and end date?
Because the Training Pathway has live sessions, it is a cohort-based course that runs over a period of six weeks. To be notified of the next course dates, sign up to the waitlist.
The Training Pathway Graduates
I wanted to take my after-school English curriculum to the next level. Under Michelle’s expert guidance, I explored different models of inquiry-based learning and developed an inquiry unit to use in the classroom.The course did not disappoint!
This approach can be used for different levels / ages / and stages. The materials were very well organised and the practical tasks were very useful. The live sessions were a great way to give a human touch to the course. I loved it!
I truly think this is the way forward for young learner education. It’s tough work but the connections we made in class were hugely successful and significant. That’s reason enough for me to keep going, pushing through the hard stuff until I earn my wings to fly.
Too fast too soon?
The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.
– Paulo Freire