Promoting Critical Thinking: Discussing the Capacity of Issue-Inquiry Approach in Liberal Studies

The New Senior Secondary Curriculum (NSSC) of Liberal Studies has been launched since the academic year of 2009. As a core subject to promote generic skills, Liberal Studies is regarded as an interdisciplinary subject that nurtures critical thinking through issue-inquiry learning approach as one of its learning objectives. In order to explore the capacity of issue-inquiry approach in Liberal Studies to promote critical thinking, this paper discusses such an issue in three parts. First, it introduces the nature of critical thinking and the four habits of mind for critical thinking. Second, the relationship between issue-inquiry learning approach and issue-inquiry learning in Liberal Studies is discussed with the four habits of mind for critical thinking. Finally, this paper reveals some of the problems in the NSSC of Liberal Studies and concludes with recommendations. It is found that although the issue-inquiry learning approach in the NSSC of Liberal Studies includes all the four core habits of mind for critical thinking, there are still rooms for improvement for Liberal Studies to become a more comprehensive curriculum for critical thinking.