Translate This Page
Humor:
Teacher: You missed school
yesterday, didn’t you?
Pupil: Not very much!
A summary for my
Researching Journal
Article about:
Integrating Critical
Thinking Into the
Classroom
One of the most significant
factors that impacts
students’ engagement and achievement in
learning in your classroom is their self-esteem.
In this context, self-esteem can be viewed to
be the difference between how they perceive
themselves as a
learner (perceived self) and
what they consider to be the ideal learner
(ideal
self). This ideal self may reflect the child that is
associated or seen to be the smartest in the
class. Your aim must be to raise students’ self-
esteem. To do this, you have to demonstrate
that effort,
not ability, leads to success. Your
language and interactions in the
classroom,
therefore, have to be aspirational—that if
children persist
with something, they will
achieve.
Use of evaluative praise
Ensure that when you are
praising students,
you are making explicit links to a child’s critical
thinking and/or development. This will enable
them to build their understanding of what
factors are supporting them in their learning.
For
example, often when we give feedback to
students, we may simply say,
“Well done” or
“Good answer.” However, are the students
actually aware
of what they did well or what
was good about their answer?
Make sure you
make explicit what the student
has done well and where that links to
prior
learning. How do you value students’ critical
thinking—do you
praise their thinking and
demonstrate how it helps them improve their
learning?
Learning conversations to
encourage deeper thinking
We
often feel as teachers that we have to
provide feedback to every
students’ response,
but this can limit children’s thinking.
Encourage students in your class to engage
in learning conversations with each other.
Give as many opportunities as possible to
students to build on
the responses of others.
Facilitate chains of dialogue by inviting students
to give feedback to each other.
The teacher’s role is, therefore, to facilitate this
dialogue and select each individual
student to
give feedback to others. It may also mean that
you do not
always need to respond at all to a
student’s answer.