This year I had a 15-minute session with Year 9 students—in Forms rather than teaching Sets—on the first day of term as part of their Academic Induction programme, which was helpful.

I re-read Whitehead’s (1929) The aims of education over the summer. In it he says that

“From the very beginning, the child should experience the joy of discovery. The discovery which they have to make, is that general ideas give an understanding of that stream of events which pours through their life, which is their life.” (emphasis added)

This is important for three reasons.

Firstly, from the perspective of the Library. This brings to mind Douglas Knight’s (1968) observation that the two major and unique functions of a library are that it is space for (1) the meeting of mind and ideas, and (2) the development of ideas in the mind. Moreover, as Ruth Anne Davies (1969/1979) observes in her landmark work, The school library media program: Instructional force for excellence,

because “the library…program and the educational program are interdependent and inseparable…perspective in viewing the function and role of the school library…program [must begin] logically by building a historical understanding of education itself.”

This, then, establishes a deep and vital link between the library programme and the educational programme.

Secondly, from the perspective of the Year 9 Signature Work, which is centrally important to the Library’s inquiry-centred instructional programme (see IFLA School Library Guidelines), and by extension that of the College. The Signature Work consists of a number of lessons that follow a logical order, in that they step students through the stages of the inquiry process. During the course of these lessons, students are introduced to a number of ideas that might qualify as “general ideas [that] give an understanding of that stream of events which pours through their life, which is their life”—work still to be done here, also in relation to Willard’s (2002) four main factors in the realm of thought (ideas, images, information and thinking). However, I had not considered these [general] ideas as an organising principle, in that each lesson could/ should be centred on one—or more, if necessary to move the inquiry forward—clearly defined ideas. For example:

• Lesson 00 (Induction)
  • Idea: The only true measure of success is how well you deal with reality [which includes your Signature Work] (Willard)
  • Idea: Think globally and act locally
• Lesson 01
  • Idea: Reading the world (experience) precedes reading the word (record of experience), after which you cannot read one without also reading the other (Freire)
  • Idea: In order to learn you must desire to learn (Peirce), and because it is always wrong to believe something without sufficient evidence (Clifford), you will need to provide evidence of your desire to learn [for example, annotating your independent reading]
• Lesson 02
  • Idea: …

Thirdly, in relation to the College’s values, which are (1) Joy in Learning, (2) Joy in Service, and (3) Joy in Faith. The joy of discovering that certain ideas help us to make sense of reality—which is a central feature of our definition of inquiry*—not only links the library’s programme with the College’s educational programme, but also with one of its core values.

I will update further as Lesson 01 takes shape for Monday, and also share Lesson 00 (Induction).

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*Inquiry is a stance of wonder and puzzlement that gives rise to a dynamic process of coming to know and understand the world and ourselves in it as the basis for responsible participation in community.