Why should teaching learning strategies be focused on developing critical and creative thinking?

Critical Thinking is the ability to analyze the way you think and present evidence for your ideas, rather than simply accepting your personal reasoning as sufficient proof. You can gain numerous benefits from mastering critical thinking skills, such as better control of your own learning and empathy for other points of view.
Critical Thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism.

From solving problems in class assignments to facing real world situations, Critical Thinking is a valuable skill for students to master.

Critical Thinking skills teach a variety of skills that can be applied to any situation in life that calls for reflection, analysis and planning.

Critical Thinking is a domain-general thinking skill. The ability to think clearly and rationally is important whatever we choose to do. If you work in education, research, finance, management or the legal profession, then critical thinking is obviously important. But critical thinking skills are not restricted to a particular subject area. Being able to think well and solve problems systematically is an asset for any career.

Critical Thinking is very important in the new knowledge economy. The global knowledge economy is driven by information and technology. One has to be able to deal with changes quickly and effectively. The new economy places increasing demands on flexible intellectual skills, and the ability to analyse information and integrate diverse sources of knowledge in solving problems. Good critical thinking promotes such thinking skills, and is very important in the fast-changing workplace.

Critical Thinking enhances language and presentation skills. Thinking clearly and systematically can improve the way we express our ideas. In learning how to analyse the logical structure of texts, critical thinking also improves comprehension abilities.

Critical Thinking promotes creativity. To come up with a creative solution to a problem involves not just having new ideas. It must also be the case that the new ideas being generated are useful and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a crucial role in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones and modifying them if necessary

Critical Thinking is crucial for self-reflection. In order to live a meaningful life and to structure our lives accordingly, we need to justify and reflect on our values and decisions. Critical thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation.

Good Critical Thinking is the foundation of science and a liberal democratic society. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome biases and prejudice.

Critical Thinking is something that is valued both in the university setting and in the professional situations you will find yourselves in after you graduate, and is part of lifelong learning. Critical Thinking is important in life. It helps you to think creatively – ‘outside the box’. It keeps you from becoming narrow. Critical Thinking is expected of you in higher education. It can lead to developing your judgement, evaluation and problem solving abilities.
Learning Critical Thinking skills can also enhance your academic performance. According to Linda Elder and Richard Paul, authors of "Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory," students who know how to analyze and critique ideas are able to make connections across disciplines, see knowledge as useful and applicable to daily life and understand content on a deeper, more lasting level.
Rather than relying on teachers and classroom time for instruction and guidance, students with critical thinking skills become more independent, self-directed learners. Researcher Jane Qinjuan Zhang writes that critical thinking enables students to assess their learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, and allows them to take ownership of their education.
All Entrance exams examine a students’ ability to think critically. As a matter of fact, the analytical and verbal reasoning skills sections of the GRE exams are straight out exams founded on testing Critical Thinking skills. So is the Written Analysis and Communication test in the second phase of IIMA entrance exams. The skills developed in Critical Thinking directly help students do better even at the Mathematical reasoning tests.
Today one of the most important criteria for success in College is the ability to think independently while being logical at the same time. Often students are asked to present papers either on their subject matter or in liberal arts. Knowledge of Critical Thinking Skills enables students to not only outline their papers coherently with a logical structure, it also helps them reason and present their thoughts in an organized and persuasive manner.

A good critical thinker knows how to separate facts from opinions, how to examine an issue from all sides, how to make rational inferences and how to withhold personal judgment or biases.
Rational critical thinkers are generally the voices of reason in times of mass hysteria or panic. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." The critical thinker usually has the comprehensive skills to consider all possible options and solve a problem.
The critical thinker remains calm and knows when he is right. Critical thinkers are less likely to fall for scams or tricks because they approach everything with a healthy amount of skepticism. Those who lack critical thinking skills often assume that everything they hear is true, regardless of the source.

Critical thinkers consider all options before they act. If time is an important factor, they consider the fastest method of achieving a goal. They may even discover a shortcut. Critical thinkers embody the phrase "work smarter, not harder." They are masters of efficiency.

A critical thinker has the self-awareness to know the difference between a rational thought based on careful consideration and an emotional response based on personal bias. Emotion is the enemy of reason. By understanding your own perspective, you can also consider the perspective of others and come to a conclusion based on fact, not feelings.

Increasingly more and more employers are looking not for employees with highly specialized academic skills, but those with good thinking and communication skills. Employees who learn quickly and can solve problems, think creatively, gather and analyze information meaningfully.
Many of the highest paying jobs require critical thinking skills, such as generating effective ideas and making important decisions. Job interviewers often ask applicants questions that test their ability to think critically. Critical thinking skills may also be a deciding factor when an employee seeks a promotion.

It's easy to let your emotions take over when making an important decision or arguing for your opinion, especially if you are personally invested in it. However, "Why Critical Thinking?", a report from York University, asserts that critical thinking can help you effectively use emotional appeal, letting your feelings influence, but not control your reasoning.

Ultimately, Critical Thinking Skills help you to better understand the experiences and views of others, enhancing your ability to work with different people.

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References:

The advanced academic resource teacher and classroom teachers teach nine higher order thinking strategies across all subject areas and grade levels. The strategies are embedded in lessons that incorporate 21st Century thinking skills and extend and enrich the Program of Studies (POS) for all learners. Student responses to the lessons are also used to collect evidence of advanced academic potential in order to ensure equity and increase access to advanced academic programs.

In kindergarten through grade six, the critical and creative thinking lessons are designed to elicit a higher level thinking response. These lessons can also be used to identify and nurture gifted potential among young learners. The problem-solving skills, thinking processes, and student products that result from these lessons provide observable evidence of a student's ability to think and reason on advanced levels.

Each lesson is structured around a five-stage model which provides students opportunities to connect content to prior knowledge, engage in new ideas, use thinking skills to consider possibilities, reflect on new learning, and connect the lesson to future learning.

For example, one second grade lesson teaches the students the art of persuasion using a picture book titled, I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff. In the book, a child and his mother write letters about their points of view regarding adopting a pet.

Critical and creative thinking lessons are designed to be integrated in each K-6 classroom throughout the year. The advanced academics resource teacher collaborates with the classroom teacher to model and coordinate several response lesson experiences throughout the year for all students.

Each of the lessons teaches a specific thinking strategy. The lessons may be used to develop creative and critical thinking skills in all learners. Each thinking strategy can be used at any grade level and in any curriculum area. Students are taught the name of the strategy, how it can help them become better thinkers, and are then given opportunities to practice using the thinking strategies in different content areas. Icons provide a visual representation that helps students identify and remember the thinking strategy.

The nine different strategies are

Questioning

Active learners are always questioning. Students who take responsibility for asking their own questions become more productive and engaged in their learning processes. Metacognition, or thinking about thinking, involves questioning our individual learning processes. Such questioning helps us solve problems by developing, implementing, and evaluating plans of action. Guiding the development of thinking skills in all students empowers them, increases their independence, and helps them develop to their maximum potential. Children always have a wealth of questions – encourage questioning in your child and work with them to find answers.

When students are able to come up with ideas (fluency), combine ideas in new ways or come up with unusual ideas (originality), then categorize and develop their ideas (flexibility and elaboration), they are more able to make inventive or creative connections between ideas. Students should become comfortable with generating lots of ideas without pre-judgment. The process of suspending judgment is important to brainstorming and maintaining an open mind. Fluency and flexibility open up the thinking of students to consider many possibilities, and originality and elaboration stretch the uniqueness of their thinking. This is a great strategy to use with your children to generate ideas for a family trip, a way to spend the weekend, the best pet for the family, creative solutions to problems that arise, and other situations that lend themselves to multiple ideas for consideration.

This strategy opens up student thinking by using sensory information to stimulate imagination with both spoken and written words. The process of visualization can also help students plan out an experience before execution. Students can “see” roadblocks and problems before encountering them. This strategy helps with planning, goal-setting, and organization. Research studies have shown that visualization greatly increases the level and depth of comprehension of both spoken and written words. Visualization can be a powerful strategy for helping your child set goals, picture the steps that need to be taken, consider alternatives, and visualize a plan to achieve their goals.

Mind mapping is a method of visual note taking that helps students organize information in unique and personal ways. It is appropriate for all students because it helps them retain, remember, and recall information. It also helps students to see the whole picture at once and make connections among related ideas without interruption. As students begin to work with more information in the content areas, this is a key skill which is especially important for visual learners and students who enjoy making connections among ideas. Mindmapping is a lot of fun – you and your child can write a word or draw a circle in the middle of a page. Next, draw lines and new circles to ideas and words or pictures that connect to the original word. For example, maybe your child is interested in space. Together you could create a mind map of all that you know about space and then add things that you want to investigate.

This thinking strategy allows students to explore an idea from multiple perspectives. This helps to broaden students’ thinking and demonstrates that an idea should be examined from many points of view before an opinion is formed. The discipline of examining an issue from many perspectives will provide students with a good model for open-ended receptive thinking and empathizing with the opinions of others. Everyone has a viewpoint! It is important for children to become comfortable sharing their own viewpoint and listening to and learning from others. Parents can help their children recognize different viewpoints through books and stories or conversations that encourage a discussion of questions that have no definite answers, e.g., what makes a good friend? Another example would be a discussion of a movie that you attend together that might lead to different viewpoints on the theme or message of the movie.

Analogies allow students to make connections at a more sophisticated level. This structure for thinking helps students relate material to previously learned concepts as well as generate new comparisons. A facility for working with analogies gives students a structure for generating creative ideas, seeing complex relationships, and making unusual comparisons. Analogies are fun – how is thinking like a volcano? How is a dandelion like a good book? They stimulate the imagination and lead students to deeper understandings by connecting things that do not always appear connected.

Encapsulation is the process of stating ideas in a concise, precise form. It is not a summary and does not involve simply stating the main idea or restating information or opinions. Encapsulation requires students to synthesize information and nuances in order to capture the essence of an idea, object, or activity, and then communicate their thoughts clearly. Vanity license plates are an example of encapsulating an idea with letters and symbols – try creating your own with your child!

This strategy provides a framework in which students can assess and evaluate a variety of decisions and possible outcomes. Understanding cause and effect relationships helps students recognize the importance of examining the outcomes of multiple decision options before embarking on a course of action. The concept of examining outcomes is relevant for all students as they learn to consider both short-term and long-range consequences in the decision making process. For example, your child may want to make a purchase. This would be a great time to consider the short term consequences (the purchase may use up all of their savings, they may have to forego other purchases for awhile, etc.) and long-term consequences (it could be less expensive if they wait, a newer, improved model may come on the market, it may be impulse buying and later they may regret spending the money.) These are important considerations for children to think about that will carry on into adult life. This strategy also works well for decisions about what sport to play, whether or not they do their homework, and many others as they realize that all decisions have outcomes that must be considered.

The PMI strategy encourages students to think about many possibilities, and to explore the positive and negative aspects of ideas or activities. PMI encourages students to develop the habit of looking beyond the polarity of “yes or no,” “wrong or right,” “my answer or your answer.” The goal of PMI is to develop independent thinkers who consider a range of ideas and/or possibilities and see beyond the obvious. The “interesting” category can also include questions. This strategy works well when discussing books, events, family trips, musical instruments or any other ideas that can be considered through the lens of pluses, minuses, and interesting aspects. For example, your child is trying to decide which musical instrument to play. Together you make a chart of the plus, minus, and interesting aspects of each instrument that they are considering. Often the interesting column leads to insights that will help them make a decision.

Critical and Creative Thinking lessons represent a broad range of thinking strategies that extend and enrich the Virginia Standards of Learning and the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Program of Studies objectives. Each lesson can be expanded to encompass more complex thinking skills for those students ready for more advanced levels. Classroom teachers can introduce these “Thinking Lessons” in any order as stand-alone activities, or they can integrate the strategies with content-area material.

All students can be taught to sharpen their critical and creative thinking skills and to become more independent and effective learners. Using Thinking Lessons is the first level of gifted service and is one important way that classroom teachers can recognize and develop advanced thinking in all learners.

For more information about the model lessons, contact the Advanced Academic resource teacher at your local elementary school.