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Teaching Inquiry as Conversation
Bringing Wonder to Life
Teaching Inquiry as Conversation
Bringing Wonder to Life
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Description
Use reflective inquiry to motivate learners to follow their own sense of wonder and empower them to become learners for life.
Today's students display increasing emotional needs, and divisions in society illustrate the critical importance of students developing their own self-identities and deep cultural responsiveness. Inquiry as Conversation addresses the need for a holistic, personal, and deep approach to teaching and learning.
The conceptual framework and implementable strategies/models provided in Inquiry as Conversation enable school librarians and classroom teachers to build reflective inquiry experiences into their daily instruction and the culture of the school. Each chapter invites readers to join an ongoing conversation, as authors Stripling and Toerien explore the complexities and joy of unleashing the learning potentials of young people from kindergarten through their final high school years. The authors are uniquely qualified to host this conversation: Stripling created the Stripling Model of Inquiry in 2003 and has been developing a K–12 continuum of skills since that time, and Toerien is the originator of FOSIL, a model that brings the Stripling Model of Inquiry to life through collaborative planning and teaching, signature works, and a whole-school focus on inquiry.
The anecdotes, authentic examples, and practical strategies in the book guide school librarians and classroom teachers to engage and empower learners through a conversational and whole-child approach to inquiry. Learners will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and culturally as they discover their own strengths and ideas, converse with others, and interact with the ideas and opinions that they encounter through their reading, viewing, and listening.
Table of Contents
1. Inquiry and the Purpose of Education
2. Inquiry as Conversation
3. Inquiry Process
4. Inquiry as All-Embracing Concept
5. Whole-Child Focus of Inquiry
6. Curriculum Mapping of Priority Skills and Attitudes
7. Designing Inquiry-Based Instruction
8. Teaching the Skills and Attitudes of Inquiry
9. Broadening the Conversations about Inquiry
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | 14 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 192 |
| ISBN | 9798216194736 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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This inspiring book redefines inquiry as an engaging, conversation-driven journey that supports the whole child-academically, personally, socially, and culturally-while empowering learners to think critically and act with agency. Both the Stripling Model of Inquiry and the FOSIL Inquiry Cycle, it offers educators practical, school-wide strategies for building cultures of curiosity where students become reflective, engaged, and responsible members of their communities.
Melissa Jacobs, Director of Library Services, New York City School Library System, USA
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A timely and energizing reminder of the skills that matter most for students-now and in the future. Stripling and Toerien bring curiosity, critical thinking, and authentic, self-driven learning to the forefront, offering a vision of inquiry that feels both accessible and transformative. Ultimately, this is a necessary primer for librarians who seek to frame their instruction through inquiry.
Dr. Chris Haeffner, Director of Library Services, Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
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Stripling and Toerien share their wisdom and real-world experiences, as well as ready-to-use models and practical tools for building the essential skills necessary for inquiry. Join the conversation-your journey to becoming a confident inquiry leader starts here.
Dr. Jennifer Branch-Mueller, President, the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)
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Stripling and Toerien have written an accessible, thoughtful, practical and inspiring guide to inquiry learning and its place in the liberal education of the whole child in an age of artificial intelligence and information unreliability.
Lee Fitzgerald, adjunct Lecturer to the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) in the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia
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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 of responsible participation in community.” This far-reaching definition of inquiry emerged from authors Stripling (USA) and Toerien (UK)'s multiyear conversations across the Atlantic. Their collaboration brings together the best of inquiry-based theory and practice and offers guidance for increasing its joy and power. This book is essential reading for those committed to the educational and moral purposes of school libraries, improving teaching and learning for all and making a life-wide and life-long difference in the lives of young people.
Dr. Dianne Oberg, Professor Emerita, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Canada, and Co-Editor of Global Action for School Libraries: Models of Inquiry





















