(Philosophy Link: We as teachers are responsible for creating life-long learners)
I truly believe that as educators we have to encourage our students to approach each problem or obstacle that they face in life with a critical mind. Students should leave school equipped with the capability to analyze a situation and be able to formulate a viable solution all on their own doing.
During my practicum I explored with the students what it meant to critically analyze and inquire about a thought provoking sentence. To supplement our learning we investigated the difference between “thick” and “thin” questions (thick being inquiry type questions that require deeper thinking and thin being easily researchable answers). The students would then go on to construct their own “thick” questions of which they thought would need significant inquiry on the subject in order to answer.
Another example was also when my students worked together in groups on deciding what word they thought was the best representative of Canada’s policies. Additionally, they then had to inquire about what they word meant to them in the form of a graffiti art display. This creates the ability in the learner to not always look at something through one lens, but several of them to get the best perspective and idea about it as possible.