I want to start off with a couple of assumptions about this.
1. Critical thinking is not a global skill that works across all areas of the curriculum. To properly think critically, there has to be a base of subject matter or content that students have. This may be school based as it is possible that as we age and take in more content, we become better versed in a multitude of disciplines.
2. Critical thinking is an essential part of learning and needs to be modeled and taught over the school years. Teachers who are not good critical thinkers themselves will have a hard time teaching this to students since they cannot model it to students.
3. All areas of the curriculum should have critical thinking in them. The skill is essential in today's business, medical, social and personal worlds. It is a skill that no one can afford to be without if they are going to be good citizens.
4. There is no training program that allows students to be come better critical thinkers. That is to say, you cannot purchase a critical thinking program for your curriculum. It is great to see this as a goal of some of the new curriculums, but none of them give you point by point instructions for this to happen in their field.
So just what does critical thinking look like? I do not know!!!!! But I do have some ideas to share with teaches to help them in implementing this in their classrooms. I know that the range of success will be expansive, but this is OK. Over time I think that this range will become less prevalent.
Critical thinking in the class should take on the role of verifying the accuracy of information. I remember a website developed about 10 years ago on the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (link). In the original research, only 1 in 10 students saw this for what it was - a spoof website. What about the other nine? They looked at the professional look of the website, how information was presented, the links it had, support and contact and then made a decision based on this information. Two things could of happened: a) no one had shown these 9 students how to critically look at information on a website or b) these students were not equipped with enough information about marine invertebrates to properly make an analysis. This points out how important it is to model what is being viewed online by students.
Another role of CT in the classroom is evaluating what is being read. To blindly read paragraphs and paragraphs of a novel has no learning attached to it. By the time most students get to high school, they pretty much have the skill of reading firmly planted (I am aware there are exceptions to this rule). What they lack is both reading for understanding and reading with a critical eye. Authors spend a great deal of time developing plots and characters in the books they write. In some cases these are intertwined so tightly that it is impossible to understand what message the author is trying to get across without evaluating both. While it is pretty advanced, Alexander Solzhenitsyn comes to mind - I am sure there are more HS oriented books.
One area that has had critical thinking in its curriculum for a number of years now is Science. Experiments never provide the same data. No matter how closely we control the variables and make sure there are exact measurements taken, error seems to always creep in. Students have to analyze this data, compare the results, research the historical outcomes and then reflect on what happened in their experiment. This analysis is critical for students to really understand what they are doing and what they could have done to make the experiment more accurate.
Asking questions is a big part of CT. Asking the right questions is even bigger. This is a skill that we learn over time, mostly by listening to others asking questions or answering the ones we ask. If we do not get the answer we through would manifest itself, then we need to change the question. Sometimes it is possible that there was a misunderstanding. In these cases, students need to be given time to reflect on the question they asked and reword it. What kind of questions are the right questions to ask; ones that do not have a simple answer. Generally, if a student can answer a questions within the first 15 seconds after asking, then either they have not thought about it deeply enough or the question was too simple. Asking what students think, to reflect on or how deeply they considered something are good ways to make sure that answers are not just being rattled off. Remember that after asking a question, teachers need to give 14-17 seconds for students to think, even if someone already indicates they have an answer.
Here are some examples of how I have seem this used in classes or how I have used CT learning in my classes.
First off is the class meeting. Usually done at the very start of the class for about 10 minutes, students gather in a circle (ideally) and talk about happenings, misunderstandings, assistance needed, new learnings etc. It is not important that all participate all the time, but all should be actively participating through the classes as this is run.
One thing I like is a learning blog/journal. I usually make students complete this once per week. At first it is usually quite simple, maybe even teacher directed. Over time the students get more reflective and CT will show through in how deep their understanding is. These can be time consuming as they require teacher feedback each week. It is through this that the students can begin to see what they should be writing about and how deep they should be going.
Another way to get this going is to have students answer the Essential Questions of the unit. Not only will this show good critical thinking, but it will provide feedback for the unit for planning purposes next year.
This is not a comprehensive look at Critical Thinking, but it does give good reasons why it needs to be taught and be a part of all classrooms.
