Implications of the inquiry approach in Social Studies Learning

The inquiry approach is an effective approach for teaching social studies because it involves the utilization of students’ prior knowledge and past experience to develop suitable topics and relevant questions that they are personally interested in exploring. Inquiry requires students to gather information on the topics and analyse the information to answer their own questions. It requires students to conceptually understand information and connect information together to generate new beliefs and ideas. This helps build students’ critical thinking skills and empathy to others in society. Inquiry is undertaken in the social setting of group work which requires the students to interact with each other and construct individual ideas and beliefs socially, which builds cooperation and collaboration skills that ultimately led to students becoming productive members of society (Jadallah, 2000).
The inquiry approach provides students with active and natural learning experiences. It can involve dialogue and communication between the students and the outside community. It encourages students to understand their own and community values and make decisions on these values. It allows students to develop a sense of belonging within their community and to see the interrelationship between culture, society, and events of the world(Education, Approaches to social inquiry, 2008). Inquiry involves personal reflection on the information gathered and the research process and how it relates to the students lives, which leads to deeper questioning and further learning. Inquiry involves social action, which provides an avenue for students to gain richer values, such as, empathy for others and respect for the community, ultimately making the students better citizens(Sewell, Ward, Wynyard, Taylor, & Church, 2005).
Reflection is another important aspect of social inquiry because it requires the students to ask what their learning means to them and society in general (Education, Approaches to social inquiry, 2008) and how it can be used to improve the future of society. The inquiry approach can integrate many curriculum areas for effective learning. It can also develop the key competencies outlined in the curriculum because of the wide variety of skills required for successful inquiry.
It is the teacher’s responsibility to guide the inquiry and make it academically and socially valuable for the students. The teacher should provide clear guidelines and expectations for the research and direct the students within areas that they believe will have the most impact on the students’ learning. The teacher should strive to move beyond factual knowledge and promote conceptual understandings, which involve the students examining and analyzing the facts and making value judgements on concepts that effect society (Jadallah, 2000).