What Flexible Learning means in my context.

What does flexible learning mean in my context?

Well, as I work using the inquiry cycle there is a fair amount of flexibility given that inquiry starts with what the students want to know. Not just with what the teacher wants the students to know! I have to explain here that it is Inquiry and not Enquiry. Inquiry means 'a request for information'. The IBO has coined the term UOI or Unit of Inquiry.

John Dewey's (1859-1952) philosophy states that education begins with the curiosity of the learner which is the most common beginning point of the inquiry cycle. Note that it is a cycle and not a procedure. That's very flexible in my opinion. I have included the inquiry cycle that I use with my classes for your reference.

I have been teaching using inquiry based learning for the past 5 years. The hardest part is getting used to 'letting go'. To facilitate a UOI the teacher must remain flexible as you need to give time for student inquiry. The way that we teach is of course not flexible to the point of no control but we cannot plan too far ahead as it is the students that drive the inquiry.

Bibliography
Inquiry Page Project 2007, Inquiry Page [online], Available from: http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/us/inquiry_page.php [Accessed: 27.03.08].