Critical Thinking in the Elementary Classroom: Problems ...

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CriticalThinkingintheElementary Classroom:ProblemsandSolutions

byVeraSchneider,authorofSteppingStones

Criticalthinkinghasbeenanimportantissuein educationformanyyears.Afterthe1948Convention oftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,BenjaminBloom tooktheleadindeveloping"thegoalsoftheeducational process,"includingknowledge,comprehension,application, analysis,synthesis,andevaluation.Criticalthinkingin educationhasbeenhotlydebatedsincethen.Thisarticle sharessomedefinitions,outlooks,andquestionstoinspire youtobeginthinkingcriticallyaboutcriticalthinking.What isit?Shouldweteachit?Why...andhow?Herearesome helpfulsuggestionsforincorporatingcriticalthinkinginthe classroom--thesolutionsareuptoyou.

Thedefinitionofcriticalthinkinghaschangedsomewhat overthepastdecade.Chance(1986)sayscriticalthinking is"theabilitytoanalyzefacts,generateandorganizeideas, defendopinions,makecomparisons,drawinferences, evaluateargumentsandsolveproblems."Tama(1989)calls it"awayofreasoningthatdemandsadequatesupportfor one'sbeliefsandanunwillingnesstobepersuadedunless supportisforthcoming."Ennis(1992)definescritical thinkingas"reasonablereflectivethinkingfocusedon decidingwhattobelieveordo."Thedefinitionwillprobably continuetochangeinthefollowingdecades,butone thingwillremainconstant--theneedtoprovideeffective solutionstocomplexproblems.Expertsoncriticalthinking explainthatstudentsfeeltheirworkgainssignificancewhen itistowardapurposefulend(Elder&Paul,2001).When studentsareaskedtoaddressapurposeandcomeupwith asolution,theytrulybegintoidentify,analyze,andsolve problemsthroughcriticalthinking.

Studentswillneedtodrawontheirabilityto solveproblemsthroughouttheirlives.Withsomany technologicalandinformationaladvances,livingand workingintheworldwillchangedramaticallyinthenext millennium.Peoplewillhaveanever-increasingneedto obtain,understand,analyze,andshareinformation.Mariam JeanDreherpredictsthat"workplaceliteracyinthenext millenniumwillbesynonymouswithproblem-solving (2000)."Thefuturewillcallfor"multiliteracies"and"high

literacy,"whichinvolve,amongotherthings,self-regulating andmonitoring,understandingandempathizing,analyzing andevaluating--allofwhichare"tiedtogetherbythecore constructofthinking."

Thequestionishowtobestinstructstudentsincritical thinkingskills.Inthe1980stherewasamovementto bringtheexplicitteachingofthinkingintotheclassroom, whichstimulatedthecreationofavarietyofspecial courses,programs,andmaterials.Todaytheresearchshows thatthetransferofthesethinkingskillsintoimportant academicsubjectareasisnotautomatic(Swartz,2000). Criticalthinkinginstructionisnoteffectivewhentaughtin isolation.Itmustbeaholisticandintegratedcomponent oftheclassroomcurriculum(Carr,1988;Rowland-Dunn, 1989;Smith,1990).

Itisourjobaseducatorstoequipyoungstudents withtheskillsandstrategiestothinkcriticallyinorderto solveproblems.Thechallengeishowtotransformthese importantinstructionalobjectivesintoreal,developmentally appropriateactivitiesthatareintegratedintolessonsacross thecurriculum.Implementationoftheseobjectivesand strategiesmayappeardifficult,butoftenrequiresonlya slightshiftinone'sapproachtothecurriculum.Teachers canprovidedailyopportunitiesforstudentstoidentifythe materialstheyareworkingwith,analyzetheircharacteristics, andconsidersimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthem. Teacherscanprovidethetimeandspaceforbrainstorming andforthemakingandtestingofplans.Herearesomeways thateducatorscanhelpyoungstudentsexploreproblemsolvingtasksandlearnthroughtheirownpersonaland purposefuldiscoveries.

Donotreadilyfindsolutionsforstudents.Instead, identifyeventhesimplesttasksasaproblemsforthem tosolve.Youngchildrenoftengetupsetiftheydonot immediatelyhaveachairtositin,cannotfindthecrayon theywant,oraccidentallyripthepapertheyareworking on.Itiseasyandexpedienttosay,"getachairfromover there,""hereisaredcrayon,"or"getsometape,"butitisfar bettertorespond,"let'sthinkabouthowwecansolvethis

CriticalThinkingintheElementaryClassroom:ProblemsandSolutions?1

problem,"andletthestudentcomeupwithhisorherown idea--andtestit,regardlessofwhetherornotitis,inthe teacher'sopinion,thebestsolution.Eventhoughamended projectmaynotlookperfect,studentsareusuallyproudof theirattemptstofixitthemselves.

Alwaysseekopportunitiesforbrainstorming.Before readingabook,taketimetolookatthecoveranddiscuss it.Lookatthepicturedsettingandcharacters.Ifthecover hasabarnonit,askstudentswhethertheythinkthestory maybeaboutspacealiensorfarmanimals.Havethem brainstormalistofthingstheymightseeinthebook. Recordtheiranswersandreviewthemlater.Becauseso muchcriticalthinkingatthisageisdonealoud,itisalways helpfultokeepawrittenaccountofstudent'simprovement.

Compareandcontrastanythingandeverything. Beforebeginningasponge-paintingactivity,compareand contrastaspongeandapaintbrushandhowtheymight beusedindifferentorsimilarways.Duringappleseason, compareandcontrasttheshape,size,taste,andcolorof pareandcontrastyesterday'sweather withtoday'sweather,sunflowerseedswithpoppyseeds, theMayflowerwithacruiseship,thenumeral6withthe numeral9,paretwo wordsforletterandsyllablecount,beginningandending sounds,ormeaning.Encouragestudentstolookcloselyat detailsandtothinkaboutthepurposeandsignificanceof eachone.

Categorize.Sortsetsofobjectsandbeopentoeach students'ideas.Whengivenasetcontainingaruler,arollof tape,andacandybar,andaskedtochoosetheonethatdoes notbelong,onechildmayeliminatethecandybarbecause itcanbeeaten.Anotherchildmayeliminatetherolloftape becauseisround.Acceptbothanswersandexploreothers aswell.Itisnottheanswer,buttheprocessofthinkingand self-questioningthatisimportant.

Encouragecreativity.Donotalwaysgivestudents teacher-preparedprojects.Trytoprovideawidevarietyof materials(constructionpaper,cottonballs,felt,paint,etc.) andtools(scissors,brushes,crayons,glue,etc.)andgive verybroadinstructions.Ifyousimplyaskstudentstocreate asnowmanofacertainsize,theymustconsiderwhatthey knowaboutsnow,snowmen,andmeasurement.Theymust considerthepossibilitiesandlimitationsofthematerials provided.Theymustconsiderandevaluatetheirownfine motorstrengthsandweaknesses.Theymustmakeaplan, testit,andcomeupwithasolution.Theymustbecritical thinkers--theymustcreateasnowman.

Teachstudentstothinkcriticallyacrossthe curriculum.Inscience,studentscanplanandconstruct ahabitatforananimal.Inmath,theycandivideasetof differentsizedcookiesequallyamongsttheirclassmates.In socialstudies,theycanchartamapoftheirneighborhood. Criticalthinkingisanalsoacrucialcomponentofthe beginningreadingcurriculum(Fitzpatick,1994),asitboosts readingcomprehensionandstoryknowledge.Havechildren reconsideracharacterorsettingofagivenstorytoretellit inadifferentway.Writtenlanguage--alistofwords,usages, definitions,andabasicrecipeofrules--alsoholdsincredible potentialforthecriticalthinker.Whenstudentslearntouse languagetosolveaproblemorachieveapurpose,theresult ispowerfulandmemorable.

Itisimportantthatteachersrecognizeandrespectthe valueofthinkingskillsandintroducethemearlyoninthe educationalprocess(Carr,1998).Primarygradestudents arecapableofsurprisinglycomplexthoughtsandoftenhave insightsbeyondtherealmofteachers'expectations.This is,inpart,duetothefactthatveryyoungchildrenareless boundbypreconceivedlimitations,aretypicallymoreopen tothewonderoftheworld,andinmostcases,sincerely believethatallthingsarepossible.

AbouttheAuthor VeraSchneiderhasaB.A.inEnglishandanM.A.inearlychildhoodeducation.Sheholdsteachingcertificationsinnurseryschool,elementaryeducation,andEnglish.SheispresentlyteachingkindergartenintheRidgewood,NewJerseypublic schools.SheisamemberoftheSocietyforChildren'sBookWriters&IllustratorsandistheauthorofSteppingStones:APathto CriticalThinking.

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References

Bloom,B.S.andDavidR.K.(1956).Taxonomyofeducational objectives:Theclassificationofeducationalgoals,byacommittee ofcollegeanduniversityexaminers.Handbook1:Cognitive domain.NewYork:Longman,Green. Carr,K.S.(1988).Howcanweteachcriticalthinking?Childhood Education,65(2),69?73. Chance,P.(1986).Thinkingintheclassroom:Asurveyof programs.NewYork:TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity. Dreher,M.J.;Smith,M.;Mikulecky,L,etal.(2000).Whatwillbe thedemandsofliteracyintheworkplaceinthenextmillennium? ReadingResearchQuarterly,35(3),378?383. Elder,L.andPaul,R.(2001).Criticalthinking:Thinkingtosome purpose.JournalofDevelopmentalEducation,25(1),40?41. Ennis,R.(1992).Criticalthinking:Whatisit?Proceedingsof the48thAnnualMeetingofthePhilosophyofEducationSociety, Denver,Colorado,March27?30.

Fitzpatrick,K.(1994).Improvingreadingcomprehensionusing criticalthinkingstrategies.ReadingImprovement,31(3),142?144. Rowland-Dunn,J.Makingtimeforcriticalthinkingskills. Instructor,99(2),36?37. Smith,C.(1990).Twoapproachestocriticalthinking.Reading Teacher,(44)4,350?351. Swartz,R.J.(2000).Towardsdevelopingandimplementinga thinkingcurriculum.KeynoteAddress:FirstAnnualThinking QualitiesInitiativeConference.HongKong,June23. Tama,C.(1989).Criticalthinkinghasaplaceineveryclassroom. JournalofReading,33,64?65.

ThisarticleoriginallyappearedintheOctober2002issueofEPSUpdate,the electronicnewsletterfromEducatorsPublishingService.Formoreinformation,visit . ?2002EducatorsPublishingService,adivisionofDeltaEducation,LLC.Permissionis grantedtoreproducethisarticle.

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