I think that one of the most significant elements behind the inquiry educational model is that it places a large amount of responsibility on students being active learners and thinking.  It is not a "top- down" educational process in which facts and information are "dumped" into students, as if they are passive receptacles.  The inquiry model seeks to drive learning from student questioning of ideas.  Inquiry instructions in the field of education defines learning as a central question in which students generate potential answers based on their own exploration of the topic and their own findings.  This helps to make instruction more meaningful because of student self- discovery.  The teacher is a facilitator, as opposed to being a font of all knowledge.  This is significant because it drives student learning.  In a setting that is dominated by standardized testing and high stakes assessment, it becomes imperative that students are able to be the agents of action in their own educational configuration.  This is where Inquiry instructions becomes vital.  It is a tool by which students can learn what is relevant and important to both them and the content, rich with experiences that demonstrate the capacity for student growth and questioning.