Supporting Pupils' Independent Enquiry Studies (SPIES)

This project required primary teachers to critically evaluate the use of a whole-school approach to child-led, inquiry-based science education to support the development of Year 5 and Year 6 pupils’ independent inquiry studies. Professional development training was designed to model the use of inquiry as ‘a way of knowing’ Dewey (1910) to facilitate a shift in emphasis from teacher-led to child-led inquiry, requiring agency, reflection and enactment (Clarke and Hollingsworth, 2002) by each participating teacher.