It was just a few short (or long, I can’t tell) months ago that I started getting serious about playing guitar. Before this inquiry progress, I could hardly play anything and now, I’m sounding pretty ok if I don’t say so myself.
Free Inquiry
Having never heard of the concept of a “free inquiry” before, when it was being explained on our first day, I was excited and frightened. It was exciting to be able to pick any – any I mean any – topic I desired. I kicked around the idea of getting into mindfulness and meditation but ultimately settled on guitar because I was afraid those others would be less quantifiable.
To be honest, I’m not sure I’d pick guitar again. Playing guitar is sort of a stress release for me and trying to formally learn about it took away from that a bit. But all in all, I’m glad for the experience: I got to learn a bit more about music while also getting the first-hand experience with the free-inquiry process.
After going through all of this business, I can say, without a doubt, that I would use free inquiry in my teaching. The applications for math seem a little daunting but for science, the free inquiry is pretty similar to the scientific method. From discovering the laws of nature to explaining some natural phenomena, inquiry guides all of our scientific practices and values.
I’m extremely appreciative that I got the opportunity to give it a try in EDCI 336 and I can’t wait to apply it in my classroom.
