Developing a Sustainable Community of Inquiry: Reflections and Lessons Learned

Abstract

While many articles have reported on ‘success stories’ of projects, innovations or programmes, it is much less common to read about specific circumstances and demands involving teachers which shed light on their responses in relation to the sustainability of innovations. This article is a reflection on one such case. It was based on an initiative on blended learning using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework introduced in one semester of a course on a postgraduate programme in Malaysia. Despite the benefits observed in students’ interaction and engagement, the initiative was discontinued in the following semesters. This article attempts to document and share some lessons derived from that experience of introducing the short-lived CoI. It first describes the context of the initiative which involved two language educators, one from Malaysia and the other from the US. It then presents some findings of the initiative based on three key elements of CoI, indicating how students had benefitted from their online interaction in the CoI. Finally, the article discusses lessons learned for a CoI to be sustainable in a course. It is argued that sustainability requires ecological thinking and action, and that learning from ‘failure’ can be as valuable as learning from the past experience of success.