Inquiry Partners

reimagining what’s possible in the classroom

The greatest joy of my career has been pushing student thinking and helping teachers reimagine what’s possible in the classroom. At the heart of that work is a powerful inquiry practice: the art of asking meaningful questions that spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and transform learning.

Inspired by what I’d seen in classrooms around the world, I founded Inquiry Partners, a consultancy dedicated to helping teachers and school leaders bring inquiry-based practices to life…by experiencing it firsthand.

Over the years, thousands of teachers, coaches, students and school leaders have worked alongside Inquiry Partners; testing ideas, refining questions, and reimagining classrooms through inquiry.

Because the best questions don’t just change lessons.

They change how students think.

From the beginning, this work has been deeply collaborative.

My first partner, award-winning teacher and Teachers United executive, Erin Gustafson, helped to develop our early workshop models, film inquiry in action, and connect with school districts. Tech-savvy entrepreneur, Amy Satin Spinelli, later joined to help build new technologies that allow teachers to collect data and refine their question-asking practice.

International School of Portland teacher, Paola Gagliardo, led the translation and publication of my book Experience Inquiry into Spanish (La Experiencia de la Indagación) and co-facilitated workshops in South America. Namu Kulkarni brought early learning expertise into our work and expanded opportunities to work in Southeast Asia.

But the most important partners in this journey have always been the educators themselves.