Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century

Guided inquiry is a way of thinking, learning, and teaching that changes the culture of a school into a collaborative inquiry community. Global interconnectedness calls for new skills, new knowledge, and new ways of learning to prepare students with the abilities and competencies they need to meet the challenges of a changing world. The challenge for the information-age school is to educate students for living and working in this information-rich technological environment.

At the core of being educated today is knowing how to learn and innovate from a variety of sources. Through guided inquiry, students see school learning and real life meshed in meaningful ways. They develop higher order thinking and strategies for seeking meaning, creating, and innovating. Today's schools are challenged to develop student talent, coupling the rich resources of the school library with those of the community and wider world. How well are you preparing your students to draw on the knowledge and wisdom of the past while using today's technology to advance new discoveries in the future? This book is the introduction to guided inquiry. It is the place to begin to consider and plan how to develop an inquiry learning program for your students.

Carol C. Kuhlthau is professor emerita of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University.

Leslie K. Maniotes, PhD, is an education consultant and the cocreator and professional developer of Guided Inquiry Design(R).

Ann K. Caspari, MA, is education specialist at Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and director of the professional development program for preschool teachers in the District of Columbia Public School on inquiry science for young learners.