Their thinking is solicited and honored. They are comfortable expressing ideas and opinions and speaking up. They are comfortable interacting with one another, and with the teacher. They know what they are doing and why. Work may be done in student pairs, small or large groups, or in whole-class situations.
Students have many opportunities to respond to feedback and learn from one another.
Adapted from materials created by the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry. Not every inquiry classroom will look and feel the same, but the major elements identified in these three guides will be manifested in some form. It's not the form that makes an inquiry environment successful, however, but the underlying substance. There are many different ways to encourage communication, just as there are many different ways to support continued learning. Inquiry classrooms always involve engaging children's intellect in exploring and investigating interesting phenomena.