Publications that draw you to the heart of meaning-making
with children and adults in schools

into 
Inquiry
together

books and research

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Welcome to the Pop-Up Studio approach, illustrated through a practical guide to creating inquiry-rich learning experiences that cultivate meaningful participation, agency, and deep conceptual understanding. Includes downloadable, fillable planning templates and classroom tools to bring responsive,
concept-based inquiry to life.

Responsive Teaching for Today's Learners

Pop-Up Studio:

— Colleen Beggs

"This book is a straightforward tool as we transform schools into places where engagement, focus, purpose, collaboration, competence, and pride are visible throughout inquiry...wherein invitation, provocation, and connection lights up minds, spaces, and hearts."



— Kath Murdoch

"The creativity of the Concept-Material-Experience (CME) Design Framework is catchy and compelling and really works to make the complex dance of inquiry elegantly simple.
I love the idea that teachers work with menus of CMEs and tailor that to their students. This is such a beautiful book!"


— Kirsten Durward

"If you buy one book this year, make it Pop-Up Studio by
Dr. Misty Paterson. If teachers are having trouble being practical around concepts, this book shows them the way forward... This is a book that's more than a book; it's an experience in its own right. Every teacher should have one."  

What Readers are saying

access the dissertation for free

Explore the conditions that help teachers flourish through creativity, collective care, and meaningful participation. Grounded in arts-based co-inquiry with nine experienced educators, this dissertation offers a new way of understanding teacher wellbeing. Uncover what's truly behind burnout and stress contagion and how educational leaders can respond.

The HeART of Well-Becoming

Making care matter through co-inquiry:

— Laila, ECE Educator

“There should be spaces that are safe to say [contentious] things, and to know that they're going to be received as they're offered. And I do think that was part of the beauty of the space of what we were making. I chose to play. And I think you're right to not force a method or choice."



— Charolette, Indigenous Elder

“Noticing uniqueness.
Support with all.
Positive connection.
Involve as one team.
Respecting each individual.
Yearning with knowledge.
Involved with the heart.
Nengay-Mother Earth is caring.
Guzun-(it is all good) to learn together”

— Mila, Inclusive Ed Teacher

“I think it is really about connection. Hearing about the struggles and challenges of other teachers makes me feel less alone. This kind of work could be used to create community. I haven’t heard this kind of vulnerable sharing in schools I have been a part of.” 

teachers are saying

read the thesis for free

Living Inquiry invites educators to see children's questions, artwork, and conversations as the starting point for meaningful learning and curriculum design. Through a unique collaboration between a university professor, classroom teacher, professional artist, and middle school students in a public school, this thesis reimagines schooling by positioning children as protagonists of their own artful inquiry into daily life. This contribution continues to influence inquiry-based practice and teacher education today.

Living inquiry
as Pedagogy

— Trisha, Age 13

“Living Inquiry has that feeling that's hard to explain… a feeling like a majestic weight to it, like something you do not get to do. That's what stands out ... so when you are doing Living Inquiry, it feels like you are doing something way out of the box.”



— Steven, Age 13

“It is more you; it is like you can’t just read it out of a book. You can research stuff, but Living Inquiry is very open-ended and stuff…
 because it is about you, so I think in that way, it is um, it stems a little bit more from experiences. Because it is not just facts, it is more.”

— Nola, Age 12

“You can’t grade Living Inquiry, or give it a mark out of ten. It comes from you, and what you notice. No one can tell you that your work is right or wrong, messy or neat. It is your own, and no one else can change that... Don’t be oblivious, life is meant for inquiring.”

students are saying

Learn more

Dr. Misty Paterson is a mother, relational scholar, and international pedagogical consultant whose work explores the many ways inquiry can be understood and practiced in educational settings.

Holding graduate degrees in Curriculum and Instruction and Arts Education, she walks alongside children and educators alike, drawing on lived experience to enrich conversations about pedagogy, participation, and flourishing.

Building on a longstanding inquiry into what it means to live well with children pedagogically, her scholarship bridges creative inquiry, teacher identity, and educational leadership to deepen an understanding of inquiry and well-becoming as an interdependent, co-created, and intentional dynamic within educational communities.

Misty's writing reflects the conviction that research, teaching, and leadership are inseparable practices of transformation that require careful, coordinated, and consistent attending within learning communities.

Dr Misty Paterson

About the Author

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