Project and Inquiry-Based Learning: Deepening Children’s Thinking Through the Project Approach

Project and Inquiry-Based Learning:
Deepening Children’s Thinking Through the Project Approach

Course Overview

Project and inquiry-based learning in early childhood invite children to investigate meaningful topics, questions, and ideas in depth.

Drawing on Lilian Katz’s Project Approach, this course explores how children learn through real investigation, discussion, exploration, representation, and revisiting their thinking over time.

Katz’s Project Approach is widely described as children’s in-depth investigation of a worthwhile topic, developed through authentic questions and guided by a clear three-phase structure.

This course supports educators to move beyond one-off activities and instead create rich, responsive learning experiences that grow from children’s interests, theories, observations, and shared inquiry.

It also aligns well with Te Whāriki’s emphasis on responsive curriculum, child agency, relationships, and assessment-planning-evaluation grounded in children’s strengths, interests, and experiences.

Why This Course Matters

Young children are naturally curious. They ask questions, test ideas, make predictions, revisit experiences, and build theories about how the world works. Project and inquiry-based learning help educators harness that curiosity and turn it into deeper learning.

The Project Approach supports active investigation, child engagement, meaningful collaboration, and knowledge building over time, rather than rushed topic work or surface-level experiences.

For early childhood educators, this matters because project work strengthens communication, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, language development, and social learning in authentic ways.

It also helps teachers become more intentional in observing, documenting, and extending children’s ideas.

Te Whāriki likewise emphasizes that planning and evaluation should be responsive to the uniqueness of the child and shaped through noticing, recognising, and responding.

What You Will Learn

In this course, you will explore:

What project and inquiry-based learning mean in early childhood
Lilian Katz’s Project Approach and its relevance for young children
The difference between a project, an interest, and a one-off activity
The three phases of project work
How to identify worthwhile topics from children’s questions, interests, and lived experiences
How to support children to investigate, research, represent, revisit, and share their learning
The role of observation, documentation, and reflection in extending inquiry
The role of the teacher as guide, researcher, listener, and co-learner
How to plan responsive experiences that deepen thinking and collaboration
How projects support oral language, literacy, math, science, creativity, and social competence
How to involve families, whānau, and the wider community in project work
How to make learning visible and meaningful over time

The Three Phases of the Project Approach

This course introduces the three-phase structure commonly associated with Katz’s Project Approach:

Phase 1: Beginning The Project

Children and teachers identify a meaningful topic, share what they already know, discuss prior experiences, and generate questions for investigation.

Phase 2: Developing The Project

Children investigate more deeply through field work, conversations, drawing, construction, research, experiments, documentation, and shared problem-solving.

Phase 3: Concluding The Project

Children revisit what they have discovered, represent their learning, share findings, and reflect on how their thinking has changed.

What Makes This Course Valuable

This course helps educators understand how to build real inquiry from children’s thinking rather than relying on pre-planned themes with limited depth.

It gives a practical structure for noticing children’s interests, deciding whether a topic is worth investigating, and extending learning in intentional and meaningful ways.

The Project Approach is often valued because it offers a clear framework while still allowing flexibility, inclusion, and child agency.

You will come away with a stronger understanding of how to:

Choose worthwhile project topics
Guide children’s investigations without taking over
Use documentation to shape next steps
Deepen learning through discussion, representation, and revisiting
Support collaborative learning and sustained shared thinking
Create richer curriculum from children’s real questions and fascinations

Who This Course Is For

This course is designed for:

Early childhood teachers and educators
Centre leaders and owners
Home-based educators
Teacher aides and support staff
Educators wanting to strengthen child-led, inquiry-rich practice

It is especially useful for teachers who want a practical framework for moving from theme-based planning to deeper, more responsive curriculum design.

Key Takeaway

Project and inquiry-based learning help children become active participants in their own learning.

When educators use Lilian Katz’s Project Approach, they create space for children to ask meaningful questions, investigate deeply, represent their thinking, and build knowledge in relationship with others.

This leads to richer learning, stronger engagement, and more purposeful teaching.

What Are You Waiting For?

Join Project and Inquiry-Based Learning in Early Childhood and learn how to use Lilian Katz’s Project Approach to create deeper, more meaningful, child-led investigations in your setting.