What is Needed to Develop Critical Thinking in Schools?
Keywords:
critical pedagogy, curriculum in context, education for critical thinking, programs for critical thinking
Abstract
Starting with the fact that school education has failed to become education for critical thinking and that one of the reasons for that could be in how education for critical thinking is conceptualised, this paper presents: (1) an analysis of the predominant approach to education for critical thinking through the implementation of special programs and methods, and (2) an attempt to establish different approaches to education for critical thinking. The overview and analysis of understanding education for developing critical thinking as the implementation of special programs reveal that it is perceived as a decontextualised activity, reduced to practicing individual intellectual skills. Foundations for a different approach, which could be characterised as the ‘education for critical competencies’, are found in ideas of critical pedagogy and open curriculum theory. This approach differs from the predominant approach
in terms of how the nature and purpose of critical thinking and education for critical thinking are understood. In the approach of education for critical competencies, it is not sufficient to introduce special programs and methods for the development of critical thinking to the existing educational system. This approach emphasises the need to question and reconstruct the status, role, and power of pupils and teachers in the teaching process, but also in the process of curriculum development.
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References
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Cornbleth, C. (1988). Curriculum in and out of context. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 3(2), 85–96.
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Pavlović Breneselović, D. (2015). Gde stanuje kvalitet, knjiga 2 [Where Quality Lives, Book 2]. Beograd: Institut za pedagogiju i andragogiju Filozofskog fakulteta.
Radulović, L. (2016). Slike o nastavniku – između modern i postmoderne [Images of a Teacher – From Modernism to Postmodernism]. Beograd: Institut za pedagogiju i andragogiju Filozofskog fakulteta.
Saadé, R. G., Morin, D., & Thomas, J. D. E. (2012). Critical thinking in E-learning environments. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1608–1617. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.03.025
Saiz, C., & Rivas, S. F. (2011). Evaluation of the ARDESOS program: An initiative to improve critical thinking skills. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(2), 34–51. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ932143
Sibbett, L. A. (2016). Toward a Transformative Criticality for Democratic Citizenship Education. Democracy & Education, 24(2), Article 1. Retrieved from http://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol24/iss2/1
Swartz, R. (2003). Infusing critical and creative thinking into instruction in high school classrooms. In D. Fasko (Ed.), Critical thinking and reasoning: Current research, theory, and practice (pp. 207–252). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Ten Dam, G. T. M., & Volman, M. L. L. (2004). Critical thinking as a citizenship competence: teaching strategies. Learning and Instruction, 14(4), 359–379. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.01.005
Wilgis, M., & McConnell, J. (2008). Concept mapping: An educational strategy to improve graduate nurses’ critical thinking skills during a hospital orientation program. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39(3), 119–126. doi:10.3928/00220124-20080301-12
Yang, C. Y., Newby, T. J., & Bill, R. L. (2005). Using Socratic Questioning to Promote Critical Thinking Skills Through Asynchronous Discussion Forums in Distance Learning Environments. The
American Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 163–181. doi: 10.1207/s15389286ajde1903_4
Yang, Y. C., & Wu, W. I. (2012). Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic achievement, critical thinking, and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study. Computers & Education, 59(2), 339–352. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.12.012
Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 78(4), 1102–1134. doi:10.3102/0034654308326084
Abrami, P. C., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., Waddington, D. I., Wade, A. C., & Persson, T. (2015). Strategies for teaching students to think critically: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 85(2), 275–314. doi:10.3102/0034654314551063
Apple, M. W. (2012). Ideologija i kurikulum [Ideology and Curriculum]. Beograd: Fabrika knjiga.
Bangert-Drowns R. L., & Bankert E. (1990). Meta-analysis of effects of explicit instruction for critical thinking. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, MA. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED328614
Bonk, C. J., & Smith, G. S. (1998). Alternative instructional strategies for creative and critical thinking in the accounting curriculum. Journal of Accounting Education, 16(2), 261–293. doi: 10.1016/S0748-5751(98)00012-8
Brookfield, S. D. (2012). Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help Students Question Their Assumptions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Burbules, N. C. (2016). Being Critical About Being Critical. A Response to “Toward a Transformative Criticality for Democratic Citizenship Educationâ€. Democracy and Education, 24(2), Article 7. Retrieved from http://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol24/iss2/7
Burbules, N., & Berk, R. (1999). Critical Thinking and Critical Pedagogy: Relations, Differences, and Limits. In T. Popkewitz & L. Fendler (Eds.), Critical Theories in Education (pp. 45–66). New York: Rutledge.
Burgess, M. L. (2009). Using WebCT as a Supplemental Tool to Enhance Critical Thinking and Engagement Among Developmental Reading Students. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 39(2), 9–33. doi: 10.1080/10790195.2009.10850316
Cavus, N., & Uzunboylu, H. (2009). Improving critical thinking skills in mobile learning. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1(1), 434–438. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2009.01.078
Cornbleth, C. (1988). Curriculum in and out of context. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 3(2), 85–96.
Crawford, A., Saul, W., Mathews, S., & MaKinster, J. (2005). Teaching and Learning Strategies for the Thinking Classroom. New York: International Debate Education Association.
Duron, R., Limbach, B., & Waugh, W. (2006). Critical Thinking Framework for Any Discipline. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17(2), 160–166.
Forneris, S. G., & Peden-McAlpine, C. (2007). Evaluation of a reflective learning intervention to improve critical thinking in novice nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 57(4), 410–421. doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04120.x
Grundy, S. (1987). Curriculum: product or praxis?. London: The Falmer Press.
Greenlaw, S. A., & DeLoach, S. B. (2003). Teaching Critical Thinking with Electronic Discussion. The Journal of Economic Education, 34(1), 36–52. doi:10.1080/00220480309595199
Halpern, D. F. (1993). Assessing the effectiveness of critical thinking instruction. The Journal of General Education, 42(4), pp. 238-254. doi:10.1353/jge.2001.0024
Kennison, M. M. (2006). The Evaluation of Students’ Reflective Writing for Evidence of Critical Thinking. Nursing Education Perspectives, 27(5), 269–273.
Maurino, P. S. (2007). Looking for critical thinking in online threaded discussions. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 35(3), 241–260. doi:10.2190/P4W3-8117-K32G-R34M
Marin, L. M., & Halpern, D. F. (2011). Pedagogy for developing critical thinking in adolescents: Explicit instruction produces greatest gains. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 6(1), 1–13. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2010.08.002
Martin, D. S. (2005). Critical Thinking for Democracy and Social Justice. In N. M. Michelli & D. L. Keiser (Eds.), Teacher Education for Democracy and Social Justice (pp. 209–228), New York and
London: Routledge.
Matusov, E., & Marjanovic-Shane, A. (2017). Promoting students’ ownership of their own education through critical dialogue and democratic self-governance. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 5(1), E1–E29. doi:10.5195/dpj.2017.199
McLaren, P. (1994). Foreword: critical thinking as a political project. In S. Walters (Ed.), Re-thinking reason. New perspectives in critical thinking (pp. 9–15). Albany: State University of New York Press.
McMillan, J. H. (1987). Enhancing College Students’ Critical Thinking: A Review of Studies. Research in Higher Education, 26(1), 3–29.
Mac Naughton, G. (2003). Shaping early childhood: Learners, curriculum & contexts. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Pavlović Babić, D., & Baucal, A. (2013). PISA 2012 u Srbiji: prvi rezultati [PISA 2012 in Serbia: The First Results]. Beograd: Institut za psihologiju Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu i Centar za
primenjenu psihologiju.
Pavlović Breneselović, D. (2015). Gde stanuje kvalitet, knjiga 2 [Where Quality Lives, Book 2]. Beograd: Institut za pedagogiju i andragogiju Filozofskog fakulteta.
Radulović, L. (2016). Slike o nastavniku – između modern i postmoderne [Images of a Teacher – From Modernism to Postmodernism]. Beograd: Institut za pedagogiju i andragogiju Filozofskog fakulteta.
Saadé, R. G., Morin, D., & Thomas, J. D. E. (2012). Critical thinking in E-learning environments. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1608–1617. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.03.025
Saiz, C., & Rivas, S. F. (2011). Evaluation of the ARDESOS program: An initiative to improve critical thinking skills. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(2), 34–51. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ932143
Sibbett, L. A. (2016). Toward a Transformative Criticality for Democratic Citizenship Education. Democracy & Education, 24(2), Article 1. Retrieved from http://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol24/iss2/1
Swartz, R. (2003). Infusing critical and creative thinking into instruction in high school classrooms. In D. Fasko (Ed.), Critical thinking and reasoning: Current research, theory, and practice (pp. 207–252). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Ten Dam, G. T. M., & Volman, M. L. L. (2004). Critical thinking as a citizenship competence: teaching strategies. Learning and Instruction, 14(4), 359–379. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.01.005
Wilgis, M., & McConnell, J. (2008). Concept mapping: An educational strategy to improve graduate nurses’ critical thinking skills during a hospital orientation program. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39(3), 119–126. doi:10.3928/00220124-20080301-12
Yang, C. Y., Newby, T. J., & Bill, R. L. (2005). Using Socratic Questioning to Promote Critical Thinking Skills Through Asynchronous Discussion Forums in Distance Learning Environments. The
American Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 163–181. doi: 10.1207/s15389286ajde1903_4
Yang, Y. C., & Wu, W. I. (2012). Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic achievement, critical thinking, and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study. Computers & Education, 59(2), 339–352. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.12.012
Published
2017-09-30
How to Cite
Radulović, L., & StanÄićM. (2017). What is Needed to Develop Critical Thinking in Schools?. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 7(3), 9-25. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.283
Section
FOCUS
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