I truly believe that when a teacher manages to have fun, be surprised and learn something while teaching, their students will naturally do the same.
And that's how I found myself thinking back to some of the lessons that, I’m pretty sure, not even Alzheimer's will manage to erase from my memory! 😄
And perhaps that's why I have always loved the Tuning In phase of an inquiry.
When we create an experience that genuinely surprises us as teachers, it becomes much easier to create that same sense of wonder in our students.
Curiosity is contagious. 🧐✨
Years ago, I was teaching in an international school that was applying to become an IB World School for the Primary Years Programme. Every Unit of Inquiry was carefully planned, discussed and refined.
Yet, despite all that planning, there was one phase that everyone was always excited about...
The Tuning In.
Not because it came first.
But because it was the moment that made children want to learn. One Unit of Inquiry was "How Things Work", and we wanted students to explore the concept of energy. So, instead of introducing the topic with a PowerPoint or a textbook...
. ..we secretly transformed the classrooms overnight.
The electricity, water supply and heating were temporarily switched off. Black-and-yellow hazard tape and construction signs appeared everywhere. The next morning, the children walked in and froze.
"Why isn't the interactive whiteboard working?"
"How are we going to wash our hands?" (This was during COVID!)
"Why is it so cold?"
Within seconds, they were asking questions, making predictions and trying to solve the mystery. Nobody had asked them to be curious. The environment had done it for us.And that wasn't the only unforgettable Tuning In.
🕰️ During our "Where We Are in Place and Time" unit, we filled the classroom with photographs and artefacts from different historical periods. Without any explanation, students worked in groups to identify where each object belonged on a timeline, using only their prior knowledge. They debated, justified their thinking and realised just how much they already knew... and how much they still wanted to discover.
🌱 For a "Sharing the Planet" unit, we showed a short scene from WALL·E. Instead of explaining its meaning, we followed it with the classic See–Think–Wonder routine. The discussion that followed naturally led us towards questions about pollution, nature, plants and our responsibility towards the environment. The inquiry had already begun before we had even introduced the central idea.
That's the real power of Tuning In. It isn't simply an introduction to a new unit.
As Kath Murdoch, one of the leading experts on Inquiry Learning and author of the well-known the Power of Inquiry, and Getting Personal with Inquiry Learning , often points out that “Tuning In” is not meant to introduce a topic, but rather to “tune in to the students’ thinking.”
The goal is not to assess how much they know, but to bring their ideas, beliefs, doubts, and misconceptions to light, so that the teacher can design the learning path based on what emerges.
Here are some more ideas to spark the TUNING IN phase of your inquiry — not as a checklist, but as provocations to help you uncover what your students already think, what surprises them, and what they are genuinely curious to find out:
🖼️ Image-Based Provocation: Don’t just show students a picture! Choose an ambiguous, surprising or thought-provoking image and invite them to come up with different interpretations. It’s a great way to activate prior knowledge and get those little brains working! 👉 Here's an example
✏️ Question Pencil: Start with the questions your students naturally come up with and help them turn simple, factual questions into more open-ended and conceptual ones. For example, move from “How many…?” to questions that encourage deeper thinking and can lead to further inquiry. 👉Here's an example
🔺 Question Triangle: Once students have generated their questions, invite them to look at them more closely. Which questions are thin and which ones are deep? Can they transform a simple question into one that could lead to a much richer inquiry? 👉Here's an example
🔥 Hot Seat: Put a student, an object, a historical character—or even a picture—in the hot seat! The rest of the class can ask questions to discover more. It’s a fun way to turn students from passive answerers into active questioners. 👉Here's an example
💭 What if...? Sometimes all you need is a good What if...? question to open the door to an inquiry.
What if cities could float?
What if the Sun disappeared?
What if humans couldn't use plastic anymore?
Impossible? Maybe. But that's exactly what makes these questions so powerful! They encourage children to imagine, make connections and explore possible consequences. 👉 Here's an example
🧩 A Problem to Solve: Instead of telling students what they are going to learn, give them a real problem they can't solve yet with what they already know.Let them problem-see before they problem-solve. The gap between what they know and what they need to know can be a f antastic starting point for inquiry! 👉Here's an example
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Sometimes the best provocation is a real person. Invite an expert, a family member, a community member—or even connect virtually with someone from another part of the world. A personal story, a real experience or a different perspective can make an inquiry suddenly feel much more meaningful.
🎨 A Creative Provocation
A work of art, an unusual object, a photograph, a piece of music or even a short performance can become the starting point for a whole inquiry. Instead of explaining what students are looking at, simply ask: What do you notice? What do you think? What does it make you wonder? And then... let the conversation take you somewhere unexpected! 👉Here's an example
🎧🎬 A Multisensory Provocation
And remember: a provocation doesn't have to be a whole video or a perfectly prepared presentation. Sometimes a sound, a few seconds of video, an image without context, a mysterious smell or an object to touch and explore is enough. The goal isn't to give students information. It's to create just enough mystery and uncertainty for them to think: “Wait... what's going on here?” 👀
And that's often where the real inquiry begins! 💡
