Letting Go

Inquiry based learning is the learning of today and of the future. With the information available to the students today and how instantly they can find out anything they want to know, it is the only way to teach children effectively. Through the last century life, history, education, and technology have changed and multiplied to much that there is no possible way for teachers to load the students' brains with everything there is to learn in the thirteen years we have to teach them. Teaching children to find reliable information for themselves is going to set them up to be able go find the information they need throughout their lives.
Inquiry based learning puts the students in control of their learning. It takes learning to the next level. We all teach by standards that are written to cover a range of depth of knowledge. Teaching inquiry based, the learning taking place is going to take the depth of knowledge to a three or four. The student is not just memorizing information but using information in a real world situation.
Wiggins talked about his athletes being able to "transfer" the learning and applying what is learned to a whole situation (game) as opposed to being able to do only one move at a time. The basis of his article tells teachers to use a more performance based way of teaching. The students learning through performance using inquiry based learning are working and learning to function in the real world as they would if they were learning a sport and learning through game-like situations.
Being and art teacher, all of this makes perfect sense to me, as I teach this way. Art is learned through doing and making mistakes. Mistakes, in fact, makes for better learning. Nothing teaches a lesson better than making a mistake and figuring out how to fix it.