Including critical thinking as one of the seven general capabilities, the Australian Curriculum explicitly demands students to develop inquiry skills (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Report Authority [ACARA], n.d.a). In Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), students are required to learn and apply the concepts through inquiry-based learning, such that they will be able to solve problems in a logical way (ACARA, n.d.c, p.3). This short essay discusses the concept and some theoretical justifications of critical inquiry, and evaluate its usefulness in high schools in Australia.
The nature of critical inquiry can be seen as the students’ active participation in an investigation process and reaching a conclusion by analysing and evaluating …show more content…
Bermudez’s (2015, pp.106-116) four tools of critical inquiry, namely, problem-posing, reflective skepticism, multi-perspectivity and systemic thinking, can be used for this step to guide the intellectual process of the students. She proceeds to distinguish the inquiry of knowledge from deconstructing the factors and values underpinning the social phenomena being investigated (Bermudez, 2015, p.105). The latter is related to education of values, such as justice, equality and democracy, which is an important element of the Australian Curriculum (Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014, p.123; Charmaz, 2017, …show more content…
Students are encouraged to investigate into the issues from multiple angles, in a collaborative way with the teachers and peers (Fecho, 2000, p.195). Therefore, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory can be applied when adopting critical inquiry, in that students assist each other while creating co-constructed knowledge throughout the research and investigation process (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p.99). As such, they are expected to improve their ability to communicate and obtain social skills by participating in inquiry based learning (ACARA, 2013, as cited in Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014,
The nature of critical inquiry can be seen as the students’ active participation in an investigation process and reaching a conclusion by analysing and evaluating …show more content…
Bermudez’s (2015, pp.106-116) four tools of critical inquiry, namely, problem-posing, reflective skepticism, multi-perspectivity and systemic thinking, can be used for this step to guide the intellectual process of the students. She proceeds to distinguish the inquiry of knowledge from deconstructing the factors and values underpinning the social phenomena being investigated (Bermudez, 2015, p.105). The latter is related to education of values, such as justice, equality and democracy, which is an important element of the Australian Curriculum (Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014, p.123; Charmaz, 2017, …show more content…
Students are encouraged to investigate into the issues from multiple angles, in a collaborative way with the teachers and peers (Fecho, 2000, p.195). Therefore, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory can be applied when adopting critical inquiry, in that students assist each other while creating co-constructed knowledge throughout the research and investigation process (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p.99). As such, they are expected to improve their ability to communicate and obtain social skills by participating in inquiry based learning (ACARA, 2013, as cited in Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014,