Using the community of inquiry methodology in teaching bioethics: a focus on skills development

The community of inquiry methodology was developed by Professor Matthew Lipman to enable the teaching of philosophy in schools. Lipman felt that inquiry-based learning was essential in schools because: Education should empower children to be thoughtful about the lives they lead, and doing philosophy is important to that goal. The community of inquiry is a powerful pedagogical tool to foster student engagement, critical thinking, and collaborative and affective skills development. As such it can be useful in the bioethics classroom. This article describes the community of inquiry methodology and how it can be a useful arrow in quiver to a teacher of bioethics.