Teachers, and those of us who soon will be, are fond of talking about critical thinking. We tell our students that we want them to do more of it, or do it better, or at least nod as if they know what we’re talking about. Sometimes I wonder how it is possible to get the point across without having the students write and think.
I found a blog post in my RSS feed that led me to a very interesting article by Randy Bomer, titled Writing to Think Critically: The Seeds of Social Action. Much of what is in the article is certainly reminiscent of Linda Christensen’s ideas, and there are many new ideas as well. What Bomer argues is that we can use these social issues as more than simple writing prompts; they can be used as a lever to teach how to examine the ideas behind them in order to better understand them. Writing is the key tool to be used in this endeavor.
“It’s one thing to be aware of the possibility of
notebook writing that focuses on social issues
and questions, but the problem remains of how
to teach students to do this sort of thinking and
writing. In order to think through the craft of
teaching something so intangible as a critical
lens, it will help us to consider three modes of
teaching: demonstration, assisted performance,
and reflective conversation (Bomer, 1998).”
Through modeling, assisting, and discussion of the problems involved in this sort of thinking, we can help our students become better thinkers, and therefore better writers.
Another way of thinking about writing to think is as “exploratory writing,” as this blog looks at. I think in some ways the difference is largely semantic, but there are some interesting differences. As the blogger sets it up, exploratory writing is different from exploratory thinking, but I think that they are the opposite sides of the same coin, since writing facilitates thinking. What I think the blogger means to say is that by writing about things you don’t fully understand you are forced to examine the ideas as well as the evidence presented in support of those ideas. One thing I find intriguing is this quote from essayinfo.com:
“The primary goal is to discover ideas, rather than to present them. This type of writing; writing to think, can help students learn course concepts and help instructors assess their learning.”
This website goes further to explain the characteristics of this type of writing:
“The concept of an exploratory essay is that you start without an end in mind. You don’t necessarily know how you feel about a subject or what you want to say about the subject, you allow the research and your own direction to determine the outcome. This is writing to learn rather than writing to prove what you know.”
I think the last sentence gets it right and wrong at the same time; It is certainly writing to learn, but at the end of that process should be a product that is in fact proof of some elevated thinking, and the resulting conclusions must reflect the knowledge that has been gained. The nature of this kind of writing is that it forces the writer to confront inconsistencies and fallacies in both fact and logic. The end product of such a process would logically have to inform us of what the writer has learned about the subject through this process. Anything less than that is an incomplete exercise.
Writing to Think Critically http://sdoherty.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/writing-to-think-critically/ Exploratory Writing vs. Exploratory Thinking http://weigeljr.blogspot.com/2008/09/exploratory-writing-vs-exploratory.html Bomer, Randy. “Writing to Think Critically: The Seeds of Social Action.” Voices from theMiddle 6.4 (May 1999): 2–8.
I like that line “Anything less than that is an imcomplete exercise.” Not as stand alone line, but as a line that has to do with an objective. I would like to say that in a classroom one day, “Anything less than what I just assigned is a failing grade.” The statement alone makes the students feel that they really have to do some thinking in order to pass. “Anything less, what could be anything less? Well, I better do more? How can I do more? What could be more?” It’s almost like they are thinking critically about the critical thinking assignment. AH! Thinking critically is so important, it is like lifting weights for the brain. It may hurt, you may be sore the next day, but ultimately the results will follow. It never fails, the more the students put in, the more they’ll get out, and not just grade wise, but in everything in life. It seems simple, but it is so hard sometimes.
I think that this is a good way to teach students not so much about the conventions of good writing, but how to write. By doing assignments like those mentioned above, student can then make progress not in what they know, but how they have come to know it in the process of writing. I think that critical thinking gives way to more developed writing and clearer thinking subsequently. These particular activities may help to trigger other exercises to help students actually think about an assignment and not just go through the motions of jotting things down without planning them out, or without thinking them through at all. I am curious about what specifics teachers can do to help with a “creative block” in critical thinking and writing. I think that students are often bogged down with “busy work” assignments and have not gotten real writing assignments for some time. Would you allow for more time to complete an assignment like those expressed above, or would you have in class workshop time to devote to it? Like I said before, I think this is an amazing topic and an even greater argument on what should be taught to students.