I recently helped my 9-year-old son to complete a homework project for his class that had him analyzing a news article, answering questions, and then translating it into a different language. The purpose was to know what’s happening in another part of the world and then write about it in the language of the people affected. This was all about intoducing the concept of critical thinking for the students.
I watched my son work, and realized he copied and pasted, ran things through Google translate, and submitted it.
Asking him what the article was about, his response was tell-tale. “I don’t know, I just answer the questions and then translate it. I don’t really think about it. I need to finish it so I can get to the next task. Now sign here, so I can move on.” He pointed to a neat horizontal signature line.
Hold on a second, I said. I then proceeded to ask him questions that required real thinking and processing. He was stunned and reluctant. “You’re slowing me down.”
The next day, he came back heartbroken. “All that work, and I got points taken off, because it was on the wrong kind of paper.” What did my child learn? It’s more important to have the right paper than it is to think critically.
Do we inadvertently squelch critical thinking in their students? How can we look more toward critical thinking than teaching to the test? What strategies can we follow to to bring the best out of your student population? How would you train your teachers toward critical thinking?
Here are some thoughts:
1: Critical thinking has to be shouted from the rooftops. Not that it should replace and do away with factual learning (lower-order thinking), but students thinking critically on their own is the pinnacle of the accumulation of knowledge and experience.
This flies directly in the face of teaching to the test, but it’s important that we make the distinction. Give to the testers what is theirs, but give back to students their freedom to think.
2: Encourage project-based learning. Solving real-world problems gets kids out of the classroom and into the real world.
3: Encourage collaboration, if not just in your classroom with other students, but also with the surrounding community and all the interesting professionals that are at its heart.
Think about collaboration along the lines of using technology to reach out to the global community. Don’t just invest in technology. Remember the end game is students collaborating, thinking critically, and solving problems that are relevant to their world.
4: Teach the 6D’s of solution thoughts as a process for working through a problem to its solution
- Define the driving question. Ask questions to clarify, focus and understand what the problem is.
- Discover all aspects of the problem. What’s being done currently? What exactly is the nature of the problem? Be observant.
- Dream and brainstorm directions to approach the solution. Imagine the problem through different points of view.
- Design the product. Create a blueprint of the ideas and workshop them thoroughly.
- Deliver the goods and put the solution to work in a practical application—that is, generate the product and test it out against the problem.
- Debrief and review the process and look realistically on the product or solution.
5. Whether you choose to use the language of design thinking or that of solution thoughts, take a look at step-by-step through planning incredible project-based learning experiences for your students. Play with it and plan your own professional development with it.