Why and how: Critical thinking matters when teaching diverse student groups
Keywords:
diversity, critical thinking, empowerment, communicative space, neoliberalismAbstract
Social work educators are teaching in an era of Western neoliberalism with an increasingly culturally diverse student group. This paper is the result of deliberations about teaching Australian students who may enter university with individualised perspectives and how these students are often challenged by community based principles held by students from other cultures. Some students also come from cultures which promote the role of students as passive recipients of education. Neoliberal individuality joined with passive approaches to education can lead to practitioners who do not stand with diverse groups in the community to challenge systems which represent the antithesis of social justice. Following the traditions of Habermas, this paper explores how the principles of Relational Empowerment (VanderPlaat, 1998) can be introduced in tutorials to establish a communicative space where educators and students explore concepts of critical thinking and embrace knowledge creation as a shared pursuit which addresses imbalances of power.
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