A Dream Realized

As a school designed wholly by teachers, the Center for Inquiry in Indianapolis, IN, is teaching kids how to take ownership of learning

About our school visits: For 19 years, members of Teaching K-8's staff have personally visited 133 schools in 42 states. We do this for many reasons, all of which are undoubtedly obvious to you.

The teachers and schools we honor are symbolic of good schools and good teachers everywhere; by honoring them, we mean also to honor you.

This year marks Teaching K-8's 35th year of publication. And like the very people who this magazine strives to honor, our founders, Allen Raymond and Patricia Broderick, are no strangers to struggle. In fact, one could say they now take an almost devilish delight in regaling the newer members on staff with tales from TK-8's earlier, hardscrabble days. The creation of this magazine was a dream they carried for a long, long time, and like the hundreds of teachers they've met over the years, our fearless leaders have never put themselves ahead of doing whatever it took to see their dream become a reality.

When we began planning our 35th year in print, Pat Broderick asked longtime Teaching K-8 columnist Dr. Maryann Manning to recommend a school where the teachers are making their dreams come true. Without hesitation, Dr. Manning mentioned the Center for Inquiry (CFI) in Indianapolis, IN. Originally designed to be a school within a school for exchange and preservice teachers, the Center for Inquiry is now centered on teaching kids how to be inquisitive about their world. We know a good story when we hear one, and off Dr. Manning went to help us learn more about this innovative school.

In the beginning. The seed for CFI was first planted in 1990 when, thanks to a program funded by a Lilly Endowment grant 20 Indianapolis public school teachers left their classrooms and went to work as exchange teachers. This special group of teachers wrote integrated units, modeled instructional strategies and served as support for other teachers in the district. The exchange teachers also taught literature discussion and writing strategies to students while the classroom teachers spent two weeks at the central office working on intensive staff development. While there, the classroom teachers also learned the same strategies that were being taught to their students. Dr. Jerry Harste, Dr. Carolyn Burke and Mary Lynn Woods teamed up to prepare the exchange teachers for their work and also in-serviced the "intensive" classroom teachers.

The Exchange/Intensive Teacher program, which was developed by Carolyn Day, far exceeded its original purpose. The intensive teachers greatly benefited from the professional development and in-service they received in this program. However, it was the 20 exchange teachers who were forever transformed.

A school of our own. During their travels from school to school, the exchange teachers were dismayed to find students who were bored and uninterested and weren't responding to the traditional models of teaching and learning that were in place. The kids were not reading or showing interest in books, they were not writing and, perhaps worst of all, they did not seem to be interested in any type of personal pursuit The teachers decided to really work at developing more active learning communities with the students and teachers.

"It was clear that by engaging in active learning, the students viewed themselves in a different light; they took ownership of their learning," commented CFI's principal (and former exchange teacher), Christine Collier. Flushed with this success, the exchange teachers excitedly began talking about school design and dreaming of the daily classroom practices they'd use in a school of their own.

Creating a professional community. They discussed ways to address the needs of all the students in the district and sought guidance from Dr. Harste and Dr. Burke, Mary Lynn Woods and Dr. Christine Leland of Indiana University, Indianapolis. "We became researchers and, for the first time in many of our professional lives, we were part of a collaborative professional community," said Christine. With the support of their superintendent, the IPS school board and administrators at the central office, the team went about designing a school setting where teachers, students, parents, Indiana University professors and pre-service teachers could study side-by-side and where everyone's questions were valued. This dream eventually came to be known as the Center for Inquiry and would be open to children in the Indianapolis Public Schools district.

Just a little luck. When CFI opened its doors in a wing of IPS #92 in 1993, the school consisted of five classrooms and 100 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. CFI received overwhelming support in all directions; the school had freedom to develop, thanks to IPS #92 principal Jesse Lynch and had a blossoming partnership with Indiana University - Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI), Dr. Leland and Dr. Harste.

A site-based decision-making council that included parents, university faculty, teachers and school support staff was organized to oversee CFI's program growth. It didn't take long for the parents to recognize the good things going on at CFI, and they asked that the program be extended to include a middle school. In 1998, CFI housed its first middle school class of sixth graders. At the time, they still considered themselves to be a "school within a school" and began exploring inquiry in the classroom.

What is inquiry? Inquiry is a method of learning in which students are encouraged to ask questions about things, pursue the answers themselves and then use the answers as a starting point for further study. CFI's teachers are dedicated to helping their students become better inquirers. For one thing, asking open-ended (rather than "yes-no") questions is key. The teachers also make a point not to be quick in handing students solutions and will often use "I wonder..." statements.

One example of inquiry that Ann Mennonno, a primary multi-age teacher told us about was when one day at recess she noticed the homeless population outside the school. She figured if she noticed, her students must have as well. That afternoon she read The Lady in the Box by Ann McGovern (Turtle Books, 1997) to her students and waited to see if they'd make the connection. One student picked up on it and yet another revealed that she herself was homeless at the time and living in a shelter. "The kids were respectful and wanted to know more," she told us. "This student became the expert in this area and talked about what it meant to be homeless."

From there, the students created several social action projects, arranged food drives and also collected money and hats and gloves to donate to local shelters. The project became another way that CFI can give back to its community and the teachers now hold an annual drive in support of the area's homeless. "The kids teach us every day how much they can do and how much a five-year-old can give back to the community," Ann said. "They can give ten times more than adults and they're learning at a young age that it's their responsibility as citizens to help the community."

In addition to an inquiry-based approach to learning, CFI also features multi-age classrooms, multiple resources rather than a reliance on textbooks, narrative report cards, a connection to Indiana University and IUPUI and multiple experiences outside of the classroom. As Ann summed up, "We're not textbook driven. We're child-centered and inquiry driven."

Dreaming big. In 2000, it became clear that CFI was no longer a school within a school, but a fully operating elementary school in its own right. The superintendent and school board secured a downtown location for CFI and the school has grown to 280 K-8 students.

Now in its 12th year of operation, the Center for Inquiry and its teachers have let nothing get in their way of dreaming big - especially if it means making a difference in the lives of their students. They see themselves constantly growing as both teachers and learners. Joe Turner, an instructional coach at the school, explained, "Students at CFI are often seen as collaborators and teachers are also viewed as learners, along with the students." Pam DeFrantz, a special education inclusion teacher expanded upon his statement, "We value the way kids learn. That's the reason I love coming here every day. I know that everybody is in it for the same reason, including the kids."

BY KATHERINE PIERPONT, SENIOR EDITOR

Copyright Early Years, Inc. Nov/Dec 2005
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