Using inquiry to foster students reflection on social issues

Abstract

This study describes the process of ten tenth-grade students applying their critical thinking skills by means of problem solving. It also narrates in detail the process they followed, and the strategies they used to solve a given situation based on peer interaction during three months. From my professional experience, I know that learning a foreign language is a difficult task, especially when teachers just focus on teaching language in a decontextualized or meaningful way. Teachers know that educating teenagers is not easy since it requires lots of effort, love, patience, imagination, and creativity. But most important, it involves the recognition of the importance of developing new dynamics, strategies and methodologies to catch students motivation and at the same time to provide them with tools for facing new challenges. Therefore, this qualitative study enables us to consider the importance of providing students with activities that lead them apply their critical thinking skills by means of peer interaction while solving problems. This research was carried out in a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. The participants were ten adolescents who discussed among them about two hypothetical problems with the purpose of reaching to a well-constructed, appropriate and a group-constructed solution for each given problem. Thanks to my students, their discussions, their willingness to participate in this study, and their collaboration it was possible to collect all the data for this study.