Inquiry in Practice
To learn more about the AASL Shared Foundation Inquiry domain, I spoke with a school librarian at an international private school serving approximately 600 students in grades 3–5 in Hong Kong. The library also has 2 assistants. The library plays an important role in supporting inquiry-based learning across the curriculum, particularly in science, social studies, and literacy units. Although the school has not formally adopted the AASL standards yet, the library program is currently undergoing curriculum review and intends to align more intentionally with AASL frameworks in the future. Many of the practices already implemented in the library strongly reflect the AASL Shared Foundation of Inquire, which emphasizes building knowledge through questioning, investigation, and critical thinking.
Interview Guiding Questions
The conversation was guided by the following questions:
1. What are some examples of the ways you implement AASL Inquiry standards in your library program?
2. What resources do you use to support inquiry and research in the library?
3. How do you collaborate with classroom teachers to implement inquiry-based learning?
4. What challenges do you face when implementing inquiry competencies in the library program?
5. How do you evaluate whether inquiry-focused instruction is effective for students?
AASL Inquiry Standard in Practice
HKIS has a strong focus on inquiry-based learning. Research units often begin with exploration rather than immediate searching. Students first interact with books and other curated resources related to the topic to build background knowledge. From there, they develop their own research questions, which becomes the starting point for deeper investigation.
This approach reflects the Inquire domain “Think,” where learners formulate questions about a personal interest or curricular topic and connect new knowledge to prior understanding. Students begin with ideas they are familiar with, then expand their thinking as they encounter new perspectives and information.
Another aspect of the inquiry standard appears in the way information evaluation and ethical research practices it taught. Some time ago, the school stopped allowing students to use open search engines because they struggled to identify reliable sources. Instead, students learned to use school created databases and curated resources which helped them build foundational research skills; however, this approach led to gaps in knowledge as their sources were limited. Now the school is gradually reintroducing search engines through tools like Sooth, which displays bias scores to help students evaluate the credibility and perspective of online information. The school also uses Flint, an AI tool that does not generate answers but instead helps guide students to ask stronger research questions. These tools support the inquiry competency that encourages learners to identify information needs and make thoughtful choices about sources.
Collaboration and Assessment
The library frequently collaborates with classroom teachers when designing inquiry lessons. Instead of having regular classes with each grade level for reading in the library, teachers schedule lessons with the library about inquiry based research strategies as the unit is being taught, to ensure effective time usage. Collaboration occurs most often in science and social studies, and these interdisciplinary connections demonstrate how the AASL framework encourages librarians to act as instructional leaders within the school.
Assessment of inquiry learning is primarily conducted by classroom teachers, who evaluate how well research supports students’ projects. However, the library also uses informal strategies such as exit slips and Project Zero thinking routines to gather student reflections about their learning process. In addition, when students are found to not be regularly checking out books for pleasure reading, the library schedules one-on-one “book shopping” appointments where students are taught use their research skills to reflect on their own reading histories and interests to find literature that may appeal to them.
Challenges in Implementing Inquiry
The biggest challenges the librarian mention to collaborating with classroom teachers were teachers’ willingness and schedules. She stated that the school day is very full, so teachers do not want to relinquish any of the time they have with their students, as well as the fact that the international school teaching positions are highly competitive, and therefore teachers felt threatened by anyone suggesting they might need help planning their units.
Personal Reflection and Future Practice
I loved how this library’s approach to research lessons allowed for more purposeful instruction and time management with having classes only as needed and allowing students to use the library for checkouts during breaks, lunch, and during their classroom literacy lessons. I also loved the way that students were introduced to information that gave them a shared foundation of knowledge upon which to build before the unit began. This allowed them to formulate questions based on some background knowledge rather than having to figure out what questions they would have about a topic they knew nothing about. This school’s instruction strategies demonstrate that the library can serve as a central hub for inquiry learning, supporting both content-area instruction and students’ independent curiosity.
As a librarian currently without a library assistant, adopting this flexible schedule would allow more time for both information literacy instruction and allow the library to serve as the heart of the school, bringing fun events and an enjoyable space where students can enjoy being surrounded by others who love literature.
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