Putting some SOLE into your critical inquiry approach

September 12, 2018 Leave a comment

By Liz Jones, Head Teacher PDHPE, Sydney Secondary College, Leichhardt Campus

As we all know, the new PDHPE K-10 syllabus embeds a critical inquiry approach as one of the propositions to guide implementation.

Beyond the requirements of the PDHPE K-10 syllabus, in teaching students using this approach develops the skills that allow students to interrogate information, develop inquiry skills and prepare for future workplaces or further education.

However, critical inquiry is often conceived as just being project-based learning. There are many other tools and pedagogies that can also be used to achieve this approach. One of these well-known tools is “Self-Organised Learning Environment” (SOLE).

SOLE came to fame through Sugata Mitra’s TED talk in 2013. It is a fantastic way to implement the critical inquiry approach and support the development of students’ skills. The main premise of SOLE is that students are provided with a big question that they need to work together to investigate. They may not find an answer, but it’s what they discover along the way that is important.

The nuts and bolts of SOLE are simple.

The rules (figure 1) and process (figure 2) can be seen in the images below:

SOLE-1

Figure 1 (source: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/school-in-the-cloud-production-assets/toolkit/SOLE_Toolkit_Web_2.6.pdf)

SOLE-2

Figure 2 (source:https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/school-in-the-cloud-production-assets/toolkit/SOLE_Toolkit_Web_2.6.pdf)

SOLE allows students to take the questions in their own directions. As a teacher you can listen to how their world influences their outcomes. It can be hard at first for students to explore the question in depth and break down the tangents that they uncover, but with support and practise they begin to develop the skills required.

This as a teaching and learning strategy can be used to support learning across a range of syllabus content. One example could be in Stage 4 in the Healthy, Safe and Active Lifestyles strand where students are asked to discuss how challenging and resisting stereotypes can help young people be themselves. After some pre-work about how society establishes stereotypes, students can undertake a SOLE for the question ‘How can I be an individual, when society tells me who to be?’

The new syllabus is exciting and provides so much scope to implement all these amazing pedagogies that we have heard about before.

Remember: SOLE is one example of a pedagogy that supports the critical inquiry proposition. Look for other options that meet you student needs and your capabilities as a teacher.

To find out more about SOLE check out the resources below:

Leave a comment