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Negotiated
Investigations
All group and individual investigations
involve negotiation between
the teacher and the learner as inquiry learning assumes a complex
interplay between student and teacher questions.
This can include the negotiation
of content, method of inquiry and learning outcomes. Negotiated
studies contribute to students’ developing values relating to democratic
process. They require that a variety of considerations, including
negotiables and non-negotiables, be taken into account when planning.
The teacher has a responsibility
to describe the non-negotiables of process and content. Those non-negotiables
will address relevant SOSE Profile outcomes and other outcomes as
appropriate.
The Investigation, Communication
and Participation strand in SOSE and the inquiry outcomes in most
other learning areas provide very specific and appropriate outcomes
for negotiated studies.
Non-negotiable requirements
should take account of the elements of cooperative learning and be
enriched by use of particular thinking strategies such as Edward de
Bono's CoRT Thinking and Six Thinking Hats.
Examples of non-negotiables aspects of a project
- There must be
five questions the student devises to
explore an issue; a "who", "what", "when", "where" and
"why" questions.
- The following
resources must be included:..............................
............................................................................................................
- .............
time must be spent on group work.
- Each student
must provide three progress reports
in writing and discuss them with the
teacher/peer/librarian /mentor/tutor.
- The final presentation
must include a five-minute verbal report that demonstrates
"positive interdependence".
- Resources outside
the school must be used.
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This means that:
1. Each aspect
of a group investigation will have some non- negotiable, spaced
evaluation steps and clear statements from the teacher about
what resource support will be available.
2. Students should develop their inquiry questions after
resource searches and lessons on core concepts.
3. Some students will require greater teacher direction
than others. Their work will be closely supervised, with
each student's agreement; and opportunity for self-directed
learning will increase as their skills develop.
Each negotiated inquiry
should include identified assessment procedures.
For example, the criteria
for assessment should be clearly understood by teacher and student.
Use of plainly written criteria based on the SOSE outcomes will help
students to make links between their learning and any assessments
made.
Proformas can be used to
evaluate the progress of the investigation. These proformas
can focus on the content of the inquiry, the approach to the task,
or the collaboration.
Students are enabled to
succeed when the inquiry is appropriate to their skills, understandings,
needs and interests.
For example, given "Goldrush"
as a theme, one student may decide to use databases and original
documents to consider the effect of goldrushes on social, political
and economic growth. Another might negotiate to identify on
various maps where and when gold was discovered, and then use some
graphs to order this information in various ways.
Their work would be based on different questions and their individual
group tasks.
The whole process of negotiating,
planning and conducting the inquiry is a constant and rich source
of learning, during which the teacher has time to work with individuals.
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