While taking a class on the topic of ‘Government’, which of the following…
2023
While taking a class on the topic of ‘Government’, which of the following questions can you pose to students to encourage both social awareness and critical thinking skills in them?
- A.
‘List out three differences between a monarchy and a democratic government.’
- B.
‘What are the features of a democratic government?’
- C.
‘We saw how the pandemic had disproportionately placed the burden of healthcare on doctors and frontline workers. Do you think any protest organized by them demanding better working conditions from the government is justified? Support your answer with reasons.’
- D.
‘You have been noticing for quite some time that the area near your house gets flooded every time it rains during the monsoon season. You and your neighbours decide that something has to be done regarding this issue. Which level of government – Local, State or Central, would you approach if you have such a grievance?’
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
Classroom questions can be pitched at different cognitive levels. A question aimed at remembering or understanding asks a learner to recall or restate a fact that has already been given (for example, naming a feature or listing a difference). A question aimed at applying, analysing or evaluating asks a learner to take a real situation, reason about it, and arrive at and justify their own position. A question meant to build both social awareness and critical thinking together must do two things: connect to a genuine, real-world social issue, and require the learner to reason toward and defend a stance on it, not simply state or list facts.
Application
Reading each of the four questions against this requirement:
'List out three differences between a monarchy and a democratic government' asks the learner to recall and enumerate a factual distinction between two forms of government; no real-world issue or personal reasoning is involved.
'What are the features of a democratic government?' asks the learner to state defining facts about one form of government; this is again recall/description, not reasoning about an issue.
The question about the pandemic placing a disproportionate burden on healthcare workers presents a genuine social issue and directly asks the learner to take and justify a position on whether their protest for better working conditions is justified. This combines a real social-awareness context with a demand for reasoned judgement.
The flooding question asks the learner to identify which level of government — local, state, or central — handles a specific grievance; this is an application of factual/administrative knowledge about how government is structured, not a request to reason about and justify a stance on a contested social issue.
Cross-check
Checking each option against both requirements together (a genuine social issue AND a demand for the learner's own reasoned, justified position): only the healthcare-workers' protest question satisfies both. The other three questions each stop at recall, at description, or at identifying an administrative fact — none of them ask the learner to form and defend an opinion on a real social issue.
So the question that asks students whether the healthcare workers' protest for better working conditions was justified, and to support their answer with reasons, is the one that best fosters both social awareness and critical thinking.