Switching on the lightbulb - getting students to come up with ideas

This was the title of a recent webinar hosted by Macmillan Education and presented by Lindsay Warwick.  Having just completed two years in Vietnam, where generally students had few thinking skills, this was a topic of great interest to me.  What follows is a summary of what Lindsay had to say.

Sometimes the problem isn't how to say something in English, but, rather, what to say.  For this reason, it's extremely important to scaffold activities properly.

Assessing knowledge

Sometimes students don't have ideas because:

• they don't have a background in thinking at all (if they have been in an education system where all the learning was by rote, for example)
• the topic isn't relevant to them and they have no knowledge of it

To assess knowledge of a new topic, put pictures pertinent to the topic around the room and pin a blank piece of paper under each one.  Ask students to walk around the room and write questions about the pictures on the sheets of paper.  They're not allowed to repeat any questions so they are pushed to come up with less obvious ones.  Then put the students into groups and give each group one of the pictures and the accompanying list of questions.  Ask them to discuss the questions and speculate on what the answers might be.  Give them some useful language to help them with this:

• Perhaps/probably/possibly
• It might/could be ...
• I guess ...
• It's likely/unlikely
• I doubt it's ... because ...
• I think ...
• I'm pretty sure ...
• I'm not sure but ...

As the students are doing this, monitor them to assess their knowledge of the topic.  Things they don't know could make a good homework task - students have to go away and do the research.  Students are much more likely to be able to discuss things if they have the appropriate background knowledge.

We can use this version of Bloom's Taxonomy to ask the right questions and help our students to be better thinkers:

 

 

This helps us to plan better lessons.

 

A practical example

 

Consider the question:

 

What are the pros and cons of a formal national identification system?

 

First, give students a quiz to test their knowledge of the subject.

 

 



This encourages students to speculate and opens their minds to the issues involved in the topic.  (Answers - 1. F - not the USA, 2. T, 3, T, 4. F - 11 million, 5. T)

Next, give students a list of points and ask them whether or not they are relevant to the question under discussion:

 

In this case, B, D and J are irrelevant to the discussion - they are not pros or cons.  This is a challenging activity to be used with higher level students.

Next, get the students to sort the points into pros and cons.  Give half the class the pros and the other half the cons and ask them to rank them in order of importance.  Get them to do this individually first, then with a partner, then with a small group, and so on up to half the class.  After doing this, students will be better able to discuss the question and better able to come up with their own ideas when the next discussion question comes along.

Debatabase

This is a great website for finding out about debates and discussions.  It lists points for and points against for discussion topics and is a really useful resource  for teachers to help us prepare for in-class debates.

Scaffolding

It's extremely important to give our students guidelines.  For example:

How has our relationship with the environment changed?
Give at least five examples.

We need to push our students and encourage collaboration.  For example:

What do you consider the main causes of disease?
Work in pairs and consider economics, lifestyle, emotional well-being, as well as medical reasons.  Think of at least two examples of each.

Good scaffolding is the means by which we support our students and guide them in the right direction.

What's the question?

Give students five answers to the same discussion question and ask them to come up with the question.  For example, these answers:

should lead to the question:

What would the world be like without energy?

Five caps

This activity encourages different ways of thinking by asking students to consider things from different perspectives.  We do this with role-plays in the classroom and we can do the same thing with discussions.  Give the students a question.  For example:

How has social networking changed the lives of young people today?

Then give each student a 'cap' - teenager, parent, teacher, employer, government think tank member - and ask them to debate the question from their character's point of view.  Invariably, the conversation will last much longer than it would otherwise have done.

Five minute Guardian debates

These are five-minute videos, created by The Guardian newspaper in the UK and made available on You Tube, which can be used as the basis for in-class discussions for B2 level students and above.

Problem solving: reverse brainstorming

Here, we take a problem and reverse it.  By looking at an issue from the other direction, we can often see it more clearly and so generate more ideas.  For example, if the original question is:

How do you think the problem of over-consumption can be addressed?

Consider instead:

What do you think the causes of over-consumption are?

Decision tree

This is a good way to push students to think harder about the solutions they propose - what would the impact/results be?

In the example above, for instance, the consequences of an education campaign might be a) that it's expensive and b) that it only reaches young people.

Mindmeister.com is a good website for creating all kinds of mind maps.

Prove it!

We're constantly making assumptions and sometimes these are wrong.  Give students a list of generally held truths and ask them to prove them to be true or false.  They have to go away and research, leading to a whole new discussion on where to find good sources (digital literacy).

In the examples above, only 3 and 5 can be proved to be true, and then only in a limited way.  These are great discussion topics!

Connections

Give students some pictures and ask them what the link is between them.  For example, here there could be a connection in each column:

 

1. Dutch, 2. the future, 3. water, 4. man-made inventions.

 

Then you could mix the photos, or ask students to make connections across the rows or diagonally.  The idea is to get students to think creatively and come up with whatever connections they can think of, however tenuous, as long as they can explain their reasoning.

 

I wonder

 

Students have to think of a question based on a theme represented by a picture.  Here, for example, the theme is 'old and new':

 

 

Questions could be things like:

 

I wonder what the builders of the old tower would think if they saw the modern office block?

 

I wonder how much taller the new building is than the old one?

 

I wonder if these two buildings are in the same town?

 

Thinking time

 

Use a site like tricider.com to get students thinking outside of class.  Post a question on the site.  Students answer it and then comment on each others' ideas.  This is great because it gives students time to formulate their ideas, something which is not always possible in class.



 

 





 

Towards Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Young Learners

This is a summary of a webinar hosted by Cambridge English Teacher and presented by Herbert Puchta on October 10th, 2012.

The 'attention-grabbing' approach to teaching

Even very young children are able to think, attend and remember, but their thinking, attending and memory are very reactive.  Children growing up today are subjected to sensory overload constantly.  Television, for example, is fast-paced, loud, full of movement, and has colourful, constantly changing scenes.  As a result, today's youngsters have very short attention spans.

'Reactive learners' need fast-paced, sensory bombardment to learn even very simple information.  This leads to the teacher being an entertainer which is totally exhausting.

Learning as a 'self-directed activity'

• Children increasingly learn to direct their attention, memory and problem-solving skills on their own.
• Children gradually take more and more responsibility for their own learning.
• Children acquire the mental tools to help them think better.

So,

• Tools of the mind (mental/cognitive tools) help to extend a child's cognitive capabilities.
• Tools of the mind reduce the workload for the teacher.

Why teach thinking skills?

• Children need to face the challenges of a changing and unpredictable world.
• They need problem-solving and decision-making skills to meet unexpected problems and tackle them.
• School curricula tend to promote systematic, error-free learning - correct answers, assimilation of facts, teacher's assessment.

The importance of divergent thinking

Divergent thinking (as opposed to convergent thinking) is extremely important - students need to learn that there is not necessarily one right answer.  You can teach this by asking questions like:

Write down as many different uses as you can think of for:

• a button
• a brick
• a blanket

Here, you are encouraging children to think outside the box.

What does critical thinking involve?

• Working out whether or not we believe what we see or hear.
• Finding out whether something is true.
• Arguing one's case.
• Identifying when we need more information.
• Selecting information for a specific purpose.

There is always a connection between critical thinking and creative thinking.  Both are higher order thinking skills.

Problem solving cycle

1. Gather and organise information
2. Define the problem
3. Generate approaches to solve the problem
4. Make an action plan
5. Monitor, check, evaluate
6. Communicate solutions
7. Transfer the problem solving skills learned to other problems

What thinking skills can we teach at the same time as we are teaching language?

A typology of thinking skills areas to be taught with EFL for young learners

• Making comparisons
• Categorising
• Sequencing
• Focusing attention
• Memorising
• Exploring space
• Exploring time
• Exploring numbers
• Creating associations
• Cause and effect
• Making decisions
• Solving problems
• Creative thinking

Practical examples

1.  Where's Tom?

This is an example from Herbert Puchta and Marion William's book 'Teaching Young Learners to Think'.

It focuses on the 'exploring space' skill.  To develop this skill, students need:

• a reference system to understand and control the space they live in.
• a sense of position, distance, direction, proximity and dimensions.
• the ability to imagine a change in position.  This is necessary for hypothetical thinking - the ability to imagine another viewpoint.

2.  Cars and bicycles

Draw a Venn diagram and ask the question:

What is the same and what is different between this pair of objects?
Examples:    car and bicycle
                   tree and flower
                   chair and table
                   banana and pineapple

The focus here is obviously on the skill of making comparisons, the basic building block of decision making.  This kind of activity can be introduced at beginner level.  Simply asking the question, 'What colour's my jacket?', for example, activates language, but it doesn't require any thinking on the part of the respondent.  As teachers, we need to encourage thinking.

3.  Missing information

Give three texts - three party invitations, for example, - each one with a missing piece of information (time, place, date, etc.).  Students have to work out what is missing rather than the more usual task of answering questions on what is there.

4.  Listen and imagine

Tell students to close their eyes and then play them a piece of music.  Then ask them to draw a picture inspired by the music or write down a list of words they would associate with it.  They then have to explain their picture or choice of words to a partner or small group.

Here, we are encouraging creative thinking, which, as we have already heard, is an integral part of critical thinking.

5. Cause and effect

Give students a statement and ask them if there is a cause and effect relationship in it.  For example,

Jane doesn't play any musical instruments.  Therefore, she isn't a musician.

This kind of task is suitable for intermediate level students.  They have to question whether or not there is enough information to establish a cause and effect relationship.  If not, what other information is needed?  The attention to detail required here is a great exercise for students.

To conclude:

Quoting Vygotsky's model:

Learning moves away from the goal of getting the answer correct to getting the answer correct because a specific process was used to get the answer.

Further information:

• Follow @herbertpuchta on Twitter
• www.herbertpuchta.com
• facebook.com/herbertpuchta.elt
• Teaching Young Learners to Think

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