Publication:

Philosophical inquiry approach in the civic and citizenship education in a Malaysian secondary school

This qualitative action research entailed the description of how the researcher used the philosophical inquiry approach to improve the teaching of Civic and Citizenship Education class. Using the data collected in the classroom observation (audio and video recording), document analysis (teacher’s reflective journal and students’ written work) and a group interview, the students’ learning experiences were analyzed to find out the extent of the development of their community of inquiry, their reasoning skills, and their views and perceptions towards the CCE lessons. Content analysis was used for classroom observation transcriptions, teacher reflective journal and students’ written work, while thematic analysis was used to analyze the group interview. By conducting three cycles of Lewin’s type of action research on twenty-five students for two semesters, the researcher managed to capture the gradual development of the community of inquiry, especially for the elements of participation, shared cognition, the quest for meaning, deliberation, impartiality and challenging as a procedure. In terms of reasoning skills, at the early stage, students were mainly providing examples and supporting opinions with convincing reasons. They gradually improved in offering counter-examples, making balanced evaluative judgments, making relevant distinctions and connections, and seeking to clarify ill-defined concepts. Seeking to uncover underlying assumptions, drawing suitable inferences and offering appropriate analogies were presented mainly in their written tasks. Students acknowledged positive changes and improvement in their CCE lessons as compared to previous and other classes, mainly because of the feeling of social solidarity, the exchanged of ideas and the condusive learning environment which enhanced their speaking, listening and thinking skills, together with some personal traits and values that encouraged positive interaction within oneself and with others. The main implication of the study is that philosophical inquiry is suitable to be used as an effective approach in teaching CCE as it encourages good participation, sharpens students’ reasoning skills and promotes democratic classroom learning environment which can be extended to form a democratic society and good citizenship. The study ends with recommendations for improving the teaching of CCE and conducting further research in the area of philosophical inquiry and CCE.