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The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills - Preparing Students for College and Work
A look at the importance of teaching students how to think critically - by Upper School Division Head Shannon Elders, M.S., CCC-SLP. This article was published in the May 2012 issue of Middle Tennessee Health & Wellness Magazine.
By Shannon Elders, M.S., CCC-SLP, division head for the Upper School at Currey Ingram Academy
Much has been written and discussed in the educational world with regard to what skills are needed in the 21st century to be successful in college and the workplace. Unlike year's past, we now live in a global economy and society where information and communication is just a click away. Students must know how to critically assess and use the limitless amount of information that is available to them. Several renown researchers and educators such as Harvard professors, Howard Gardner and Tony Wagner, are making it clear that high school students need a different set of skills to be successful in college and in life than year’s past.
Content vs. Critical Thinking
Howard Gardner writes in his book Five Minds of the Future, about the different "minds" (disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical) that should be cultivated in our youth today for success tomorrow. Tony Wagner, who wrote The Global Achievement Gap advocates for schools to teach a core set of seven "survival skills" such as critical thinking, to be successful in college and the workplace. Wagner has argued today’s youth are living in a "flat new world", competing with youth from other countries for top positions. (Wagner, 2010).
Results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) released in 2009 states of the 33 participating countries, the United States ranks 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in mathematics. (Walker, 2010). It is important to note that the PISA is an assessment designed to test students' application of their math and science knowledge to real world scenarios. (Silva, 2008). Our students are not becoming less intelligent, rather students from other countries are becoming better educated in applying their knowledge. (Wagner, 2010). Content mastery alone does not promote students thinking critically about information and applying what they know to new situations and problems. We must move beyond rote memorization tasks and simple regurgitation. Students need to be taught how to think and think well. Students need to be able to think critically.
What Can Schools Do To Help?
What are critical thinking skills and what should high schools do to teach and assess them? Critical thinking is a type of skillful thinking. Robert Swartz discusses "skillful thinking" in his book, Thinking-Based Learning. "Skillful thinking is self-initiated, monitored, and goal directed thinking, involving specific mental procedures, habits of mind and metacognitive skills". (Swartz, et al. 2008). To help students become skillful thinkers, teachers should infuse thinking skills with content instruction. In the Upper School at Currey Ingram Academy, infusion of skillful thinking into content areas is evident in the classroom as well as in each students' Individualized Learning Plan.
Instruction and Assessments Must Be Authentic
Instruction and assessments should also be authentic. Currey Ingram Academy is one of three schools in the state that gives students the College and Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA). The CWRA is comprised of a single Performance Task. These "tasks" are open ended prompts requiring written responses designed to assess students' higher-order thinking, problem solving and writing skills. (Council for Aid to Education, 2012).
The CWRA led the Upper School to work with Dr. Marc Chun, of the Council for Aid to Education and Director of CLA in the Classroom to further explore a curriculum that teaches and assesses the development of students' critical thinking skills through authentic real-world “performance tasks” within content areas. The end result being teaching that prepares students for today’s “new flat world”. We believe this approach is one reason we have 100 percent college program acceptance. It is not just about what you know, but what you do with what you know.
Works Cited
Austin, John. "Creating An Academy of Learning." NAIS. Mar.-Apr. 2010. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinecontent.cfm?itemnumber=145944.
Council for Aid to Education. www.cae.org
Gardner, Howard. Five Minds for the Future. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2008. Print. www.howardgardner.com
Silva, Elena. "Measuring Skills for the 21st Century." Education Sector. Nov. 2008. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. http://www.educationsector.org
Swartz, Robert J. Thinking-based Learning: Promoting Quality Student Achievement in the 21st Century. New York: Teachers College, 2010. Print. http://www.nctt.net
Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do about It. New York: Basic, 2008. Print. www.tonywagner.com
Walker, Tim. "PISA 2009: US Students in the Middle of the Pack." NEA. 07 Dec. 2010. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. http://www.nea.org
Back
Much has been written and discussed in the educational world with regard to what skills are needed in the 21st century to be successful in college and the workplace. Unlike year's past, we now live in a global economy and society where information and communication is just a click away. Students must know how to critically assess and use the limitless amount of information that is available to them. Several renown researchers and educators such as Harvard professors, Howard Gardner and Tony Wagner, are making it clear that high school students need a different set of skills to be successful in college and in life than year’s past.
Content vs. Critical Thinking
Howard Gardner writes in his book Five Minds of the Future, about the different "minds" (disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical) that should be cultivated in our youth today for success tomorrow. Tony Wagner, who wrote The Global Achievement Gap advocates for schools to teach a core set of seven "survival skills" such as critical thinking, to be successful in college and the workplace. Wagner has argued today’s youth are living in a "flat new world", competing with youth from other countries for top positions. (Wagner, 2010).
Results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) released in 2009 states of the 33 participating countries, the United States ranks 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in mathematics. (Walker, 2010). It is important to note that the PISA is an assessment designed to test students' application of their math and science knowledge to real world scenarios. (Silva, 2008). Our students are not becoming less intelligent, rather students from other countries are becoming better educated in applying their knowledge. (Wagner, 2010). Content mastery alone does not promote students thinking critically about information and applying what they know to new situations and problems. We must move beyond rote memorization tasks and simple regurgitation. Students need to be taught how to think and think well. Students need to be able to think critically.
What Can Schools Do To Help?
What are critical thinking skills and what should high schools do to teach and assess them? Critical thinking is a type of skillful thinking. Robert Swartz discusses "skillful thinking" in his book, Thinking-Based Learning. "Skillful thinking is self-initiated, monitored, and goal directed thinking, involving specific mental procedures, habits of mind and metacognitive skills". (Swartz, et al. 2008). To help students become skillful thinkers, teachers should infuse thinking skills with content instruction. In the Upper School at Currey Ingram Academy, infusion of skillful thinking into content areas is evident in the classroom as well as in each students' Individualized Learning Plan.
Instruction and Assessments Must Be Authentic
Instruction and assessments should also be authentic. Currey Ingram Academy is one of three schools in the state that gives students the College and Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA). The CWRA is comprised of a single Performance Task. These "tasks" are open ended prompts requiring written responses designed to assess students' higher-order thinking, problem solving and writing skills. (Council for Aid to Education, 2012).
The CWRA led the Upper School to work with Dr. Marc Chun, of the Council for Aid to Education and Director of CLA in the Classroom to further explore a curriculum that teaches and assesses the development of students' critical thinking skills through authentic real-world “performance tasks” within content areas. The end result being teaching that prepares students for today’s “new flat world”. We believe this approach is one reason we have 100 percent college program acceptance. It is not just about what you know, but what you do with what you know.
Works Cited
Austin, John. "Creating An Academy of Learning." NAIS. Mar.-Apr. 2010. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinecontent.cfm?itemnumber=145944.
Council for Aid to Education. www.cae.org
Gardner, Howard. Five Minds for the Future. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2008. Print. www.howardgardner.com
Silva, Elena. "Measuring Skills for the 21st Century." Education Sector. Nov. 2008. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. http://www.educationsector.org
Swartz, Robert J. Thinking-based Learning: Promoting Quality Student Achievement in the 21st Century. New York: Teachers College, 2010. Print. http://www.nctt.net
Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do about It. New York: Basic, 2008. Print. www.tonywagner.com
Walker, Tim. "PISA 2009: US Students in the Middle of the Pack." NEA. 07 Dec. 2010. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. http://www.nea.org
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Currey Ingram Academy
Currey Ingram Academy is an exemplary JK-12 day and boarding school that empowers students with learning differences to achieve their fullest potential. Since 2002, the school has been located on an 83-acre campus in Brentwood, Tennessee, just miles from Nashville and Franklin. Families from 33 states and eight countries cite the school as their primary reason for moving to Middle Tennessee.
Currey Ingram Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and AdvancEd/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).
Currey Ingram Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and AdvancEd/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).
