Critical Thinking in the Schools

[EricStratton]

There are a lot of good teachers who still believe in the value of critical thinking, but, if you sit in on any faculty meeting in the country right now, you would understand...IT IS ALL ABOUT THE TEST, NOW!!

Sad, but true...The curriculum is now geared solely towards state test preparation and teachers live in fear of their kids not passing. If too many slack ass kids decide to draw Christmas trees on the state exam, the teacher could very well be fired. Politicians call it "holding teachers accountable". Hell, textbook companies are now developing textbooks centered around state tests.

You better believe that there are still workshops on differentiated instruction, writing across the curriculum, and developing critical thinking skills, but teachers know the deal. If their kids don't pass the test at an acceptable rate, they will be burned at the stake.

Kids are definitely suffering. They are robots being programmed by a cookie-cutter curriculum.

[LipsofanAngel]

yeah, well... something somewhat related... when I was watching the State of the Union... I wanted to scream when Bush mentioned that more schooling should focus more and more on math and sciences in order to generate more productive citizens to help the economy. I guess Bush has never heard about different intelligence types. What about the arts, writing, creative thinking?!?!? Not everyone can be or WANTS to be a mathmetician, doctor, or scientist... and thank God for it!

[EricStratton]

And, many teachers today do not know what to do with the child who 'excels in critical thinking' and who 'questions and wants to discuss everything' because that doesn't fit into the lesson plan. All tests are standardized and pre-printed. ALL tests are multiple-choice, including math.

If you 'learn' diffferently and if you perform better on 'different types of tests,' you're just out of luck. All of this emphasis on tests performance creates HUGE BOREDOM for those who think differently (critical thinkers) -

Teachers are sending the following message to very smart and bright students who don't do well with facts but do beautifully with concepts and thinking - "I'm Not Interested in What You Think, Just Learn the Facts Stupid."

Be careful about bashing teachers, with your rash generalizations. First, teachers did not create the enviroment fear in which they now work. Secondly, sometimes school IS boring and your little ADHD sweetie may have to accept that. I am for critical thinking as much as anybody you could ever meet, but critical thinking must be supported by SOME fact based knowledge.

Parents and politicians wanted to hold teachers accountable for their performance in the classroom and this is the best system they could develop, or so they say. As a friend of mine often says, "Don't hate da player, hate da game!".

[EricStratton]

In no way did I intend for my post to "bash" teachers. If you've read any of my posts, you'd know that I'm not a "basher." I also don't jump to "rash generalizations." These are my opinions based on personal experience - which is what all of our opinions should be based on.

There are teachers in my family who work extremely hard to teach and reach each student in their classrooms - including 'sweeties' with ADHD, learning disabilities, learning and language difficulties as well as those who are gifted.

My direct experience with public and private school systems over the past seven years has been a struggle with some teachers, administrators and school sytems that DO NOT understand nor wish to learn about those 'sweeties' who have difficulty learning. Some of those individuals are more focused on the 'facts' they are teaching and 'standardized tests scores' become the obsession.

And yes, I take your comments personally because I am the mother of a 'sweetie with ADHD' as well as other learning difficulties. My 'sweetie' also has a high IQ, is considered 'brilliant' by one of his current teachers, has high verbal communicative skills, is above-average in his knowledge of hundreds of subjects and reads and comprehends at an 11th grade level -the highest in his 6th grade. He, however, is not a 'fact' driven, 'test' driven student and he struggles terribly just to get a passing grade in most of his studies.

My original post is based on 7 years of teachers who have been caring, educated, well-trained and 'good' at teaching their subject areas. The majority of them teach all students using only one method - the method that works for the majority of the students and the method that is the simplest for them. If you happen to learn differently, my experience shows that you're not going to get a great deal of help nor much support. And God forbid if that one method needs to be modified.

Please understand that I am NOT bashing teachers. It is a highly note-worthy profession - a professional held by family members. I am pointing out fmy own frustrating difficulties with the deficiencies in our system and in many of our teachers that prevent some children from succeeding - children who are bright, highly intelligent and critical thinkers, children who love learning but don't fit the system or teacher's mold for learning.

All kids are different and "exceptional" in their own way. No two children think and/or learn in the same fashion. How do you suppose a teacher is to design his/her lesson plans to meet the individual needs of 20-30 kids? A teacher can "differentiate" his or her instruction to attempt this feat, but it is really difficult to accomplish this on a daily basis. The "ivory towered" administrators and workshop gurus of the world would suggest that this is possible...but, in reality, I believe such an aim is a pipe dream.

I'm as big an opponent (literally and figuratively) of standardized testing as anyone, but my point earlier was to point out that, SOMETIMES, it is necessary to feed facts to kids to establish a foundation for critical thinking. For example, if one does not know the definition of irony, how does one identify irony in a text? That has nothing to do with teaching to the test.

You know, there used to be classes for those who learned differently, but parents didn't like their children being excluded from the mainstream classroom. What gives? So, I agree. There are many children who learn differently and struggle in the traditional classroom. Should we create "special education" classes for those children? Maybe, so. Many....actually, MOST subject-area teachers are not equipped to teach children with special needs. Most teachers may have had a class or two in college about the exceptional children, but that is probably the extent of the training.

[EricStratton]

ES, I agree with most of what you've said. My responsibility as a parent is to ensure that my child is educated in the best possible manner and in the least restrictive environment as needed.

It is my experience that many teachers do not support, and at times even resist, modifications and/or accommodations for certain students. I can assure you though, if my child were not in a regular classroom I would homeschool or find another method of teaching him. He does not belong in any other classroom setting simply because he learns differently.

School systems have developed 'gifted' classes to cater to those who have certain IQs. You would think that classes could be created to cater to those with different learning styles so that all children were being reached and no child was falling through the cracks. In fact, wouldn't it be great if a child's learning style was determined and then that child was teamed with a teacher whose teaching style matched the child's learning style!

A parent can only dream! In the meantime, I've got to get my child through six more years of school!!!

That would be great, but none of us are willing to pay the taxes to hire that many teachers! Unfortunately, kids are the pawns of politicians when it comes to education.

I disagree with your assessment of teachers being resistant to modifications in their teaching styles. I think it is just very difficult, especially if one doesn't have an aide in the classrom, to cater to a few children with special needs and, at the same time, keep the rest of the class on task and doing something of purpose. It can be done at time, but, over the long haul, I think the rest of the class suffers. It is a logistical and organizational anomoly and a classroom management nightmare!

On that note, there are some teachers who do a great job with this. I don't know how they do it, but it seems to come naturally to them. I had some elementary teachers who were outstanding, but those teachers also had an aid in the classroom.

I don't think there is a simple solution, unless school districts are willing to build a lot more classroom and hire a lot more teachers to handle more individualized instruction. Again, that would cost a lot of money.

[EricStratton]

Schools in New England have demonstrated that this can be done.

When asked what was the one improvement the schools could make, American Psychologist B.F. Skinner said, "allow every child to proceed at his or her individual pace."

This is done in the schools of China and Japan, which is exactly why they will soon zoom past us in the science and technology fields.

I'd love to see some documentation on the New England schools and how they are doing this. Not saying it's impossible, but it's difficult. I'm not totally against self-paced learning either, but, again, it doesn't jive well with state testing preparation.

[LipsofanAngel]

Well, not to defend the President on this, but one of the reasons we became the sole superpower of the world was because we dominated math and science/technology for the better part of three decades. Since 1991, however, China and Japan have made alarming strides to catch us and, if we are not careful will soon pass us.

Last year, 5% of all baccelarate degrees awarded to US citizens came from the math and science field. FIVE PERCENT. In China and Japan, over 40% of the baccelarate degrees came from the math and science field. We are quickly approaching a crisis shortage in this area. Last year, over 50% of the doctoral math/science degrees awarded by US universities were earned by non-US students.

ok, I understand that we NEED people that are in these fields... I think that children should be expected to learn at least the basics when in grade school in math and sciences. But what about those that are not interested in it? Are we going to force them to get advanced degrees in science/technology just so the Chinese don't pass us up? What should we do... become communist like and assign each child the day they are born with the field that is chosen as their career? Or do we just do all we can to encrouage them to learn in general, and have them pick the best suited career path?

[EricStratton]

Well, seeing that I've actually published a good deal of research in this area, I have to weigh in...QM was on target with her assessment. Teacher resistance is a real and major problem. In my years practicing psychology in Mississippi, Maryland, Georgia, and Massachusetts, I could not possibly count the number of teachers who did not resist even the most minor change in their teaching styles, their routine, even the physical make-up of their classroom. As I demonstrated in a 2003 study published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis teachers can implement even the most sophisticated methodologies and still successfully deliver instruction to the rest of the class. The problem is that most schools refuse to give teachers adequate training to promote their success. Trust me, sitting in a lecture listening to the nuts and bolts of a procedures or reading an article is NOT the way to learn how to implement it.

Absolutely. I think that is where teachers become frustrated with psychologists and administrators. Teacher know that things aren't perfect and that we need to adapt our instruction to the needs of certain students, but they are seldom shown how to do this without losing control of their class. Teachers are control freaks because another scarlet letter on a teacher's record is his or her inability to maintain an enviroment conducive to learning for ALL students.

[Augustus McRae]

And, many teachers today do not know what to do with the child who 'excels in critical thinking' and who 'questions and wants to discuss everything' because that doesn't fit into the lesson plan. All tests are standardized and pre-printed. ALL tests are multiple-choice, including math.

If you 'learn' diffferently and if you perform better on 'different types of tests,' you're just out of luck. All of this emphasis on tests performance creates HUGE BOREDOM for those who think differently (critical thinkers) -

Teachers are sending the following message to very smart and bright students who don't do well with facts but do beautifully with concepts and thinking - "I'm Not Interested in What You Think, Just Learn the Facts Stupid."


Bettin' my ass, even before I read on down, that you ain't no teacher...

[EricStratton]

Bettin' my ass, even before I read on down, that you ain't no teacher...

Can't believe you stayed out of this one for this long!

[Astra]

Heh, I know firsthand what it's like to have teachers not know what to do with you.

I started first grade in a new state. I already knew how to read and write... which the first grade class there was just starting on. I'd finish my work a few minutes after it was assigned and start reading ahead in my books and the teacher would go ballistic for "getting ahead of the rest of the class."

At one point she took away my play time and made me try to teach another kid (one who now I would say probably had some kind of learning disability along with a lot of trouble at home) how to read a book. The book was similar to a song we had learned, but not identical. He didn't understand why the animals in the book weren't the same as the song, and started screaming at me when I tried to explain. The teacher blamed me for his outburst and took away ALL of my play time.

The woman, despite being a veteran teacher, just didn't know what to do with me. I tried to make her happy and nothing worked. She ended up trying to dump me into a special ed program, which to her surprise I ended up loving. It was the only thing that kept me sane during elementary school.

That program was only one day a week, and as I continued through school the gap between the level I worked on and what was going on in the classroom kept getting wider. I also kept running into more teachers who didn't know what to do with me. Because of a socialization policy, the school refused to skip me up a grade (even though all my friends were in higher grades anyway). I was miserable, bored, and one teacher was borderline abusive to me. My parents had the resources to pull me out and homeschool me. A lot of families don't have that ability and there aren't always outside options. If their school doesn't want to cooperate, there isn't a lot to fall back on.

Whether you're ahead or behind, it really sucks to be anywhere outside the mean in the public schools I've been in. I can't really blame anyone - it is impossible for one teacher to give individual instruction to 30+ students. The constant testing hasn't helped things any, though. It was just starting when I graduated, and already you could pick up on the increased stress level in even the LITTLE kids who were being treated like passing the tests was a matter of life and death.

Public schools just seem to be more focused on the grades right now than whether the kids are really getting an education. It's really sad to talk to kids in school now who are just memorizing lists for a test - none of it is going to stick very long, but at least it will raise those test scores. Sigh.