inquiry

What are some of the big questions that we want to ask this year? We = the teacher and the educators who are taking an interest in what we are doing, and we also = the students.

WHO? WHERE?
teacher: Mr. Glen Thielmann, BA Eng/Geog (UBC 94) MEd (SFU 2004) http://thielmann.ca
students: Language & Landscape Program http://landspeak.blogspot.ca
school: D.P. Todd Secondary in Prince George, BC http://dpts.sd57.bc.ca

WHEN? WHAT?
Semester One -- morning program combining English 11 and Geography 12 (28 students)
Semester Two -- locally developed senior humanities course Middle Earth 12 (24 students)

WHY?
The Language & Landscape Program is an attempt at a new start:

1. What will student learning and schools look like in 10 years -- and what can we do to prepare, particularly in the realms of self-reliance and interdependence?
2. What forms can blended learning take outside of distributed learning schools, and how can blended learning anticipate the kind of learning students will need to succeed in post-secondary environments? 
3. How can thinking outside the timetable and school building allow student ownership of learning? 
4. Can the combining of two academic courses provide the cross-curricular experience necessary for students to see learning as lifework, and not simply a program of study? 
5. To what extent are BC Schools and School Districts actually ready to experiment with personalized learning and other aspects of the BC Education Plan? 
6. How can student field trips (“let’s go look at something”) be turned into field inquiry (“let’s go interact with and within a space that holds its own story”)? 
7. What happens when imagination and identity are placed at the core of curriculum, and rich, course-derived learning outcomes are a means to this core, not the core itself? 

SAMPLE STUDENT INQUIRY IN THE PROGRAM

1. Connecting place by building “geographies” and writing imaginatively (creative fiction and non-fiction) centered around student’s heritage -- builds on heritage projects most students have done at our school in Social Studies 10 and 11. This is the main use of project based learning in the first Semester. 
2. Using a Personal Pattern Language to bridge real and imagined worlds, a connection between one’s own narrative and the narratives that unfold in literature and real-work case studies (e.g. current events). This is the main use of project based learning in the second Semester. 
3. Writing (narrative inquiry) in response to Place: Cranbrook Hill, Moore’s Meadow, Exploration Place (“Cultural Expressions of the Lheidll T’enneh”), Two Rivers Gallery, PG Wastewater Facility, UNBC Campus, possibly Eskers Park or the Ancient Forest. Both Semesters. 
4. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), e.g. ethnobotany -- connection to Aboriginal culture and adaptive strategies, and the archetype of local folk wisdom (ties to heritage research and heritage skills). We are hoping to use durable QR outdoor QR codes to archive stories and knowledge, and build plant presses for archiving our finds. Both Semesters.