Sample Category Title

This template is designed to help teachers develop a sense of what is happening for children with whom they are working. The tool equips you to collect observational data, as well as children’s perspectives on the learning and activities.

PDF file or Word .docx file

This tool has been designed for use by a colleague or critical friend to observe your practice and collect observational data. It also provides a tool to collect information about your interactions with children. Teachers could also use this template when watching a video of their own practice.

PDF file or Word .docx file

This template is designed to help teachers evaluate their own practice in a given area.

PDF file or Word .docx file

This tool has been designed to help teachers list things that emerged during the scanning phase, to evaluate what’s working well and what’s not, and to consider the amount and quality of evidence collected prior to selecting an area of focus. It is useful for helping to narrow your focus and identify any areas where you might need to collect a bit more evidence.

PDF file or Word .docx file

e this tool to help you to select an area to focus on. It will help you rate potential areas to address against the level of need, your capacity to make changes, your strengths, challenges, your interest in it, potential to collaborate and ease of assessing progress and change. It’s a very quick tool to use to help you keep moving through the inquiry process.

PDF file or Word .docx file

If you have a general area in need of improvement, use this tool to narrow your focus by identifying the who, what, how and why of your key observations, and what the learning should look like. You can also use it to speculate possible causes of the problem or challenges. A narrow focus will enable you to conduct a tighter, deeper and more effective inquiry.

PDF file or Word .docx file

The 5 Whys analysis method is useful for identifying and defining the problem. It can be very difficult to clearly identify the root problem or issue, and this tool helps you to get past symptoms or factors that may affect a child’s behaviour and motivation (such as tiredness) but are not the true cause of the problem.

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this tool to identify and interrupt assumptions you have made about the issue you are focusing on. Develop a theory of action by listing your actions before examining the beliefs, perceptions, attitudes and assumptions that motivated your actions. This is a very useful tool to interrupt your automatic reasoning process and to check the validity of your assumptions prior to forming hunches about what you could change.

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this tool to formulate ‘if, then’ statements and to consider what evidence you will need to collect in order to test your hunch, and what further information and professional learning you will need in order to take action.

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this tool to identify what you want to learn in this phase of inquiry and to set a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-driven, Time-bound). A SMART goal will enable you to clarify what you are researching, focus your efforts, and use your time and resources more productively.

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this tool to brainstorm potential resources you could access, and to plan the learning strategies you will use.

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this detailed chart to record iterative cycles of planning throughout the inquiry.

PDF file or Word .docx file

This simple tool provides the space to list and monitor the progress of actions you are planning to take and/or strategies you are planning to trial. 

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this table to collate and compare the data from the beginning of the inquiry in the scanning and focusing phases and in the checking phase.

PDF file or Word .docx file

Use this table to collate and critically interrogate your evidence for this inquiry. This tool includes some critical questions to help you evaluate the impact your actions has had on your teaching practice and children’s learning.

PDF file or Word .docx file