Inquiry-based and culturally responsive learning opportunities in social studies: A panel study of their relationships to civic development
by Benjamin Bowyer and Joseph Kahne
This article introduces and analyzes new, quantitative measures of inquiry-based and culturally responsive learning opportunities and finds that they are strongly related to students’ civic commitments, interest in diverse perspectives, and emotional engagement with their social studies classes. It draws on a unique panel dataset of public middle- and high-school students in Chicago (N = 41,880 students from 603 schools) conducted in 2022 and 2023. We also find that these learning opportunities are not distributed equally. For example, Latinx and Asian American youth report significantly lower levels of exposure to culturally responsive learning opportunities than Black youth. In addition, English language learners are less likely to receive inquiry-based instruction than other students. Differences such as these raise important questions as to why these inequalities exist and highlight the need for reform to ensure greater and more equitable access for all students.