Inquiry as Walking

 I find Inquiry as Walking to be a very useful metaphor, especially because I am someone who takes frequent walks. When walking, I have two very distinct modes: directional and non-directional. When I am walking to a destination, I walk quickly and with purpose, to the point where people often ask me why I am in such a hurry. When I set out to walk purely for the purpose of walking, though, I tend to slow down and spend more time looking around.

My inquiry process through this program has been a definite combination of these two styles. At the beginning of the program, I meandered. I explored a number of different possible avenues, including problem-solving, anxiety, and classroom management. Once I decided to look specifically at problem-solving, however, I began taking a more directional approach. I set a path and walked straight along it, immediately reaching out to interview three different people who are experts in that area. My expectation was that only one or perhaps two of them would get back to me, that the other paths through the inquiry forest would be overgrown or inaccessible. Imagine my surprise, then, when all three responded positively. My stated goal was to reach the other side of the wood, to complete the assignment, but now I was presented with three interesting paths to that destination.

I slipped back into a non-directional sort of exploration, focusing more on my own motivation and interest rather than the goals of the assignment - I interviewed all three experts, which was an immensely rewarding experience. This was especially true because I got a much better sense of the forest by walking the three different paths: I saw landmarks from multiple perspectives, tried three different places to ford the same river. 

Then came the practicum, a chance to strike out with the proverbial map that I had made and attempt to guide a class of students through it. Rather immediately, I found myself completely off of the path I had set out to follow. There were so many twists and turns that I couldn't have anticipated. Overall, though, I found this to be a positive experience. At no point did I stray so far off the path that I was forced to question my map, only to reorient and adapt to specific situations. For example, I had to discuss with a parent and explain the pedagogical reasons for discovery-based learning, defending my choices to someone for whom this strategy of teaching was completely foreign.

I will never truly be done with that exploration. There will always be more to explore in the wood of problem-solving. However, I feel as though I have enough understanding to do that exploration in my own time, in my own way. I want to use the guidance of this class and the support of this peer group to walk towards another area of the mathematical landscape. This time, I am going to be very intentional about meandering and worry more about asking and answering my own questions than meeting the specific definitions of the assignment (though I expect that will come naturally as a by-product of the exploration).