Rebecca Henderson - Theories of Critical Thinking

I have been a classroom teacher for over 20 years therefore, I have seen my share of program changes, educational jargon turnovers, and curriculums benched that barely had gotten started. While reading these articles, I could not help but think the same. Some of the programs are the same tried and true, Blooms, Learning Taxonomies, and Multiple Intelligences, but we add Deep Learning for a new spin. 

Of course, over the last 20 years, we have added technology to education and to our instruction. When reading the "Connecting Depth and Balance in Class" article (Kuhn, 2008), I was blown away by the accuracy of the opening statement, "Unfortunately, the potential of these methods is hardly understood before a new technological breakthrough makes its way into the classroom," (Kuhn, 2008). So many times in education, especially with new technology, we, the teachers, never have the opportunity to explore the possibilities with our students. One of the greatest pieces of advice I received from a fellow educator when dealing with technology was not to master all the new gadgets and programs but to focus on 2-3 that I felt were most beneficial to my students. This leads me to my second article "Bloom et al.'s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain" (Huitt, 2011). 

This is where I believe technology is a complete game-changer for the student and teacher. Previously, I had to depend on my inept ability to convert written answers into the ability to forecast student understanding of the material. Using today's technology, I can have my students synthesize or create an assignment then evaluate and critique another group's work. Whether it was using Flipgrid or a screencasting tool, the student "thinks" aloud recording their thoughts having any misconceptions the students are having corrected. This fixes so many problems before we get started. It also allows students to understand that they are not the only ones with these misconceptions. It never fails that more than one will have the same, "oops" kind of thinking. 

That is what I found so interesting about the Deep Learning Theory when reading about its pedagogies. "Helping students learn about themselves as learners" (Fullan & Langworthy, 2014) is one of the focus points in the deep learning theory. As educators, I believe we forget knowing HOW to learn does not come naturally. Something has to happen for education/knowledge to occur. Even with an infant learning sounds, MA-MA and DA-DA are repeated over and over and over. Bouncy chairs are used and holding them in your lap jumping. All of this prepares them for the next step. When students get to school, we think they know how to learn. Do they understand what learning means? Is it memorize it until the test on Friday?  Do you know how to change a tire? I know what it is, and I could talk you through some of the steps. But I don't know if I could put the jack in the correct spot under my car without major damage. Know and knowledge is two different things. Maybe my cellphone won't be dead and I can YouTube an instructional video! 

References

Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.pdf  

Hobbs, R. (2011). Empowering learners with digital and media literacy. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 12-17. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Huitt, W. (2011). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.pdf

Kuhn, M. S. (2008). Connecting depth and balance in class. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(1), 18-21. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.