FOUR KEY QUESTIONS AND WHY THEY MATTER

Chapter Four from Spirals of Inquiry

Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser forthcoming Fall 2012

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein

We invite you to start your investigation into inquiry with four key questions. Posing these
questions as a series of micro-inquiries can be a productive way for teaching teams to experience
an inquiry mindset in action. Hundreds of B.C. educators have told us that they have made
transformative shifts in their learning and teaching repertoires after exploring the experiences of
the young people through posing and then reflecting on their responses to these questions.
We believe that educators need to think of themselves as designers of learning. As designers of
professional learning, asking these questions and then changing your practices based on what
you learn, is the equivalent of rapid prototyping moving quickly to try something new to see if it
works. We are convinced that we need to move rapidly to the place where all learners feel
connected and all learners are able to self-regulate their own learning.
In introducing these questions, we want to acknowledge the significant research and practice
contributions of several scholars. Kimberley Schonert-Reichlsi research on social and emotional
factors in learning, and her practical and theoretical work on the Middle Years Development
Instrumentii have provided BC educators with invaluable insights. Her work is critically important;
we really appreciate her spirit of generosity in reaching out so consistently to practitioners. The
first of the four key questions comes from her research.
Helen Timperleysiii studies of literacy learning, professional learning, the role of feedback and the
power of learning conversations have influenced the work of BC educators in inquiry and
innovation networks over the past decade. Her research findings on the forms of teacher
professional learning that make a difference to student learning, are informing professional
learning practices around the world. Questions two, three and four come from her work.
Helen always acknowledges the positive impact that John Hattie, her research colleague, has had
on her thinking. The paperiv they co-authored on the importance of thoughtful feedback was
groundbreaking and is still widely used by researchers and practitioners around the world. Johns
latest bookv about the teaching practices that have the greatest impact on learners helps to bring
to life in classrooms the findings from learning and teaching research. His summaries are being
used extensively in many parts of the world to increase learning power for young people.
The key questions
These questions can seem deceptively simple. When applied on a regular basis, however,
educators have found that they have a profound effect on shifting learning practices in a more
self-regulated direction. The questions help move our thinking from a preoccupation with content
coverage to a focus on what learners are actually experiencing with the learning we are designing
for, or with, them.

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1. Can you name two people in this school/setting who believe that you can be a
success in life?
2. Where are you going with your learning?
3. How are you going with your learning?
4. Where are you going next in your learning?

In this chapter you will explore the importance and the meaning of each of these questions. You
will see how leadership teams are currently using them to deepen their own understanding of
their learners and of their learning experiences.

CAN YOU NAME TWO PEOPLE IN THIS SCHOOL WHO BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN BE A
SUCCESS IN LIFE?
One of our key roles as educators is to develop a growth mindset in all our learners. Every young
person needs to believe that they can get better at just about anything with effort and support.
They need to be surrounded in their homes and schools with adults who believe that they can
learn. Uncovering the strengths of each young person through an appreciative inquiry approach is
one way to start. What are the interests, passions, talents and curiosities of each of our learners?
Do we see them as unique individuals with contributions to make? Have we designed a learning
environment that allows each young person to be valued for his or her unique strengths?
We want all our learners to be resilient and confident in themselves as learners. Practices that
build a growth mindset go a long way toward meeting this goal. To what extent do our practices,
like those of teachers like Birgit from Chapter One, help to develop growth mindsets in our
learners? In what ways are we inadvertently reaffirming fixed mindsets?
Canadian and international studies on vulnerabilityvi and resilience vii provide clear evidence that
many of our learners are vulnerable - and that resilience can be developed if we pay attention to
doing so. The quality of gritviii needed for learning and for life can be nurtured if vulnerable
learners have two passionate adult advocates in their school lives. One adult is not enough. The
presence of two caring adults on an ongoing basis helps to build in a needed protective factor for
learners who struggle.
So, as inquiry leadership teams, we want to know that every learner can identify two adults who
believe in their ability to succeed in school and in life. What follows is one example of the ways in
which a BC educator and her colleagues are applying knowledge of social and emotional factors
in learning first to understand, and then to change, the experiences of their learners.
Who matters to our learners? How can I find out?
Lindsay ix teaches at the intermediate level and also serves as the vice-principal in a rural school.
She became intrigued by the evidence about the importance of connectedness and decided to do
some investigation for herself. She started by designing a short set of straightforward questions.
She asked for support from her intermediate colleagues so that she could check out the beliefs of
learners across the school. Because she wanted to understand the whole of her students
learning lives, her initial questions focused on their perception of support from family members as
well as on their school experiences.

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She discovered that three of her 160 students were unable to identify any adults who thought they
would be a success in life either at home or at school. Lindsay was concerned about each of
these learners and was curious about the reasons for their responses. She wondered about the
mood of one of the students, a girl who struggled with her emotions, when she answered the
questions. She was curious about the impact of birth order on one of the boys, a middle child who
felt overlooked in his family. And, she worried about the third child whose family circumstances
were particularly challenging.
She observed:
I was surprised to find that two out of these three students have been in my class for two
years. I am interested to find out why these two feel this way and what I can do to help
them see themselves as worthwhile contributors to society.
I was also surprised to find out how much the other teachers enjoyed reading the
responses from their students. I found that their insights into some of their student
responses were very meaningful. In addition, the teachers really appreciated my
reporting back to them about their former students and the impact they had had on them
in the past.

Lindsay also surveyed primary students using wording adapted from the Middle Years
Development Indicator study. She knew that the MDI results in a large urban district revealed a
significant variation across schools in connectedness with adults. Lindsay wanted her school to
be as close as possible to one hundred percent. When she broadened her survey to include
younger students she was encouraged that she found very few students who felt they lacked
adult support in the school.
When she thought about what she had learned overall, the responses from those few students
who did feel disconnected moved her to action. Lindsay decided that she was going to pay
special attention to one of these learners, a boy in her own class. She recruited him for a
leadership program so that he could have the experience of making a contribution to others, and
she connected him with a First Nations community counselor.
She was struck by the response of another student who said that he didn't think anyone in the
school thought he would become a success in life because no one had told him. She realized
how important it is to communicate positive beliefs directly and not expect that every student will
automatically pick up on caring clues. Although the majority of the students were able to identify
with at least two adults, their reasons were often vague or poorly articulated. Comments varied
from they encourage me to be my best, to because they help me with my work, to because
they tell me, and finally, to because they are paid to care about me, it's part of their job.
Lindsay observed:
Reading some of the responses has prompted me to articulate more clearly to my
students what it is that I appreciate about them. If my next step is only as small as just
telling the one student I am most concerned about that I do care about him and his future,
then it's a step in the right direction. I want to work on expanding their reasons why we
educators believe in them, other than because we receive a salary. I want to make sure
that my lonely learners do not slip through the cracks and that means supporting and
connecting with them in as many ways as I can as well as reaching out to others for their
support. In our community we have counselors and First Nations workers who are

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available and skilled in supporting learners. Most important though, I am continuously

asking myself, where to next?
Many of our learners are growing up in turbulent settings. Globally we are in a time of increased
interdependence, environmental challenges and rapid technological change. In a technologically
x
networked world young people can all too easily become rootless. Strengthening social and
emotional connectedness is critically important.
We need educators prepared to invest time in really understanding the social and emotional
worlds their learners inhabit. Educators like Lindsay and her colleagues who reflect on the
evidence and then move to informed action are creating positive change. Every learner benefits
and for vulnerable learners these changes are a necessity.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH YOUR LEARNING?
Consciously strengthening social and emotional connections with each learner is a vital part of a
powerful inquiry repertoire. So, too, is it critical to ensure that each learner understands the
purpose for his or her learning. There is a big difference between learners knowing what they are
supposed to be doing and knowing why what they are learning is important. Just posing this
second question starts to shift the focus from simply completing a task towards more purposeful
learning.
Sharing the intentions for learning must be done in thoughtfully. It is critical for learners to know
where they are going with their learning - and this cannot be done in a formulaic way. Posting
learning intentions on an overhead or whiteboard simply as a tokenistic exercise is, according to
Dylan Wiliamxi, a desultory approach. It is not what is intended by the strategy of clarifying,
sharing and understanding learning intentions.
Our experience is that learners are only able to answer this question when they are helped to find
personal meaning in what they are learning. Without a clear sense of purpose, many learners
become disengaged and lose their sense of curiosity even as they continue to jump through the
hoops of schooling. For learning to be relevant and purposeful, young people need to be in an
environment where clarity about the big learning intentions, the big ideas, the big learning goals
or the big questions is evident.
Michael Absolum,xii is a New Zealand educator who has spent considerable time working with
Canadian teachers in Manitoba. He has described the way in which one elementary teacher
explained the importance of learning intentions to her class:
When introducing learning intentions to my class, I realized I needed to do it in a way that
made it simple and clear. I began by asking them to imagine a dark tunnel. We talked
about what might happen if we tried to walk through the tunnel without a flashlight to
guide our way. The students shared ideas such as: we might bang into the wall, or we
could fall over, we could get lost or even start walking in the opposite direction without
even realizing it.
I then explained that there have been times in my teaching when I have sent them into a
dark tunnel because I havent made it clear to them what it is I intended them to learn. I
introduced the term learning intention here and explained that this was going to be the
flashlight in my teaching and their learning. It would help us to know we are heading in
the right direction, taking away some of the confusion and unnecessary obstacles that
could slow their progress and understanding down.

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Together we broke down what a learning intention was. Students suggested words such
as our goal, aim or the learning we hoped would take place. We also looked into the
dictionary and defined what learning was and what the word intention meant and put
them together to gain a greater understanding of the term learning intention. I told them
to tell me whenever they felt in the dark about what they were meant to be learning.
(2011: p. 83)
Like this Manitoba teacher, we all need to be able to step back from curriculum guides, lesson
plans and polished units to think out loud with our colleagues about the big ideas in the areas we
are teaching and why these concepts are genuinely important. This is not a place for solitary
reflection. What is needed is an opportunity for professional dialogue, debate and decisionmaking. Reaching consensus about what is most important for young people to learn can be
challenging. In some cases increased clarity about purpose and relevance may mean that we
have to give up cherished units and popular projects or, at the very least, rethink why we are
doing what we do.
Part of the new ways described earlier involves immersing young people in solving genuine
problems. Designing powerful problem-based learning requires team reflection and clarity about
what is most important and these decisions are enhanced through dialogue with a larger
professional community. The historical thinking community headed by Peter Seixas xiii the current
Canadian Research Chair in Education, provides one such space for BC history teachers.
Through a disciplined process of reflection, a community of teachers and academics, has
identified six big concepts and six thematic critical questions that learners need to grapple with in
depth if they are to develop historical consciousness:
Significance:
Evidence:
Consequence:
Change:
Perspectives:
Ethics:

How do we decide what and whose stories do we tell?

How do we know what we know?
What are the causes that are hidden from view?
What is the same and what is different? Is history just about
change?
Is the past a foreign country?
What do historical injustices and sacrifices mean for us today?

Once teachers become aware of these concepts and questions, it becomes much easier to
identify key learning intentions and to convey them to learners. Janet, a secondary teacher in a
large Vancouver school, works within this framework as her Grade 11 students explore the
following question: Does Canada deserve its reputation as a peace-loving nation? Her students
investigate this question in depth as they examine a number of post World War Two events.
Her Grade 9 students explore the process of classifying a series of causes of the North West
Rebellion as they form views about causes and consequences. Janets colleague, Lawrence, is
using lessons designed to generate learner understanding of the changes in Canadas record of
racial tolerance over the period of a century.
When students taught by Janet and Lawrence are asked to write and then provide a ticket out
the door about what they are learning, they can provide clear evidence that they know what they
are exploring and why it is important. They know why what they are learning matters.
Currently many jurisdictions, including BC, are actively working to reduce the number of
curriculum outcomes in order to encourage learning in greater depth. This increasing clarity about
the big ideas and big learning intentions in each subject area will have a real payoff for learners
and make teaching more enjoyable through the in-depth exploration of important ideas and
concepts.

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Todays learners need to know not only what they are learning, but also why it is important, and
how it is connected to their lives outside of school. Regularly asking the question Where are you
going with your learning? emphasizes the focus on the purpose and the direction of learning.
This question lets us know whether or not the learners really get the importance of what they are
learning. And, if they dont get it, then we need to figure out what are we going to do to make sure
they do.

HOW ARE YOU GOING WITH YOUR LEARNING?

Not bad. I got 7/10. The test is next week. Im not good at this. My teacher says Im doing
ok. These are not the answers of intellectually engaged learners and they are not the answers
we want to hear. What we do want to hear is evidence that learners have internalized clear
criteria for what good work looks like. This knowledge allows them to reflect specifically on the
successes they are experiencing, as well as some of the challenges they are facing. It is difficult
for learners to provide thoughtful responses to this question if they have not been involved in
creating or co-constructing criteria for success.
We are grateful to the researchers and teacher leaders who have invested years in developing
and refining a set of learning progressions - the BC performance standards for learners and
educator use.xiv These learning progressions provide a clear picture of what strong work looks like
at a range of stages. We believe the BC learning progressions are world class. If teachers are not
using the performance standards to help learners understand quality work and to acquire the
ability to coach themselves to higher levels of performance, we ask Why not? If practitioners
have found a more powerful approach, we want to know about it so that we can all learn from
their experience.
To construct criteria regarding the important features of learning requires that teachers know the
subject area or discipline extremely well. Unpacking the learning progressions and then thinking
with colleagues about the critical features to focus on, is a productive place to start. For example,
discussions that lead to a shared understanding regarding the important features of persuasive
writing or inferential reading will build clarity within learning and teaching practices and increase
the likelihood that learners will be able to internalize the criteria themselves.
At the same time, not all types of learning need extensive criteria for learners to understand the
key features. In some cases a simple pre-flight checklist is all that is required. What is critical is
to make the expectations explicit and keep learner guesswork to a minimum.
Sometimes words cant describe everything. One of the most useful ways of explaining what is to
be learned is to provide concrete, visual examples. The teachers in one Vernon school who
devised a clothesline with writing samples at various levels created a simple and effective way
for learners to check the level of their own writing. They could see clearly what their next steps
might be. The Nisgaa carving instructor who showed samples of paddles with varying degrees of
quality, and the clothing teacher who provided a range of samples of shoddy and quality
garments were helping their learners internalize criteria for successful learning and results.
Dani, an English teacher and new formal leader on Vancouver Island has been working with the
learning questions for the past few years. She describes her approach as follows:
In my English 8, 9, and 10 classes I have my students answer the three self-regulated
questions (or some variation of them) at the end of each class. I keep a binder at the
side of the classroom and the kids go and grab their sheet every day and fill it in. Each

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student has his/her own sheet in the binder; each sheet has about 20 rows (10 per side)
where they respond (one row each day... they somehow manage to squeeze in their
responses in a variety of different ways... vertical, horizontal, self-created columns...
whatever works for them).
It is hard to say exactly (quantitatively) the impact that this exercise has on student
learning, but I know it keeps the purpose of each lesson "Where are you going with your
learning" in the forefront of all of our minds. This is especially helpful to me, as it
prevents me from going way off track and always keeps me checking back to the most
significant outcomes.
I especially like reading the student responses to Question #3 "Where to next?" - or my
slight re-phrasing - "What can I do to get better at this?" This always lets me know if I
have communicated effectively either verbally or through written feedback in the margins
of their work, or through the criteria sheets provided to the students. When they answer
"IDK" (yes, it took me a while to figure out that that meant "I don't know"), then I know that
I need to go back and try again.
Debbie, a Grade 7 teacher in the Northwest has also been working with these questions to help
learners take more ownership of their learning. Occasionally she rephrases the questions to help
them focus on what is most important. So she asks: What do you want others to know about your
learning? What are your successes and what is challenging you? She has observed that learners
tend to interpret the questions how are you going with your learning? in two distinct ways. Some
students interpret the question in a global way, evaluating themselves as learners, and others
interpret the question within the boundaries of what is currently being taught in the classroom.
She describes how two learners responded to her questions and her own reflections on their
thinking:
When I asked Dylan how his learning was going, he replied, Ive got the learning
intention and criteria and I am figuring out what I dont know and Im thinking about what
to do about what I dont know and then he kind of waved me off because I was
interfering with his learning. And when I asked Mark how his learning was going, he
answered very specifically regarding the Science task at hand. I know that there is
going to be a property change because we are learning about property changes right
now, so Im thinking about what has changed. And Mark purposefully stopped and
referred to the board where the learning intention and task criteria were listed.
I notice that if I have been using performance standards within the context of the lesson,
they will more readily answer with a reference to the performance standard, and this
makes the task much easier for the students. Although Dylans answer appears to be
more vague than Marks, I think it reflects a deeper level of understanding. Mark has
good mechanics, and relies heavily on the criteria. Dylans answer is within the criteria
but he is stating that he is thinking about what he really doesnt know moving his
response into a more metacognitive level. Mark is using the criteria to shape his thinking
and as a way to find a right answer.
When students cannot answer how the task is related to the learning intention, I know
that I am in trouble, and need to do some re-teaching.
I like asking my students how their learning is going because I get such unexpected
answers. More often than not, it gives them a chance to reflect on how they are feeling
about their learning often the initial answer isnt directly connected to the criteria. It

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gives them a chance to think about whether they like what we are doing and if they find it
interesting.
Once I have listened carefully, then I move them into using criteria to describe the
learning. It has taken a few months to shift their reflections from I got this right, or Im
not good at this, to I need to work on using more descriptive scientific words, or, the
format of this paragraph could be improved by
Teachers like Dani and Debbie are helping to shift their students to a much deeper sense of
themselves as capable learners. In their classes, the answer I dont know to the question How
are you going with your learning? is a starting point for changing teacher practices.

WHERE TO NEXT?

In Chapter Two we described how the ways in which teachers provide feedback to learners have
a powerful impact both on their learning and on the development of a growth mindset. We
provided a short summary of key points about effective feedback and we hope that you have
been thinking and talking with your colleagues about the ways in which you provide feedback to
your learners and elicit feedback from them. The impact of feedback is so important that we
want to explore it further in this section.
In their original research paper, John Hattie and Helen Timperley proposed a model that
described four different levels of feedback. The key point of their findings is that the level at which
the feedback is focused influences its effectiveness:
1. Feedback about the task such as feedback about whether answers were right or wrong
or directions to get more information.
2. Feedback about the processing of the task such as strategies used or strategies that
could be used.
3. Feedback about self-regulation such as feedback about learner self-evaluation or selfconfidence.
4. Feedback about the learner as a person such as statements that a learner is good or
smart.
For learners to have a clear idea of what the next step in their learning is, they need to have
feedback about the qualities of their work (task), and feedback about the process or strategies
that are most helpful.
Feedback that draws the attention of the learners to their self-regulation strategies, or their
abilities as learners can be effective if students hear it in a way that makes them realize they will
get the results they want if they expend effort and attention.
Personal comments (wow are you ever smart) are not especially helpful in focusing on
learning. These types of comments can unintentionally reinforce a fixed mindset rather than
encourage a growth mindset.
We encourage your leadership team to think about the ways in which you provide feedback to
your learners and to use these questions as a starting point in determining the extent to which

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your learners feel connected and supported by the school community and in charge of their own
learning. Two examples of thinking about learners from schools in Prince George and West
Vancouver follow.
xv

The sinking of the Titanic intrigued Taylor , a boy in Grade 2. He couldnt wait to learn more
xvi
about why the huge ship sank. Building on Kieran Egans work on Learning in Depth , his
teacher had introduced each learner to the opportunity to research in depth a topic of personal
interest. Taylor was off and running to the web, to the library, to the DVD collection. He
prepared a PowerPoint of these findings to share with his classmates. He was excited that many
of his classmates were really interested in what he was learning and their questions prompted
him to think about where he planned to go next with his learning. He took their comments and
their feedback as prompts to find out more:
What about early warning systems? How does radar work? How come the captain didnt
know there was a large iceberg looming ahead? And then what about icebergs
themselves? What impact is global warming having on icebergs today?
The questions just kept coming and he was deeply engaged in his learning.
Partly what inspired Taylors enthusiasm for learning was the feedback that he received from his
teacher, his classmates and his parents. He knew what he wanted to learn and why it was
important. He had a clear internalized sense of quality criteria for presenting his ideas and for
shaping his questions. Learners need to know the purpose and relevance of what they are
learning. Taylor received coaching feedback from his teacher and from his peers that helped him
to determine his next specific step. He was developing strong self-regulation and ownership of his
learning.
Darren, along with his primary colleagues, was interested in the concept of providing learners
with an individual topic during the first week of school. This would be a topic they would pursue
independently and about which they would acquire expertise. He and his colleagues asked
themselves: Will students engage with the learning? and How do we best support their
learning?
In their school-wide inquiry program learners are provided with the freedom to explore the
aspects of their topic that most interest them. They are free to decide how to present their
learning. In addition to exploring the usual primary curriculum, the learners are invited to stick with
their topic from kindergarten to when they leave the school in Grade Four.
The learners meet regularly with their teachers who provide guidance and support as they build
portfolios in their area of expertise. There are no grades given or formal assessments done.
These learners have a unique opportunity to learn about something in great depth, while
discovering more about their own strengths and interests as they do so.
In Darrens school, the four key questions are embedded in the way the teachers are approaching
their inquiries about how best to make learning in depth productive for each learner. The
relationships are in place, all learners have at least one or two adults directly supporting them and
there is real clarity around the purpose of the approach to learning they are designing. All learners
are coached to reflect on their own learning and to design their own next steps.

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Conclusions
These four questions are critically important in determining the extent to which learners feel
connected to the school and in charge of their own learning. We encourage you to explore the
questions with your learners.
We recently met with a dozen teachers from West Vancouver. The discussion of the four
questions connected to working with secondary learners was animated. The following day
Michelle, a secondary science teacher, e-mailed us with this observation: The questions are
powerful and I think we need one more. We need to ask our learners why their answers matter.
We think Michelle is right. For each of the four questions, learners need to know why their
thinking and their experiences matter. This is not just about providing thoughtful answers to the
questions it is about creating learning systems that value each learner as an individual, that
build resiliency and that develop self-regulated, confident learners with growth mindsets.
From our own teaching experiences and direct observations in schools, when educators work
together to ensure that their learners can productively answer the four questions, learners are
becoming more self-regulated. They can articulate the ways in which adults demonstrate their
belief in their future success. They know why what they are learning matters, they know how their
learning is going, and they know what to do to improve.
One professional learning strategy that groups of teachers are using with these questions is to
collect short transcripts of verbatim comments from two or three learners on a regular basis and
to share what they are hearing from their learners with their teaching colleagues. Posing the
questions in a way that feels natural and opens up space for learners to really think takes
practice. Regularly sharing responses in a trusting environment to identify patterns that can lead
to new forms of action is a powerful form of professional learning.
These questions arent just for young learners. They also apply to us as adult learners and as
educators. When was the last time you thought about the adults in your setting who believe that
you can be a success as an educator? When did you express this belief to one of your
colleagues? When did you give yourself the chance to reflect on where you are going with your
own professional learning? How will you determine how you are doing with the new learning and
new strategies you are exploring? And how will you work with your colleagues to get feedback
and to determine your own next steps?
We hope you can see why these questions matter so much to developing more motivated and
self-regulated learners. We also hope working with these questions provides an impetus for you
to explore more extensive approaches to inquiry. In observing the work of inquiring school teams,
we have seen how one question leads to another in an ever-deepening spiral. In the next chapter
you will begin to explore the spiraling nature of inquiry. You will consider the phases of the spiral
and why each phase is important. As well, you will have an opportunity to think about the ways
in which an ongoing inquiry spiral can lead to substantively better quality and equity outcomes for
young people in BC.

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10

Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Hymel, S. (2007). Educating the heart as well as the mind: Why social
and emotional learning is critical for students school and life success. Education Canada, 47, 2025
.
ii
http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/media/uploads/documents/vancouver-community-report-2010.pdf
iii

Timperley, H. (2011) Realizing the Power of Professional Learning. London: Open University
Press.

iv

Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review Of Educational Research
77(1), 81-112.

Hattie, J. (2011). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learners. New York:
Routledge. This book makes more accessible the findings he summarized in his earlier work:
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to
Achievement. New York: Routledge.

vi

Willms, D. (2002) Vulnerable Children: Findings from Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of
Children and Youth. University of Alberta Press.

vii

Schonert-Reichl, K. & LeRose, M. (2008). Resiliency in children and adolescents: Recent

research findings and implications for policy and practice in Canada. Working paper, The
Learning Partnerships Resiliency in Canadian Children Project and Schonert-Reichl, K. A.
(2008). Evaluating resiliency initiatives for children and youth: Current issues, lingering questions,

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11

and future directions. Working Paper, The Learning Partnerships Resiliency in Canadian Children
Project.
viii

Duckworth, A., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. & Kelly, D. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and Passion
for Long-Term Goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92:6, 10871101 and
Duckworth, A. L. & Quinn, P.D. (2009). 'Development and Validation of the Short Grit Scale (GritS)', Journal of Personality Assessment, 91: 2, 166 -174.

ix

In some cases we have chosen to use the real names of educators. In other cases we have
chosen to use a pseudonym to protect the identity of the school and the learners. In this case
Lindsay is a pseudonym.

Castells, M. (2000). The Rise of the Network Society: Vol. 1. The Information Age: Economy,
nd
Society and Culture (2 ed.). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.

xi

Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded Formative Assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

xii

Absolum, M. (2010). Clarity in the Classroom. Winnipeg: Portage and Main Press.

xiii

http://thenhier.ca/en/node/243 Benchmarks of Historical Thinking and Historical

Consciousness: UBC.

xiv

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/perf_stands/

xv

To see a video of Taylor explaining his inquiry, please go to www.noii.ca.

xvi

Egan, K. (2010). Learning in Depth. Chicago University Press.

Draft version. Please do not copy or cite without permission of authors.

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