Techniques to Elicit Critical Thinking
A few days ago, I came upon a useful article that offers some tested techniques for eliciting critical thinking.The author, David Perkins, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is particularly concerned with how people can learn to think. He notes that "research by our group and others shows that people are often simply oblivious to situations that invite thinking."
To help people recognize opportunities to "put their thinking caps on," Perkins offers these suggestions for helping people see what good thinking actually looks like:
Use the language of thinking — For example, in problem-solving encourage people to come up with a "hypothesis" about why the problem exists. Other words that refer to thinking: reason, evidence, possibility, imagination, perspective.
Model thoughtfulness — For example, refrain from insisting on instant answers. Acknowledge your own uncertainty. Take a moment to talk about "What if" or "What if not" or "How else could this be done?" or "What's the other side of this case?"
Use "thinking routines" — Thinking routines are simple patterns of thinking. One such routine Perkins describes uses two key questions: "What's going on here?" and "What do you see that makes you say so?" In answering these questions, a person provides a suggested interpretation (hypothesis) and then supplies supporting reasons. For example, one might explore market trends using this pair of questions.
It is very important for an organization that is serious about accomplishing worthwhile goals and remaining vital, to cultivate a culture of thinking. This is a matter of nurturing attitudes that value curiosity, inquiry and playing with ideas, and consistently using practices that embody effective thinking processes.
Labels: Critical thinking
posted by Karen Nelson @ 9:02 PM
<< Home