Bringing our learning together: Teacher inquiry within and beyond the classroom
- syoung679
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
By Kristin Singbeil and Vanessa Coray, facilitators, BCTF Teacher Inquiry Program
The most fascinating part of teacher inquiry projects is never knowing where your curiosity will take you. Last school year, we were honoured to facilitate a Teacher Inquiry Program (TIP) project with a group of teachers from Victoria to explore six interconnected topics: exploring community, creating anti-racist classrooms, Indigenous ways of learning, cross-grade/cross-curricular learning, reciprocal relationships, and the academic impact of building connections. While our group began with a common purpose, the projects ultimately took each participant in very different directions—each shaped by their own contexts, identities, and communities. What united our group was a commitment to listen deeply, act thoughtfully, and reflect honestly on the work of creating more inclusive and responsive educational environments.
Our group was made up of teachers from many different schools who taught many different subjects in both elementary and secondary school. All were seeking a way to find meaningful connections among their students, staff, and communities. Over the course of six sessions, we explored ways of creating connections between staff and students in schools with separate buildings, welcoming students and educators into Indigenous learning spaces, bringing students together across grades through art and play, learning from the land, and exploring gender-inclusion in nature-based learning.
We reflected on the state of our classrooms and the learning that students were taking part in to be able to discover why we teach the way we do and whose needs are being met. We found that it was very easy to identify problems in a colonial school system but wondered, how could we co-create solutions? With a lack of space and collaboration time, it is often difficult to work together in schools to build an authentic community. We explored ways that would meaningfully include other educators in our learning journey.
Collective creativity
One participant, Julia Thompson, created an Indigenous learning space from a room that had been a storage space. This allowed her to invite students into the space to learn how to felt. Needle felting, which can be a meaningful tool for self-regulation, cultural transmission, and storytelling, allowed her and her students to build a connection to traditional materials and artistic expressions. When approached with gratitude and reciprocity, it becomes a way to honour shared knowledge and resources, foster community, and promote cultural exchange through collective creativity.
Bringing the peripheries into focus
Chiana van Katwijk’s inquiry centred on the revival and expansion of her school’s Students of Colour Association. Drawing inspiration from Paulo Freire’s concept of “the peripheries” and building upon her Freirean inquiry project from last year, she reflected on the many students who exist in the in-between spaces of school life—often unseen, unheard, and disconnected. By simply opening her classroom at lunch and offering food, games, and conversation, she created a space where students of colour felt seen, safe, and empowered to lead. From organic discussions came student-driven initiatives—art projects, anti-racism resources for teachers, and dreams of future cultural exchanges. The importance of her own identity as a Black woman and teacher of colour was central; students explicitly shared how much it mattered to be led by someone who shared and understood their experiences. This inquiry reminded us that intentional spaces, grounded in care and cultural connection, have the power to transform school experiences and foster genuine community.
Decolonizing practice and space
Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association former professional development chair and TIP participant Ilana Hampton noted that she began this inquiry thinking it would guide her toward classroom-based strategies to decolonize her practice as a learning support teacher; but she found that the process pushed her to think far more broadly. As she worked closely with students and their caregivers, she became more attuned to the messages school environments send—messages communicated not only through curriculum but also through visuals, language, and space. She found herself noticing which walls held Indigenous art and which still displayed colonial symbols, which announcements honoured the land and which did not. She realized that decolonizing her teaching practice wasn’t only about the materials used or the relationships nurtured—it was about her whole learning community. This shift in focus led her to create and distribute a survey to better understand how schools across the district are engaging in this work. What she learned is that meaningful change is happening in many places, but there is still much more to do.
As educators, we have a responsibility to ensure that Indigenous presence is not just acknowledged but embedded, visible, and sustained across all aspects of our learning environments. We need to do this work together, and we need to create, and build, and strengthen our communities (classroom, school, and wider communities) as we engage in this work.
This inquiry, titled Beyond the Bulletin Board, asked how Indigenous presence is—or isn’t—embedded in our school environments. Through observation, cross-school visits, and a district-wide survey, Ilana uncovered powerful efforts to incorporate Indigenous voices: land acknowledgments rooted in seasonal learning, Indigenous art by local artists, and innovative library practices like the Brian Deer classification system. But inconsistencies across schools pointed to a need for deeper, system-wide commitment. The inquiry also explored how school symbols—such as flags and portraits—carry implicit messages. In some schools, the quiet removal of British monarchy portraits spoke volumes. This project affirmed that reconciliation is not a checklist but a relationship—one that requires space, voice, and shared responsibility.
Addressing belonging
Another inquiry examined belonging through the lens of queer and non-binary experiences—for both students and staff. As a queer, non-binary teacher and social justice representative, Nat Buchmann gathered stories and data from across schools and districts. What emerged was a powerful portrait of systemic gaps: unsafe or inaccessible gender-neutral bathrooms, lack of representation in curriculum, and ongoing invisibility of queer and gender-diverse identities in school culture. Yet alongside these gaps were seeds of change—peer mentorship programs for LGBTQ2IA+ student-teachers, school committees addressing inequities, and growing interest in sharing inclusive teaching resources. This inquiry highlighted how physical structures and systemic norms can create barriers to belonging—and how community, advocacy, and visibility can start to break them down.
Creating community
Claire Rogers’ inquiry delved into the question, what does community look like when your school is split between two buildings that are a kilometre apart? The inquiry uncovered the emotional and logistical challenges faced by students and staff alike—feelings of disconnection, miscommunication, and fractured identity. Through her research and reflection, she began to identify strategies for bridging these gaps: shared events, cross-building rituals, and intentional efforts to reweave the threads of belonging. Her project was a reminder that physical space can shape emotional and relational space—and that community must be actively and creatively constructed.
Examining burnout
The final inquiry in our collective, Marlena Monton’s, examined the pervasive and deeply human issue of teacher burnout. By reflecting on her own experiences and conversations with colleagues, she surfaced themes of exhaustion, systemic pressure, and emotional depletion. Yet she also highlighted the importance of carving out time for professional reflection, peer support, and mutual care. Her contribution served as a grounding reminder that any work toward student well-being must also account for the well-being of teachers.
Bringing our learning together
As an inquiry group, we all realized after working together that we needed to take our learning outside and spend some time building our own community as a group while learning from the land. Our group visited the Signs of Lək'wəŋən interpretive walkway in Victoria, where seven spindle whorls created by Songhees artist Butch Dick honour the art, history, and cultures of the Coast Salish people. These spindle whorls represent family and the foundational role of Coast Salish women. Along this journey we discovered that the seventh spindle whorl at Laurel Point, a significant historical burial site, was missing. Through further inquiry, a member of our group contacted the Songhees Nation and learned that the spindle whorl had been removed in 2020 for a remediation project, and there was still no clear plan from the city on when it would be returned. This prompted our group to write letters to Victoria City Council to advocate for its reinstalment, which has since occurred. This was not a planned part of our inquiry, but it reflected the organic and reciprocal nature of the learning we were doing.
Our inquiry led us to discover that when we centre relationships, land, and reciprocal learning, the outcomes are often unpredictable but deeply meaningful. Our TIP cohort’s big takeaway is that genuine inquiry spills beyond classroom walls, uncovering questions we didn’t even know we needed to ask. Our group explored deep questions that uncovered surprising directions, prompted civic engagement, and helped us reimagine space, connection, and purpose in education. Whether through reactivating unused spaces, connecting with Indigenous communities, or speaking up for cultural restoration in our city, our learning didn’t just stay in the classroom—it walked out with us.
BCTF Teacher Inquiry Program
The BCTF Teacher Inquiry Program provides teachers a framework for ongoing professional inquiry and growth. It promotes continual professional development in teaching practices by fostering a structured process of investigation and reflection.