4 Easy Steps for Critical Thinking

Any rookie or veteran educator is challenged by the task of having students become critical thinkers. If I am honest, I have struggled with teaching or integrating critical thinking concepts. Most days I am just happy the students read the text or even remembered the work we did the week prior to the class. One of the simplest forms of integrating critical thinking has been to ask my students the ubiquitous ‘why’ that we educators like to respond with or ‘tell me more’. On some days, I am super impressed; on other days I question my existence!

As a great admirer of leadership, the guru Ken Blanchard, and his philosophy of ‘all of us are smarter than one of us’ I knew this is something I needed to develop. As a start, I took an exceptional class in spring 2016 by the legendary Stephen Brookfield called ‘Developing Critical Thinkers’. The four steps he described in his ‘Critical Thinking Process’ have been very helpful for me in my teaching and as an engaged citizen. Once internalized watching news, reading articles, and even conversations are impossible without applying it. So here we they are:

Identify Assumptions: whoever is writing or speaking is sharing based off of the individual’s worldview or ideology. Here is an example of an assumption, ‘if I praise my students for doing good work, this will encourage them to continue’. While this could be true, it could also cause a ‘fixed mindset’ rather than a ‘growth mindset in some kids. Another very popular assumption is ‘if I teach my students in a circle they are more likely to be engaged.

Assess Grounds-Evidence, Accuracy & Validity: this involves a sort of self-interrogation. Where am I getting these ideas from? Family, the folks with whom I socialize, schooling, religion, the media? Who are the ‘experts’ informing my intelligence? Were their assumptions based on valid research or just their experience? An example of this would be that boys require more discipline than girls or parents of students in urban areas are not interested in their children’s education.

Take Alternative Perspectives: This is the proverbial, ‘walk a mile in someone’s shoes’. Many times I try to imagine what my students’ day was like before they came to my class. Did they take the overcrowded NYC subway, get into a fight with a parent or sibling, are they worried about approval from peers? What is the perspective of their parents, school administrators’ future educators? We try to see things through the lens of the other person. An example of a great practical way of doing this in the classroom is to ask your students to bring in sunglasses and switch sun glasses to role-play their peers.

Take Informed Action: The final step of the process is making a decision based on our now researched assumptions. This involves some reflection on the preceding three steps and making a calculated judgement.

So there we are folks! I have found that Brookfield’s critical thinking process is easy and practical. I hope this was able to help someone as it did for me. If anything you can definitely impress a group by saying, hmmm… what are your assumptions based on?