ELIS Classroom Inquiry Webinar 2022

The ELIS Classroom Inquiry Webinar was held online in Zoom, on Thursday, 17 February 2022 (2.30 – 4.00 pm). It was attended by 335 participants comprising EL teachers, teacher leaders and teacher educators. The programme comprised talks by the following speakers from ELIS: Dr Paul Grahame Doyle, Deputy Director, Research and Dr Tay May Yin, Principal Master Teacher/EL. Teacher leaders, Mdm Yusnita Md Taib, Mdm Sanmuga Malar d/o Rathakrishna and Mdm Norazelin Misnari from the West Zone EL NLC shared their experience working with teachers on classroom inquiry in the context of school PLC, focusing on the teaching of oracy and reading skills.  These presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion with primary and secondary teacher inquirers, facilitated by Master Teachers and Specialists from ELIS.

ELIS Approach to Teacher Inquiry

Dr Paul Doyle, Deputy Director, Research, at ELIS gave a talk on the ‘ELIS Approach to Teacher Inquiry’, in which he focused on three questions: Why should teachers engage in inquiry? What does classroom inquiry look like? How can classroom inquiry be carried out? He outlined four basic stages for classroom inquiry, and highlighted the role of teacher leaders in supporting and learning from teacher inquiry.

The Practice of Teacher Inquiry in Singapore Classrooms

Dr Tay May Yin, Principal Master Teacher/EL, spoke about the practice of teacher inquiry in Singapore classrooms. She discussed how such inquiry impacts students’ learning outcomes and teachers’ professional growth. She highlighted three examples of teacher inquiry undertaken by teachers and teacher leaders at the primary and secondary levels. The inquiries focused on engaging high progress learners in the English Language classroom, video reflections on taking the anxiety out of classroom observations, and learner strategies for academic reading.