Revisiting the community of inquiry allows for constant reflection, and of how I incorporate the three key categories (teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence) into my teaching practice.
A community of inquiry is defined as “a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and confirm mutual understanding.”
Garrison and Akyol (2013)
In this blog post I will define those key categories but also share with you how I implement all three in my primary classroom.
Teaching presence – Design and Organization, Facilitation, and Direct Instruction
Teaching presence is defined as “the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes.
Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001
I have been alternating between grades 1-5 over the past 9 years. This constant inconsistency has (at times) had a negative effect on my confidence as a teacher, because I never feel like I have enough time to familiarize myself with the curriculum. The one thing that I believe I’ve been able to carry through, has been my ability to effectively communicate and connect with my students and their families. I take the time to learn about my students, what they know, what they want to learn, what they’re passionate about, and how I can best prepare them for the next chapter of their learning journey. We create goals together and celebrate achievements, whether small or large, as often as we can. My students find this encouraging, and my hope is that it sparks that intrinsic motivation piece for their learning journeys.
In a primary classroom so much of our learning happens during class discussions as well as hands-on activities. We also reflect together which in my opinion has been one of the best ways for students to learn as they get to listen to their classmates’ way of thinking. Through class discussions and brainstorms, students are exposed to many different perspectives. It’s very rare that students at the primary level disagree with each other (aside from matters involving Pokemon, Fortnight or sports) because they’re at an age where they are still exploring, and open to understanding different views, and ways of thinking. I always try to thank students for sharing their input, because they should feel good about vocalizing what they’re thinking through, working on, and sharing with their classmates.
So much of what I do in the primary classroom is about modeling growth mindset thinking and having open discussions about our strengths and areas that need more attention. It’s so important that students understand that they are lifelong learners – that the learning doesn’t start at 8:30, it doesn’t end when the bell rings, and that they are like sponges constantly soaking up new information all of the time! I find that students, even in a primary classroom, can be very hard on themselves. I have found it very valuable to have discussions about our insecurities and then push forward by celebrating our accomplishments followed by setting new goals. Assessment for learning has greatly impacted the way my students feel about themselves. It’s more tangible for them to see and understand where they were, where they are, and where they are going. They enjoy the reflection piece, and having a say in their own growth.
Social Presence – Affective expression, Open communication and Group cohesion
Social presence, “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop interpersonal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities”.
Garrison, 2009
I’ve only been a F2F classroom teacher thus far in my career so I haven’t had much opportunity to foster social presence through an online course, however, I have successfully connected all parents to our Microsoft Teams channel where we upload photos, celebrate accomplishments, and keep each other posted on what’s going on, in and outside of the classroom. In many ways, our classroom community is like a family. So in my case, my online course participants thus far have been the parents of my students. I spend most of September getting parents connected, logged on, and feeling comfortable with navigating through Teams. It’s been a great way to communicate with parents and showcase what we’ve been doing in class. Otherwise, my primary students relish any opportunity to interact with one another! Something we continue to work towards is the active listening piece and having them understand how valuable it is to listen to their classmates before responding.
I help my primary students feel comfortable disagreeing with their classmates while still maintaining a sense of trust simply by modeling it. I often show them appropriate ways of responding to their classmates without causing confusion, upset, or hurt feelings. So much of what young students are experiencing and learning at the primary level is how to have conversations, how to express how they’re feeling, how to ask for help and seek clarification, how to advocate for themselves, how to apologize, how to be forgiving, and even how to give a compliment. In some ways, they too are developing in their social presence.
Cognitive presence – Triggering event, Exploration, and Resolution
“The extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse.”
Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001
I thoroughly enjoy this part of my job! In the primary classroom, the opportunity to pose questions or problems and have the students work through the solutions usually arises during social studies or science units, and often during STEM activities. The best part is getting to observe how each individual approaches a new concept or idea, how their background knowledge plays a role, and how they choose to dive in and begin problem solving as a team. The real learning (and entertainment) happens during the trial and error portion of a project! We come together and brainstorm often. One of our favorite ways of brainstorming together is by making a KWL (What we Know, Wonder, and have Learned) and we really enjoy the visual that’s presented of our collective knowledge. When we come back to it at the end we proudly congratulate each other on our findings! It’s been an amazing way to collaborate with one another but more importantly many students are so excited to share their expertise with others. It’s an incredible thing to witness a child feel proud of what they’ve contributed and excited to share their knowledge with their peers.
I appreciated the survey as it was really thought provoking and because of the way that it was broken down into prompts. Which allowed me to get in the ‘reflection headspace’ and elaborate on my thoughts. There’s so much to expand upon and for the time being I will continue to reflect on the community of inquiry and how I can apply it to my teaching practice.