ELC Preschool Programme of Inquiry
ELC Preschool Programme of Inquiry (POI)
(Four “Units of Inquiry”)
How the World Works
Transdisciplinary Theme: How humans use their understanding of scientific principles
Central Idea: Understanding the characteristics of materials influences how people use them.
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Responsibility
Lines of Inquiry: The characteristics of materials in our classroom; Why we choose different materials for different purposes; How we can use our understanding of materials to be responsible with them.
Who We Are
Transdisciplinary Theme: An inquiry into the nature of the self, mental health
Central Idea: Understanding our emotions shapes our understanding of ourselves and others.
Key Concepts: Perspective, Form, Causation
Lines of Inquiry: Identifying different emotions in self and others; How people choose to communicate different emotions; How our response to emotion affects our mental health.
How We Express Ourselves
Transdisciplinary Theme: The ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values.
Central Idea: Our ideas, cultures and beliefs are discovered through play.
Key Concepts: Form, Perspective
Lines of Inquiry: The many forms of play; The similarities and differences in how we play; The choices we make in play.
Sharing the Planet
Transdisciplinary Theme: An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things
Central Idea: Living things have specific needs in order to grow and stay healthy.
Key Concepts: Responsibility, Change, Connection
Lines of Inquiry: Characteristics of living things; The different habitats that meet the needs of different living things; Our responsibility towards all living things.