The Year of IDM: Coming Attractions

The Inquiry Design Model certainly was a significant part of my experience with the C3 Framework during 2015, but I believe 2016 is poised to be the year of IDM.

Last week, we sent out an update on two big projects for the C3 Framework: the Inquiry Challenge and IDM Handbook. Additionally, C3Teachers and the University of Kentucky are sponsoring an IDM Summer Institute. One of our purposes at C3 Teachers is to share resources, created and used by teachers, that facilitate teachers’ practices as they are building students’ social studies literacies. One of the things that first attracted me to teaching was the dynamism of the field of education. The social studies disciplines especially are constantly evolving, which is contingent on having this collaborative spirit. These two projects, with your help, will keep the momentum going behind the C3. The most important part of both of these is YOUR participation.

Looking back over my previous posts, I already feel that I have personally grown immensely – both in terms of my understandings of the C3/IDM processes, but also as a teacher. I always thought I was a good teacher, but the more I reflect—dive into the literature, unwrap the layers of a fantastic inquiry, critique and improve my own work—the more I wish I could retroactively apply what I’ve learned. Without the ability to time travel, contributing to teacher reflection and growth in implementing an effective pedagogy is my new end game. These projects are poised to do just that.

One thing I’ve talked about at length in my posts is the process (and subsequent difficulties) in writing and refining an inquiry. In an effort to assist teachers in this process, the idea of the IDM Handbook was born. With the success of the New York Toolkit, three of the C3 Framework authors, Drs. Kathy Swan, John, Lee, and S.G. Grant, are writing the IDM Handbook to help educators navigate the waters of inquiry creation. To ensure that the IDM Handbook will be valuable to teachers in this process, we need to hear from YOU. Your feedback from this brief survey will be invaluable to their efforts.

Additionally, the Inquiry Challenge is a great opportunity for you to share your work with the C3 Teacher community PLUS possibly win a cash prize. Many of you all have talked to me about your IDM Blueprints and others have discussed ideas for ones yet to be written. This is your opportunity to have that hard work recognized, while actively contributing to the C3 mission.

And one more thing! This June, C3Teachers and the University of Kentucky are holding the IDM Summer Institute in my ol’ Kentucky home of Lexington. At the Institute, we will have hands-on guidance as you grapple with the Framework and IDM process. There will also be break-out sessions that are tailored to the specific needs of teachers and educational leaders, including a leadership strand for those who want to guide their community towards meaningful inquiry.

My plan for my posts in this year of IDM is to further unpack the role of inquiry in student learning by discussing the IDM Assumptions, written by S.G. Grant, John Lee, and Kathy Swan. These assumptions are the ten conceptual principles that inform the IDM. I hope that these will further reveal ways to allow your practice to develop and grow, right along with our work at C3Teachers.