By Anne Osborne, Foster Concepts
A unit of inquiry can look wonderfully coherent on paper. Then the children arrive, bringing questions, interests, strengths and needs that have, rather inconveniently, not consulted the planner.
That unpredictability is part of the joy of teaching. It is also why teachers need the time, clarity and professional space to respond. Yet in busy primary classrooms, attention is often divided between interpreting learning standards, planning inquiries, assessing progress, supporting well-being, collaborating with colleagues and communicating with families. Each responsibility has a purpose. The difficulty comes when they feel like separate demands rather than connected parts of learning.
Foster Concepts grew from a question I have returned to throughout my career: how can schools make the foundations of teaching more coherent, so that teachers can devote more of their energy to the children in front of them?
The freedom to inquire needs something to stand on
Moving from teaching Diploma Programme mathematics into the Primary Years Programme was both inspiring and overwhelming. I loved the PYP’s emphasis on conceptual understanding, transdisciplinary connections and children constructing meaning. But after working with relatively defined subject content and assessment expectations, I found the interpretation of learning continuums, subject standards and inquiry planning demanding.
I was fortunate to have knowledgeable PYP coordinators and strong leaders who helped me develop my understanding. Still, I wondered how much essential curriculum knowledge we were expecting individual teachers and teams to locate, interpret and reconstruct. The interests and expertise of teachers should enrich an inquiry; a child’s opportunity to develop important knowledge and understanding should not depend entirely on who happens to be planning it.
I am not arguing for a prescribed programme. The openness of the PYP is worth protecting. My belief is that a shared, usable understanding of how learning develops can give teachers more confidence to be imaginative and responsive, not less.
What meaningful inquiry needs behind the scenes
Some of the most satisfying teaching happens when a central idea genuinely brings learning together. Subject knowledge and skills deepen understanding rather than appearing as decorative connections. Rich literature expands children’s perspectives. Classroom and specialist teachers have time to plan together. Backward planning gives the learning direction without dictating every step.
Behind those moments sits a great deal of professional thinking. If a planning meeting is spent searching multiple documents for what must be taught, less time remains to ask what children already understand, which misconceptions might surface, how learning could be adapted, or what evidence would help them assess and adjust their own progress.
The challenge is particularly visible when a class includes children working across several developmental levels. Personalised learning is an important aspiration, but it is unreasonable to expect one teacher to hold five years of subject expectations in their head. Clear benchmarks and thoughtfully organised progressions can make that work more manageable while preserving professional judgement.
Different schools need different solutions
Facilitating IB workshops has made me appreciate the extraordinary educators who deepen our understanding of inquiry, assessment and teaching. It has also made me listen closely to the practical questions that follow the theory.
In one workshop, teachers described a prescribed curriculum that did not adequately reflect their multilingual learners. In another, educators wanted much clearer expectations, particularly in science and social studies, because too much seemed to depend on the direction a teaching team chose. Neither school simply needed more structure or less. Each needed a closer look at whether its standards, planning practices and learning experiences were aligned.
My ongoing Master’s studies in International Education at Bath University have given me the opportunity to explore these questions slowly and critically, connecting research with experience in PYP and international schools. It has strengthened my preference for thoughtful, evidence-informed adjustments over the next educational trend or ready-made solution.
From policy and standards to everyday practice
This is the work I hope Foster Concepts can support. A school may already have carefully considered policies, thorough subject standards and experienced teachers, yet the connections between them may not be easy to see or use. The answer is not necessarily another initiative.
Sometimes it is a more navigable progression that shows how understanding develops across years and subjects. Sometimes it is a review of assessment and reporting so that feedback genuinely informs next steps. Sometimes collaborative planning needs a different structure, freeing colleagues to discuss children’s thinking and design authentic transdisciplinary learning rather than repeatedly deciphering documentation.
School leaders must also balance accountability, consistency and external requirements. Families may be encountering inquiry-based learning or developmental assessment for the first time, bringing questions shaped by their own educational experiences. Their understanding and perspective are part of the work, not an afterthought. The aim is to bring these legitimate needs into closer alignment with what teachers and children experience each day.
After years of teaching across international schools, moving countries while raising a family, and enjoying the challenge of working with colleagues to solve practical problems, I wanted to contribute in a different way. Foster Concepts allows me to work alongside school communities, drawing on their existing strengths and helping them identify changes suited to their context.
Not another set of expectations to carry, but clearer connections between what a school intends and what its people can put into practice. If that gives teachers more room to notice, collaborate, adapt and create, it gives children more room to learn.
A small AI confession: I have plenty of ideas. Writing them beautifully is another matter. AI helped me shape, organise and polish this piece, but the thinking, experience and opinions behind it are mine. I stand behind the ideas. AI just helped me persuade the sentences to cooperate.