Why and How to Encourage Students' Critical Thinking Skills - an #Eltchat Summary

This is a summary of the #eltchat which took place at 12noon GMT on Wednesday 15th February, 2012.  The discussion was moderated superbly by @ShellTerrell and @Shaunwilden and was, as usual, informative and thought-provoking.....

What is critical thinking?

Some definitions:

• 'It's applying reasoned and disciplined thinking to a subject.'  (@worldteacher)
• 'It includes thinking about thinking.'  (@rapple18)
• 'It is going beyond just remembering and understanding information.  The top part of Bloom's taxonomy.'  'It's not accepting information we receive as fact, but question what we hear, evaluate it against what we know and then use it to draw a conclusion.'  (@reasons4)
• 'It's a higher order thinking skill.'  (@Marisa_C)
• 'Awareness of what's behind the language and between the lines.  What motivates choice of words.'  (@GrammyLatino)
• 'Don't take anything for granted.'  (@europeaantje)
• 'Asking 'why?' and 'how do you know?' for everything  (@TailormadeEng)
• 'Analysing and judging information based on previous concepts.'  (@josepopoff)
• 'Thinking about things which may often be accepted as accepted truths.'  (@irishmikeh)
• 'Being able to form arguments, resolve conflict, solve problems ...... new forms of communication.'  (@bnleez)
• 'Being able to analyse a belief or argument and recognise any fallacies.  Being able to recognise your own preconceptions.'  (@annehodg)

At this point @Shaunwilden commented that, 'Given all the definitions people are giving, it's no wonder CT is so difficult for students to do!'

So why do we need to teach critical thinking?

Some #eltchatters questioned whether it was our place as EFL/ESL teachers to teach critical thinking, but I think the consensus was that it is an essential part of our role as we try to prepare our students for the English-speaking world.  They will have to process so much information and as educators we have a responsibilty to equip them for that.  The classroom is the place for people to challenge the status quo, ask difficult questions and value diverse opinions, so is, therefore, the perfect place for CT. 

As @rliberni pointed out, 'What we cannot deny is that in pure language terms, critical thinking activities stretch skills especially in speaking and that should be reason enough to do them.'

Problems when introducing CT to our classrooms

Most participants agreed with @GrammyLatino that introducing CT to our classrooms is an uphill struggle when the school system and/or parents don't stimulate it, but rather preach blind obedience and memorising.  This is a particular problem for me teaching at a university in Vietnam where my students have, up to this point, been spoon-fed information and taught to accept it without question.  Several other #eltchatters acknowledged that CT is an alien concept for many of their students and that motivating them can be a real challenge.  Students are often scared to leave their comfort zone and start thinking! 

Lack of expertise on the part of the teacher is also a problem.  As was pointed out, if you have never been expected to think critically or experienced good lessons modelling such, then it might be tough to help students to do so.  It might also be uncomfortable for the teacher to give negative feedback for 'not showing critical thinking' in an EFL class.  Teachers need training in CT.

Students' desire for there to be 'one right answer' is also a challenge to CT, but, on the other hand, sometimes learners are pleased to realise that there are multiple possible interpretations.

It was also noted that the majority of tests don't necessarily support critical thinking (IELTS and TOEFL were named and shamed at this point), so the emphasis becomes to teach memorisation and drill.  Perhaps it isn't included in such tests because it's difficult to assess.

Another challenge to CT could be the teacher's reluctance to relinquish control and have their own views challenged.  Personally, I love being challenged in the classroom and miss that aspect of the teaching experience now that I'm teaching in SE Asia rather than in Europe.

A further problem might be a pressure to 'cover the book', so perhaps 'Teaching Unplugged' might provide a better opportunity for CT?

How do we teach critical thinking?

We agreed that we, as teachers, need to choose materials and topics that foster critical thinking - syllabus permitting, of course!  But what methods and/or activities can we use in the classroom?  Some ideas:

• We need to build a good rapport with our classes so that students feel safe and confident enough to ask questions and express their opinions.
• Play devil's advocate through roleplays - students plan their 'opinions' first.
• Use biased newspapers with opinions different to your own and ask students to recognise the bias.
• CT can be developed in every class, even if incidentally, by asking students how they know their stuff, who the author is, what the message is, etc.
• Give two accounts of the same story and ask what is the difference and why.
• Set up a class discussion where students first plan the arguments for and against.  Getting students speaking for the side they don't agree with can be fun, challenging and useful.  Making logical arguments based on false premises is fun, too!
• Use adverts - discuss hidden agendas, aims, target audience, etc. - students will never look at ads in the same way again!
• Analyse current affairs and ask 'why?
• Present students with a mix of viewpoints (polarised and moderate) and ask them to discuss.
• Challenge plagiarism, challenge the validity of resources - get students to ask questions.
• Pick topics that students are likely to have a personal interest in and/or strong views about or, better still, get them to choose the subjects.
• Do activities that have no right answer.
• Because students can't think and talk in L2 simultaneously, perhaps we should encourage L1 discussions first?
• Do activities that ask students to think 'outside the box' to solve real life problems in their community or personal lives.
• Use roleplay so that students don't 'lose face' by expressing their own ideas.  For example, 'in the hot seat in the role of ..... a celebrity, a politician, etc.'
• Video or image analysis is good for CT - ask students, 'who?', 'what?', 'where?', 'why?', etc. and encourage different viewpoints.
• Sometimes students are afraid of saying what they think, so perhaps we should encourage them to express their opinions in writing.
• Use lateral thinking stories.
• Have students choose 'love it' or 'hate it' before writing something on the board.  They then have to explain why they love or hate the thing that the teacher wrote.
• Put a line of tape on the floor.  Give the students a topic and two viewpoints.  They jump on the side they're for.  For one minute, one side of the line says why and then the other side of the line offers rebuttals.
• Discuss multiple choice reading questions and why answers fit or don't fit.  Students' mistakes can also be fed into multiple choice quizzes so that they can be discussed.
• Get students to write argument ideas twice with two contradictory conclusions.
• Do 'odd one out' activities - these can work at all levels.
• Telling students what to think is often a good way to encourage CT!!

Conclusion

We can't enforce critical thinking, but we can and should give students the opportunity and the tools if they wish to use them.


Useful links

• @cybraryman1's Critical Thinking page
• @lu_bodeman's Article on Critical Literacy
• Question Everything - a really funny video clip featuring Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington via @TailormadeEng
• CT links from the BBC/British Council Teaching English site via @Grammy Latino
• Handout on CT from @reasons4
• Useful definition & framework for the implementation of CT via @GrammyLatino
• An example lesson to encourage CT from @esolcourses
• A lesson on peer pressure from @esolcourses
• Some great ideas to help others think via @lobroo
• Engaging Students Through Critical Reading by @AlexandreMak via @Marisa_C
• Some great CT resources via @nlakusta
• A strong image to get the CT juices flowing! via @ShellTerrell
• An ideas book that can be adapted for ELT via @Shaunwilden
• Critical Thinking Index Page via @cherrymp
• Using graphic organisers to foster CT from @ShellTerrell
• Developing CT in Young Learners via @cherrymp