Inquiry as request: From Critical Inquiry to Inquiry-that-is-critical

• In Event: Critical Inquiry in Social Studies Education: Clarifying Directions for Research and Practice

Abstract

Purpose: The Merriam-Webster dictionary (2024) gives three definitions for inquiry; examination into facts or principles, a systematic investigation often of a matter of public interest, and request for information. It is the second description, systematic investigation that is favored in social studies education. But it is worth investigating the principles underlying social, economic, and discursive systems and it is worth investigating our sources of knowledge? One of the primary purposes of both the C3 inquiry arc and critical inquiry is the recognition of social problems. But what if the problem is in the way we recognize problems and the vocabularies and tools we have to think with?

Perspectives: What if non-human elements were a larger part of our inquiry projects and we took seriously the other definition of inquiry as requesting information? In short, what if we took a more posthuman, and less anthropocentric and logocentric view of knowledge? How might this change the way we view our questions? Are we asking questions wrongly, or are we asking the wrong questions?

Mode of Inquiry: Theoretical/conceptual argument.

Results and Significance: We write and speak of critical inquiry, but I wonder which inquiries are most critical. As we face seemingly insurmountable challenges, how do we work towards inquiries that aren’t just important, but necessary? As we debate pragmatics and practicalities, we might be reminded that we are living on a dying planet, that “one of the consequences of fervent faith and worship of consumerism and market capitalism is a gradual forgetting of the entities that give us life and the stories that remind us how we are all comprised of sunlight-inspired energy” (Donald, p. 115) that “the sun is literally the giver of life…that our bodies are comprised of sunlight inspired energy that inhabits the air, water, minerals, plants, and animals that we consume…that despite any current and future technological advances in how we live our lives, we will remain fully dependent on this sacred ecology to keep us alive (p. 104). Futurity is crucial to this work. So how might critical inquiry also include a non-settler futurity (Kulago, 2019) that is open to an uncertain certainty.

Author

• Erin Adams, Kennesaw State University