Utopian Education: A Glimpse of What It Might Look Like

Whitin, Phyllis, and David J. Whitin
Inquiry at the Window: Pursuing the Wonders of Learners
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1997

I have a head full of images of the perfect classroom and they all have a central theme: students wanting to know more. The aim of stimulating curiosity has driven much of my teaching and growth as an educator. The art of developing and framing questions, and the centrality of this practice to encouragement for further learning and facilitation of deeper connections has also been a focus of the evolving practice at Lincoln Center Institute. Curiosity and questioning, no doubt, drive both learning and teaching. Inquiry at the Window offers some great insights into the role of inquiry through its narrative description of magical moments in education in a fourth grade classroom.

Phyllis and David J. Whitin tell of education driven mainly by the specific interests of their students, centered on the observation of birds. Inquiry provides the lens through which observation, exploration, imagination, collaboration and altered perspectives manifest themselves and the authors expertly depict and analyze how this occurred in their classroom. They describe how the learning evolved, changed paths, broadened, and deepened through a year-long research project that also provided a catalyst for education in many disciplines, including geography, mathematics, science, and social studies. They also provide information about how and when they guided the learning or added new dimensions or connections to various subject areas.

As I read through the depictions and examples, it appeared all too perfect and I began to wonder how this would really work in a classroom, where testing is a premium and time a minimum. The authors addressed these concerns frankly in the final chapter, pointing to the constant tension and decision making needs they encountered and addressing challenges throughout the year. They explain how and why decisions were made, and highlight some triumphs and some regrets.

Several specific practices employed during this school year that caught my eye are as follows:

• The use of community resources in the classroom, which is a specific strategy included in the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Here, the head of the local Audubon Society and the owner of a specialty bird shop visited the classroom. Letters were also exchanged between the students and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
• The teacher’s curiosity and interest to grow broadened the scope of the learning. The classroom teacher was curious and asked a guest about a particular mating pattern and this led to an entirely new track of research for the class.
• The use of nature as a teaching tool or subject matter as discussed in my blog post on Richard Lewis’s book, Living by Wonder.
• The role of storytelling in learning as discussed in another post on Teacher’s Everyday Use of Imagination by Virginia M. Jagla. Observation and record taking were a regular practice in the Whitins’s classroom. The students would then organize their observations into a format for sharing, such as a newscast.

My journey with this book mirrors the book itself. It was like peering out the window when you wake up in the morning to see a nice day and notice a few details, but not understanding the whole picture of the magnificence of the world around you. At first I thought, “interesting stories, nice examples.” About two-thirds of the way through the book (which doesn’t take long; it’s a quick read) I was struck by the elegant simplicity of the approach yet amazing complexity of the learning described. I want every classroom to look like this one!

Click here to purchase this book.

Click here to find a library near you that owns this book.

Authorized to borrow resources from LCI’s Resource Center? Click here to send an e-mail request (please include your name, address, relationship to the Institute, and title of the resource you would like to borrow).