Our Commitment to Agility
I liked the inquiry process because it gave me the freedom to explore something I was genuinely curious about.
Our Commitment to Agility
The outcome of her work to date has been the creation of the Authentic Critical Inquiry Framework. Centred on student agency, the goal of the framework is to highlight nuance and show how curiosity evolves based on new inquiries and findings. It encourages an exploratory approach by inviting students to examine three sources, including at least one with a different perspective, to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the situation.
Lauren, Grade 12, first engaged with the Authentic Critical Inquiry Framework in Composition 11, when she explored the topic of dementia motivated by her personal connection to the disease. Using the inquiry framework, she learned that awareness and support are as important as funding is to the dementia crisis.
“ I liked the inquiry process because it gave me the freedom to explore something I was genuinely curious about,” she said.“ Unlike traditional assignments where the topic is chosen for you, I had the opportunity to ask my own questions, which made the research feel more meaningful.”
Beyond CHS, Research Chairs actively engage in a range of professional development opportunities, both as presenters and participants. Recent highlights for our Research Chairs include sharing research at events such as the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, and the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Educating Girls Symposium. Research Chairs have also led workshops and contributed scholarly articles to professional journals— work that can also include the students who engaged with the work in their classes.
In his role as Research Coordinator and as a previous Research Chair, Mr Griffith participated in collaborative initiatives through Canadian Accredited Independent School and Simon Fraser University’ s WestCAST educational conferences this year. CHS students contributed to his presentations, sharing their learning journeys through his work regarding student agency.
“ Having students present with me at WestCAST was a real demonstration of the capability they have,” Mr Griffith said.“ The audience was impressed with their work, and I feel it was a culmination of a lot of hard work on their part.”
BRIDGING LEARNING COMMUNITIES & RESEARCH CHAIR WORK
Ms Duteau has even taken inspiration from her Professional Learning Community this year— student publishing— to further her Research Chair work.
I liked the inquiry process because it gave me the freedom to explore something I was genuinely curious about.
During a check-in between classes, Emily, Grade 12, shared with Ms Duteau that she had continued applying the inquiry framework learned in Grade 11 English to her Grade 12 work, leading her to explore the theme of conformity in the novel All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
“ The framework helped me come up with a question to be explored further
7