How many times have you actually stopped to think about the answer to this question? I’m guessing it’s not really something you have given much thought to before now. This was certainly the case for me when Ron Ritchhart posed this question to a room full of educational leaders and teachers at a professional learning seminar back in 2017. I hadn’t stopped to think about what I do when I think and therefore probably wasn’t clear in providing clarity to my students about what it might look like, sound like and feel like prior to this moment. This moment changed my teaching forever. It became the catalyst for a shift in my pedagogical practice. If we, as educators, are not clear about our own thought processes and have a good understanding of the types of thinking we do, then how will we be able to effectively make our thinking visible to others and support our students to do the same?
Critical and creative thinking are often labelled as ‘soft’ skills and considered by many as buzz words in the Australian education system; however, these seemingly ‘soft’ skills provide the foundation from which students learn to build an understanding of different concepts across and between subject areas, as well as support them as they learn to make sense of the world around them. In a rapidly evolving world that values the thinking capabilities of people, it is important that educators don’t just leave the development of student thinking to chance, but ensure that it is strategically planned, designed, modelled, scaffolded and assessed in order to move learning forward and achieve the best educational outcomes for all students. So what is critical and creative thinking?
Creative thinking, in its simplest form, is the ability to make something new. The mental process of thinking creatively requires students to draw on their imagination, using their skills to combine, change, reshape, refine or improve ideas and solutions (Cash, 2011). Creative thinking is, at its core, a generative process that focuses on the number of ideas as well as the range of ideas generated. It relies on one’s ability to manipulate and play around with ideas, looking from a range of perspectives in order to find the best and most innovative solution for a problem. In the classroom, there are a number of verbs that teachers use that draw on creative thinking skills, including imagining, questioning, brainstorming and creating.
Critical thinking is about developing autonomous thinkers. For educators, this means we want students to be independent and self-directed learners who can identify, evaluate and reason with evidence in a broader context beyond themselves. Critical thinking is at the core of most intellectual activity and involves students learning to recognise or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw reasoned conclusions and use information to solve problems. In the classroom, there are a number of verbs that teachers use that draw on critical thinking skills, including interpreting, analysing, explaining, evaluating and reasoning. Every educator knows there are a variety of pedagogical practices and strategies that they employ in classrooms on a regular basis. What is crucial for educators to know and understand is how the practices they currently utilise can be leveraged to explicitly and systematically support the development of critical and creative thinking in the classroom. It may sound counterproductive, but being explicit in our modelling and instruction, alongside scaffolding the thought process, is key to building a culture of critical and creative thinkers and learners in the classroom. Pedagogical practices such as explicit instruction, the gradual release of responsibility and the use of thinking routines are all key features of a classroom that makes the thinking capabilities of students visible, valued and actively promoted. Developing the critical and creative thinking skills of students in our classrooms is a necessary culture that all teachers should foster. Supporting students to be critical and creative thinkers requires us as educators to be willing to build our capacity, to make small consistent shifts towards embedding practices and fostering a ‘thinking’ environment that welcomes questions, that celebrates multiple perspectives and is comfortable working in a space that requires depth of understanding. Learn more about fostering a culture of critical and creative thinking in the classroom in my new book.
1 Comment
SUHANI KISHNANI
20/4/2024 10:12:49 pm
This blog beautifully captures the transformative power of prioritizing critical and creative thinking in education. It highlights the importance of educators understanding their own thinking processes to effectively guide students in developing these essential skills. By fostering a culture of inquiry and exploration, teachers can empower students to become autonomous learners equipped to navigate the complexities of our rapidly evolving world.
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AuthorHi, I am Alice. I am a primary teacher and leader in New South Wales, Australia. I have been teaching for the past 14 years in both the Public and Catholic school systems. I am passionate about supporting and mentoring colleagues to think deeply about their efforts to cultivate thinking and learning opportunities for students. Read more Archives
August 2023
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