Inquiry for All?

By Dr. Salika Lawrence

Our passion project unit was designed to give every student a chance to shine. I provided choice boards, flexible deadlines, and open-ended prompts. But one student—quiet, recently arrived, with limited English—barely engaged. She was present, but silent. I started to wonder: was inquiry meeting her needs?

Then I gave her a different template—a visual brainstorming map with icons, sentence starters, and room for sketches. Suddenly, everything changed. She designed a project on water scarcity, using visuals and brief captions to share a powerful story rooted in her own experience.

That moment reminded me: accessibility isn’t about simplifying the task—it’s about broadening the pathways in. True inquiry invites all learners to explore and express their thinking, but we have to provide the tools that make that possible.