Inquiry-based learning is a pedagogical method. Rather than providing students with established facts –knowledge- , it is method that requires active engagement from students . Students will need to actively engage in researching issues and questioning situations in order to acquire and develop knowledge. Within inquire-based learning, students can be asked to create questions, obtain evidence –do research and collect data-, interpret and analyze the evidence, generalize evidence to other situations, make predictions, present the findings, and finally reflect on this process.

Due to the fact that inquire-based learning is the basis of all scientific research, this pedagogical method is often found within science education (in high school). I would argue however, that this approach is much needed in other forms of education as well. Even more so since the world around us is so rapidly changing. Not only do we not know what the jobs of the future are, the pace with which new information –needed to fulfil other jobs- is becoming accessible, is so high that it is impossible to teach for knowledge (alone) in school. Vocational education –teaching for particular jobs- in other words, needs a real make over. In addition to teaching for knowledge and skills that you currently need to fulfill a job, we need to teach a new generation how to obtain new knowledge, how to find (validated) answers to questions, and how to deal with massive amounts of information (online). This is where inquiry-based learning comes in.

In order to understand the role which inquiry-based learning can play within education, it is important to agree upon a definition of this method. Banchi and Bell (2008) define four different levels of inquiry: confirmation inquiry, structured inquiry, guided inquiry, and open inquiry. Each level is defined by different degrees of guidance and structure provided by the teacher. Confirmation inquiry is highly structured and guided by the teacher, with limited room for agency of the learner, open inquiry on the other hand is almost completely unstructured and allows the learner to shape the entire process. The teacher in this case fulfills the role of facilitator and can advise students if needed.

Even though it is often stated that only open inquiry can be regarded as inquiry-based learning, I think it is increasingly important to include the more structured and guided forms of inquiry learning in the definition, if we want to incorporate inquiry-based learning in the entire school system (rather than just science education).

Inquiry-based learning is perfectly suitable to teach what in the Netherlands has been labeled as the 21st century skills. These include various skills (see the figure for some of the 21st century skills) that will allow you to do research and keep on learning in the future.

Once students acquire these skills, they will be able to later in life apply them to make sense of new information, new developments and new requirements. In addition, these skills will enhance their sense of agency since they have learned how to use these skills and apply them in different circumstances. It opens up the door for lifelong learning, micro learning and so on!

Banchi and Bell (2008) The many levels of inquiry. Science and Children, 46(2), 26–29

Cope, B., and Kalantzis, M. (2017). Conceptualizing e-learning. In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (Eds), e-Learning Ecologies. New York: Routledge.