Facilitation in a Community of Inquiry

Figure 1

Facilitation in a Community of Inquiry

Note: Infographic created by A. Donahue, 2022 using Canva.

The most important role of a teacher is to engage students through meaningful and well-designed learning experiences, but there are many other complex roles K-12 educators fulfill. These include engaging in professional learning with school-based teaching teams, working with administration to develop school-wide learning goals and track student achievement, collaborating with other school-based teams across the district, communicating with parents and other stakeholders, and more. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many aspects of public education, but most notably it led to an increased focus on learning in digital spaces and related pedagogical best practices.

The community of inquiry framework (CoI) outlined the three presences needed for successful educational experiences in digital spaces: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence (Garrison et al., 1999). Vaughan et al., (2013) noted that “facilitative actions, on the part of both the students and the instructor, create the climate, support discourse, and monitor learning such that presence can emerge and inquiry occurs” (p. 46). They further asserted that facilitation activities are of critical importance because “facilitation manages the overlaps between all three presences and is at the core of the dynamics of a community of inquiry” (p. 46). Regardless of whether a learning experience is in a classroom context involving students and teachers, or a professional development context involving adult learners, meaningful learning relies on clearly establishing all three CoI presences through effective facilitation. 

The role of teaching presence is central to ensuring that “social presence is established among community members and, in turn, that cognitive processes are directed to personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile outcomes” (Vaughan et al., 2013, p. 47). It is important to understand the layered and interconnected nature of the three presences of the CoI model. An effective teaching presence encourages social interaction which sets the stage for academic interaction to occur. This in turn “moves the community from social presence to cognitive presence and into deep and meaningful learning” (Vaughan et al., 2013, p. 54). While cultivating a supportive and trusting atmosphere through social interaction is a necessary precursor to academic engagement, teaching presence facilitates the shift from purely social interaction to engaging learners in collaboration, critical thinking, and responsive dialogue in a familiar, safe, and trusting space. 

It is clear that facilitation plays a critical role in establishing the social, cognitive, and teaching presences in a community of inquiry. Whether a learning experience is intended for a corporate, K-12, or higher education setting, designers working with the CoI framework are encouraged to be intentional and mindful of the facilitation strategies utilized in order to engage learners in deep and meaningful learning. 

References

Boettcher, J. V. (n.d.). Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online. Design for Learning. http://designingforlearning.info/writing/ten-best-practices-for-teaching-online/ 

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2), 87–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6 

Moore, M. (2021). Asynchronous discussions for first-year writers and beyond: Thinking outside the PPR (prompt, post, reply) box. In T. Thurston, K. Lundstrom, & C. González (Eds.), Resilient pedagogy: Practical teaching strategies to overcome distance, disruption, and distraction. Pressbooks. https://oen.pressbooks.pub/resilientpedagogy/chapter/thinking-outside-the-ppr-prompt-post-reply-box/ 

Online Discussions: Tips for Instructors. (n.d.). Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/alternatives-lecturing/discussions/online-discussions-tips-for-instructors

Richardson, J., Caskurlu, S., & Ashby, I. (2020). Facilitating your online discussions. Purdue Repository for Online Teaching and Learning. https://www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning/download/discussion-board-facilitation/

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Chapter 3: Facilitation. In Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry (pp. 45-61). Athabasca University Press. https://read.aupress.ca/read/teaching-in-blended-learning-environments/section/43261c4a-6d4c-44cf-8c7f-60bc306eb03a