Planning for Authentic Inquiry Learning

Last school year I had the most wonderful opportunity to attend a workshop focusing on transdisciplinary learning for single subject specialists at Concordian International School in Bangkok with my awesome colleague Ms. Kendal (she's a blogger too! check out her blog at http://putting-heart-into-it.strikingly.com/blog)

During this PD we were able to meet with single subject specialists from around the globe including other amazing art teachers. It was such an influential experience and what I was able to take away from that workshop has proved to be invaluable in my professional learning journey as an art educator.

I am currently the visual arts liaison at my school and am very passionate about creating a meaningful program of inquiry that lends itself to student agency, creative problem solving, authentic transdisciplinary connections through conceptual understandings, while using a range of art skills and mediums throughout the year.

After attending the workshop, myself and my colleague worked very hard to improve our program by creating central ideas that are both conceptual and transdisciplinary. We wanted our curriculum to be more accessible to all subjects so that more authentic links could take place throughout the school year and more learning can happen for our students. This is what the current visual arts POI looks like:



Here are the specific improvements that were made to the program over the course of last year:

• Central ideas are no longer subject specific and can be used across any discipline. 
• Key concepts are covered at least once every grade level. 
• Transdisciplinary themes are used once across two grade levels (eg. if they did not cover Sharing the Planet in Grade 1, it will be explored in Grade 2.)
• Each grade level covers art skills and techniques within the mediums of clay, printmaking, painting, drawing, sculpture, and mixed media.
•  Each medium covered throughout the year also involves use of technology, a focus on cultural arts, and studying both contemporary and historical artists related to the unit. 

I am very proud of the current program and am so excited to continue building on it's improvements this year with a focus on enhancing and utilizing different forms of assessment, revamping lines of inquiry within individual units, and incorporating a TAB studio approach. I would love to know how other art educators plan for inquiry learning and how their curriculum lends itself to transdisciplinary learning!