ABSTRACT
Participants in inquiry act objectively to the extent they acknowledge, fulfill, and expand their responsibility to and for other participants in inquiry. Those trying to be maximally objective participants in inquiry would recognize themselves as members of an inquiry context, with connections to, and abilities to affect, others in that context. Acting objectively requires understanding oneself and one’s connections with others, in order to make reasoned and reasonable assessments about how to respond to others’ needs, desires, and interests, stated and unstated. Participants promote objectivity in ways that vary according to their capacities, the roles they play in inquiry, and the powers they have by virtue of their roles or institutional privileges. Children are able to be responsible in ways that are very different from, and generally more limited than, those open to adults.
