Critical Thinking: An Essential Competency for Teachers and Students
In our nation’s K-12 schools, support for critical thinking skills remains high, along with skepticism that students are not receiving the help they need to acquire these skills. Some teachers harbor misconceptions about how to teach critical thinking, and they need more support when it comes to instruction in this area.
As described in a recent report by Reboot, survey data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveals “a gulf between the desire to teach students how to think critically and the amount of time teachers spend doing so...the teaching of critical thinking skills in America’s classroom is uneven at best and in some cases is happening only rarely.”
Teachers need a deep understanding and practical knowledge of learning science, their area of expertise, empathy and observation skills – and what might be called ethical critical thinking.
Our teachers must constantly be scanning the classroom and identifying where individuals are in their learning journey, and sometimes in their personal lives. This is all critical thinking, in one form or another. It is vital, then, to train the next generation of teachers in critical thinking as a core competency.
Here at Western Governors University’s School of Education, we collectively believe that what happens here has a positive effect on the future life and career of our students, and that being ethical critical thinkers better prepares them for life. We have a dynamic team of instructors teaching core courses in Critical Thinking, Composition, and Communication. These skills may have once been thought of as optional, or “soft skills,” but employers have made clear that critical thinking and communication are among the most important skills they look for.
Ethics play a key role in teaching critical thinking. If someone is an adept critical thinker but lacks ethics, he can pose a danger. One need not think much further than the example of any evil mastermind from history for this point to be well taken. You must operate from an ethical base in making evidence-based decisions. It is the pinnacle in critical thinking.
The K-12 education years are when students should be building a strong foundation of critical thinking competencies. Simply put, critical thinking in teachers is a purposeful, logical process that results in powerful student outcomes. As schools continue to navigate through challenges and change, let us make a commitment to ensure that critical thinking is an intrinsic part of teacher preparation and of our students’ learning experiences.
