How do you Teach Critical Thinking?
Just as there are many reasons for teaching critical thinking there are varying methodologies to teach critical thinking skills ranging from teacher approaches, lesson planning, and school-wide initiatives.
- Classroom Approaches: The General, Infusion, and Immersion Approaches
- Bailin's Lessons Adapted for Critical Thought
- Kassem's CRTA School-wide Model
Classroom Approaches
Lessons
CRTA Model
Alongside individual efforts to teach critical thought there exist school-wide models. Kassem’s CRTA Model is one such approach where CRTA is an acronym that stands for “create the right climate, reflect about thinking skills and revise instructional objectives, teach thinking skills/dispositions explicitly, and assess critical thinking for real-life use (2000).” Kassem outlines and implements an inclusive approach to teaching critical thought that focuses on aspects within and outside individual classrooms while systematically altering how teachers and student view learning.
Create the Right Climate
Reflect and Revise
Teach
Next is perhaps the most time-intensive step—instructing students in the ways of critical thought. Kassem prefers an infusion type approach that explicitly teaches metacognition skills. Here students are taught to examine underlying assumptions and to become consciously aware of their thought processes. This is reinforced by teacher modeling and ample opportunities for practice. Along with changing student thought processes this model also advises the coaching of student dispositions. Successful thinkers often exhibit similar attitudes and approaches regarding thought and these dispositions are encouraged in emerging thinkers. The bulk of effort and time will be spent in this aspect of the CRTA Model, but it cannot be effective if used by itself. It is important to note that all aspects of the model are required. Without the support and augmentation other aspects provide it is difficult to effectively teach critical thinking skills.