The Day CPD Webinar
2024-12-09 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Darryl Toerien and Nicole Campbell, Senior Subject Lead of PSHE at Lilian Baylis Technology School in South London, will be presenting Unlocking critical minds: A CPD webinar on inquiry-led learning for The Day.
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In today’s fast-paced, information-saturated world, fostering critical thinking skills in students has never been more important.
Join The Day and special guests for a dynamic CPD webinar designed to equip teachers with practical, inquiry-led strategies to enhance critical thinking in their classroom.
We’ll explore:
✅ The challenges facing students in developing critical thinking
✅ Inquiry-led learning approaches and how they can be applied in the classroom
✅ Practical tips to structure engaging lessons, inspire discussion and guide students

FOSIL Symposium 2025
2025-02-08 08:45 - 16:30
Brief contextual details of the presenters may be found here.
Free and online – register here or see below.
The Symposium is an opportunity for colleagues who are developing engaged and empowered inquirers to share with and learn from each other. While our focus is FOSIL-based inquiry, it is not exclusively so, and the Symposium is open to and free for all who share our conviction that inquiry, properly understood and supported, is the most potent educational survival strategy that we can equip our students with, which also enables them to thrive. The reason for this is that inquiry is a fundamental human response to reality, and dealing successfully with reality is the only true measure of human success. The revolution will not be televised, although in this case it will be recorded.
08:45 – 09:00 | Welcome | Elizabeth Hutchinson, School Library Specialist
09:00 – 09:15 | Revolutionary musing | Dianne Oberg, Professor Emerita at the University of Alberta, and Jennifer Branch-Mueller, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta and President of the International Association of School Librarianship, co-authors of Focus on inquiry: a teacher’s guide to implementing inquiry-based learning, which includes the Alberta Inquiry Model
09:15 – 10:00 | The revolution will not be televised | Lee FitzGerald, Editor of ACCESS, Journal of the Australian School Library Association, and Adjunct Lecturer on the Master of Education: Teacher Librarianship course at Charles Sturt University, and Joanne Bleby, History Coordinator at Loreto Kirribilli
10:00 – 10:15 | Break
10:15 – 11:45 | FOSIL Developments | Darryl Toerien, Head of Inquiry-Based Learning at Blanchelande College, and originator of FOSIL and the FOSIL Group
Institute for the Advancement of Inquiry (IAI)

Founding the Institute | Darryl Toerien
Symbolising the Institute | Lara Stanford, Year 13 student at Blanchelande College
Integrating the Institute | Jane Grange, Director of Studies at Blanchelande College
Hosting the Institute | Alexa Yeoman, Principal of Blanchelande College
Valuing the Institute | Mark Le Page, Managing Director of Orthoginian Limited and former Deputy Director of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission

Heroic Inquiry

Conceptualising Heroic Inquiry | Darryl Toerien
Reconceptualising Heroic Inquiry | Hugh Rose, Illustrator of Traditional Stories

11:45 – 12:00 | Revolutionary musing | Mary-Rose Grieve, Librarian at Hartland International School, Co-Chair of Great School Libraries and National Committee member of CILIP’s School Libraries Group
12:00 – 12:45 | Lunch
12:45 – 13:30 | The revolution will not be televised | Ruth Maloney, Librarian at Tonbridge Grammar School
13:30 – 14:15 | The revolution will not be televised | Jannath Khanom, Learning Resource Centre Manager at Connaught School for Girls
14:15 – 14:30 | Break
14:30 – 15:15 | The revolution will not be televised | David Harrow, Headmaster at AKS Lytham, Faye Marland, Assistant Head (Staff and Student Development), and Nick O’Loughlin, Head of Student Inquiry
15:15 – 16:15 | Concluding revolutionary musing | Barbara Stripling, Professor Emerita at Syracuse University, and originator of Stripling’s Model of Inquiry and the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum
16:15 – 16:30 | Farewell | Elizabeth Hutchinson, School Library Specialist
Notes on the sessions:
The practical sessions – called The revolution will not be televised to, somewhat ironically, underscore the fact that the real educational revolution, the one that is actually needed, is hard won and for no earthly gain – essentially address three questions: Why inquiry? What are your obstacles to inquiry? Nevertheless, how are you engaging and empowering inquirers?
By contrast, Revolutionary musing is an opportunity to speak to the moment we find ourselves in.
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FOSIL – and the work of the FOSIL Group through the FOSIL Group website – is supported by the UK School Library Association.

Preconference to AASL 2025 | Leap into the Futute of School Libraries No. 2
2025-10-15
Note that this event is being held at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri.
Purpose
In the spirit of the former Treasure Mountain Research Retreats, this new series, Leap into the Future of School Libraries, seeks to build a shared research agenda and promote initiatives, best practices, action proposals, and resilience among professionals who are determined to move our field forward.

Agenda
Throughout the day, we will alternate between keynote addresses and table talks. Everyone will be encouraged to contribute major ideas, which will be gathered during the event and beyond as part of a collection of innovative strategies for research, action, implementation, and demonstration—efforts aimed at placing the school library at the center of teaching and learning. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet, share, and co-create ideas with a variety of individuals throughout the day. We’ll also enjoy boxed lunches, coffee available throughout the event, dinner together, and a final “idea extravaganza” to close out the day.

Keynotes

Barbara K. Stripling and Darryl Toerien introduce their forthcoming major work, Teaching Inquiry as Conversation: Bringing Wonder to Life, to be published by Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited.

Susan D. Ballard, Pamela C. Harland, and Rachel V. Small present findings from a Delphi study conducted with experts in the field to develop a contemporary, scaffolded model of collaboration. The research identifies key levels of collaboration, from independent access to fully integrated instructional partnerships, and illustrates the dispositions and environmental conditions necessary to support each stage. Attendees will explore the finalized model, discuss implications for their own practice, and consider how the findings can inform professional learning and advocacy.

Keith Curry Lance reviews the state of data and research across the federal government and thinks with us the future of school library research.
