Let's Go Visiting: Learning Judgment-Making in a Classroom Community of Inquiry

Abstract

It is a serious mistake — a very poor judgment — to think that one can think in terms of what is good for others who are different from oneself without knowing what they think and believe is good for them. Contemporary history has taught us this lesson the hard way — in the loss of so many lives in unnecessary wars. Learning what others think is good for them is accessible only through dialogue. One has to spend time with, talk to, and listen attentively to others to understand how they see things, what they consider valuable, desirable, and why they think the way they do. In the absence of knowing how concrete others would tell their stories of a particular situation, and how they see you with your perspective, your cultural baggage, it is impossible to understand what is good for another individual — much less whole nations.