One can hardly read a paper or click a link without seeing something about the Common Core Standards (CCS) and the standardized tests aligned with them. Many are usually quite negative. Some positive comments sneak in there, too, but those favoring the standards don’t seem to counteract the juggernaut of bad press: Schools want toContinue reading “Common Core Standards – Bad Policy or Scapegoat?”
Tag Archives: critical thinking
Combatting assumptions
We all make assumptions. Life wouldn’t go very smoothly if we didn’t. But we get in trouble when our assumptions lead us to incorrect conclusions, i.e., females cannot do hard, physical labor, or that guy is a dullard just because his expression is lifeless. But when my husband is watching a football game, I knowContinue reading “Combatting assumptions”
Getting in the Mood to Critically Think: The Seven Dispositions of a Critical Thinker
I just finished reading a very important article about critical thinking. It’s titled “Teaching thinking dispositions: from transmission to enculturation” by Shari Tishman, Eileen Jay and D.N. Perkins, a 1993 article still relevant today (Theory into Practice, 32(3), pp.147-53). I found an excerpt on Yahoo! Finance (Thinking Dispositions, published Oct. 10, 2014).
Questioning Oneself
One of the best graduate school midterms I ever took was given by my mentor and dissertation advisor, Dr. Vera John-Steiner. She is one of four Vygotskian scholars who edited Mind in Society* (1978) and has written extensively about his sociocultural approach to education.
Critical Thinking in the Literature Classroom
Dear readers: Hiner and Bird-Critical Thinking in the Literature Classroom is a PowerPoint that Dr. Amanda Hiner and Dr. John Bird presented at the 34th International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform (July 2014). Dr. Hiner has published extensively about this topic and has distilled many of her idea in this presentation, which containsContinue reading “Critical Thinking in the Literature Classroom”
What Do You Know?: Assessing Critical Thinking
Here’s what I know for sure about assessing critical thinking: There are several ways to go about it.
Reflecting on Reflections
If you think about it—and you should—you will agree that reflections are a mighty and indispensible component of critical thinking.
Questions, continued, a.k.a. Making Pink
We think that getting an education is all about answering questions when it’s really all about asking them.
Critical Thinking and MOOCs – A Marriage Made in Hell
To paraphrase a well-worn phrase from the Clinton administration about the economy, It’s the students, stupid!
Defining critical thinking
Lots of people toss around the term critical thinking, assuming a shared definition. But even the experts can’t agree on one, and believe me, they can get pretty convoluted. Here are my two (short) favorites:
Critical Thinking Now! 