This study investigates the feasibility of adapting International Baccalaureate(IB) inquiry based pedagogical methods within urban cbse middle school classrooms to bridge the critical gap between the student- centered,critical thinking and holistic assessment vision of India's National Education Policy 2020 and National curriculum framework 2023 and the tradional exam-driven reality that continues to dominate many urban Indian classrooms.Using a mixed - methods research design, data were collected from 20 teachers through structured questionnaires and in depth interviews complemented by direct classroom observations and teaching interventions across three grade 6,7,8 sections of approximately 100 students in one urban cbse school.The study systematically tracks six skill domains.Critical thinking, collaboration, communication,problem-solving,creativity and self directed learning alongside shifts in student engagement and assessment practices.Findings reveal that teachers strongly recognize the value and policy alignment of inquiry based approaches with NEP 2020 and NCF-SF2023 objectives:however they consistently face significant implementation barriers including overloaded syllabi,exam driven assessment systems, limited professional development opportunities,and insufficient institutional support.Teachers who received structured facilitation support demonstrated measurable improvements in instructional practices,along with higher levels of student engagement and conceptual participation.The study concludes that policy intent alone is insufficient to transform clasroom realities.Meaningful change requires targeted teacher capacity building,competency aligned assessment reform,and institutional cultures that actively enable inquiry based learning to take root and scale within existing frameworks across urban Indian schools.

Authors:
Ramya Damarla, Helios Sadineni Chowdaraiah Futuristic School, India

About the Presenter(s)
Ramya Damarla is an academic leader and educator specializing in inquiry-based pedagogy, teacher development, and curriculum design. She is a Textbook Development and Curriculum Trainee at NCERT.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramya-damarla-vp-edu

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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