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which negates the idea of ultimate truth. Felder (2012) provides a very clear meaning ofconstructivist education when he says constructivism (aka learner-centered teaching) seeks totake those factors into account when designing instruction, presenting new information in thecontext of what students already know and helping them to develop understanding and skillsthrough activity and reflection rather than making them passive recipients of information. Problem Based Learning (PBL) could be one of the examples of constructivist learning wherethe students of this genre of study are engaged into the process of meaning making and therole of instructors remains to the job of facilitation than instruction. As elaborated byAmelink and Hall (2012) PBL is based on social constructivism, a learning paradigm thatsuggests collaboration between and among students and instructor actively engages studentsin the learning process as conceptual knowledge is created and shared. Yet, it leaves the possibility of multiple interpretations sensitive to the contexts all open.Likewise, for pragmatist like John Dewey (1859-1952), the idea of inquiry is a matter of practical concern and he advocates
the idea of ‘learning by doing’ meaning doing provides
the opportunity for learning. This is probably manifested in the practical sessions that are theintegral constituents of education systems these days and science and management education provide ample opportunities for the learners to learn by experiments, practicum andinternships. Pragmatism has been one of the most focused ways of knowledge making intechnological education where experimentation is highly prioritized.Another school of thought that considers inquiry to be a reflective act is represented byDonald Schon (1930-1997) who underscores the need for reflection for illuminating how
one’s beliefs and identity influence meaning making.
It is all about knowing oneself, self-learning and self-improvement. This school of thought has gained considerable space indisciplines like education and humanities that value the significance of self-learning byreflecting the previous deeds. In reflective practice, the practitioners all the time engage in Ethical And Cultural Perspectives Of Inquiry Essay
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self-observation and self-evaluation in order to understand their own actions and reactions.The central idea in reflective practice is its belief in self-learning.Furthermore, Paulo Freri
re’s
(1921-1997) critical school of thought in reference toinquiry emphasizes on inquiry as a stance and prescribes that the acts of inquiry need to beconsistently meaningful, equitable and ethical. This agenda of inquiry always questions theutility for the inquiry and expects the act of inquiry to contribute to social justice in overall.Looking the world from equity perspective, critical school of thought advocates for theemancipatory interests of those who remained suppressed. Since many development agendado have this interest of liberating the sufferers, critical mode of inquiry can come up withmany new formulae that can pave new solutions to existing issues.In this brief discussion of different schools of thought in reference to inquiry, I find somecommonalities and some differences. The unique point of agreement among theseconstructivist, pragmatist, reflective and critical schools is the centrality of human componentin the acts of inquiry. However, each school of thought has its own prescription regardinghow the inquiry needs to proceed. Now I move to discuss the idea of culture of inquiry ineducational institutions in particular
Culture of Inquiry in Educational Institutions
As I have argued in the first section of this paper that every inquiry is cultural. It iscultural in a sense how knowledge is made cannot be detached from where it is made andwhat type of environment is available in the context it is inquired. I mean inquiry to becultural because I agree with Hall (1999) who elaborated every inquiry resulting from thehistorically embedded and socially practiced activities of soil from which knowledge is
produced and proposed ‘the third path’
(an alternative to quantitative and qualitativeinquiries) in the form of culture of inquiry that would incorporate the new dimensions like Ethical And Cultural Perspectives Of Inquiry Essay
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human sensitivity, pluralism and other discourses within the extended diameter of culture ofinquiry.Educational institutions are typical on their own with many unique cultural identities theyhave unlike other institutions.
Educational institutions keep students’ learning and
achievement as their prime priorities and the discourses and actitivities happening withineducational institutions revolve aroun
d t