The Center for Inquiry hosted their third annual "Inquiry Matters" professional conference, Inquiry Matters: Teaching Content and Literacy Across the Curriculum, on April 16, 2016, as part of the College of Education’s ongoing collaboration with Richland County school districts.
Inquiry Matters was highly successful in its goal of providing opportunities for more than 250 teacher and student teacher participants from across the United States to explore a wide range of issues. The many positive responses from the attendees included:
"As a Magnet Coach, I have visited lots of schools across the country. I can tell
you, nothing even comes close to what you are doing at CFI. ... CFI was "mind blowing"
it was educational nirvana. While the teaching and learning was so incredibly integrated,
engaging and rigorous it was also clearly real."
-Erin Connelly, Magnet Theme Coach, Moriarty Environmental Sciences Magnet School
"I. loved. every. minute. of Saturday. The Inquiry Matters conference from start to finish meant SO VERY MUCH to me and to
the team from IES that attended. The CFI teachers are rock-stars. Truly. Most of them
don't know me, but I LOVE them! I have learned so much from so many. The closing session
was beyond inspiring and uplifting. The CFI kids and kids from Hawaii....I'm speechless
and so thankful to have the opportunity to do this work alongside kids."
-Nicole Bishop, Irmo Elementary School
"...You and the staff at CFI give me renewed hope for the future of education. Something
hard to come by these days in [the] U.S. You all are a marvel and an inspiration.
I've always said research is a product, a process, and an attitude. Those kids have
all three! Bravo!!"
-Jerome Harste, Emeritus Professor, Indiana University
Inquiry Matters was funded by Dr. Heidi Mills’ Hungerpiller Professorship at the University of South Carolina and supported by the Center for Inquiry in Richland School District Two.