2. Next the teacher says, “What might the things in this photograph tell us about this man?” - He smokes a pipe, he might be in the navy, he reads of lot, perhaps he writing a diary, etc.

Notice how she keeps the inquiry at the level of speculation.[4/n]

3. Next, she builds on what the students have already said: “It seems to me he is away from home - the suitcase under the bed, the temporary nature of the bookcases, the photographs on the walls and beside his desk, all I assume of people important to him. [5/n]

"Time also seems important, I can see at least two pocket watches, and - judging from all the woollen clothes and balaclavas - keeping warm and dry is essential.” [6/n]

Of course she has studied the picture in advance and knows what is going on, but at this point she is keeping the information back to stimulate the students’ curiosity and teach them how to look closely at an image and make inferences. [7/n]

Her own observations are drawing on themes which she will develop later in the inquiry - travel, family, time, environment. [8/n]

The important thing is to choose the right image: find one that will teach the students a lot about a subject from just looking and piques their curiosity. [9/n]

4. Once they are really interested the teacher can start telling them about what is going on:“The man in the photograph is Captain Robert Scott, he’s an explorer, one of the most famous explorers of his time, he’s writing in his diary about this, his most important mission”[10/n]

5. "he’s writing in his diary about this, his most important mission…" The teacher starts reading the words from Scott’s diary: "12th December 1911, Cape Evans, Antarctica. Weather still bad. Last night the wind blew so hard I thought our cabin would collapse..."[11/n]

"We found the body of another pony this morning, frozen to death, that is the second this week. It looks like we are going to be stuck here until the summer, August at the earliest. Right now the pole seems as far away as ever.” The diary is Convention 17 from the list. [12/n]

If you like this idea and would like to find out more about the Conventions and how they work in the classroom, please join us on 21st Nov. https://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/training/mantle-of-the-expert-online-training-event/