Catherine H. Decker
During my first semester as a teacher, I eagerly awaited my students' initial papers, in
this case a comparison of William Blake's "The Tyger" and Adrienne Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's
Tigers." I was stunningly disappointed with my inaugural batch of student papers. I realized I
had to do something right away to teach my students what the difference was between a fact,
an
opinion, and a thesis that could be supported by logical reasons. Thus began my commitment
to
teaching critical thinking in the classroom--now always one of my pedagogical goals for each
class. I believe that a key part of what I do in the classroom is teach students how to think so
that they can maximize their learning of any subject and improve their writing skills. There
are
several common ways I try to develop critical thinking in students.
First of all, I believe that students need to be conscious of their thinking and the
learning
process. I use clear course objectives and repeated references to these objectives to insure my
students know what is the pedagogical motivation behind an assignment or exercise. Telling
students the long-term goal of an exercise and how it will impact on their life inspires a better
performance in the classroom. For example, I explain we are not just learning how to do a
summary because that is one kind of paper you must write in college, but we are learning how
to
identify the main, general idea an author is trying to convey to improve our ability to
understand
all types of written communication--especially those types of writing that may try to trick or
manipulate the reader, such as advertisements or biased political material. Another way I keep
students conscious of their thinking process is to point out when I have asked an ambiguous
question that draws diverse responses or when a student has answered a question different
from
the one I have asked.
In addition to stressing awareness of how students are thinking and learning, I give
the
students very clear processes to follow. I tell students how to read critically, how to study for
different kinds of tests, how to do essay exams, how to develop a paper topic, and how to
outline
a text. Better yet, when time permits, we do the process together. We take out paper and
brainstorm, analyze the brainstorm, begin an outline, etc. Once, in a class on the analysis of
prose fiction, my students were having trouble devising original and challenging paper topics.
We spent a class on basic paper planning--reviewing common methods of developing
expository
writing and applying them all to one sample text. The students therefore not only learned
more
about the text, but learned how to apply what they had already learned in previous
composition
classes to a different course--a transfer of knowledge that, sadly, does not often happen.
A third key to my pedagogical practice is emphasizing the basics. Shockingly,
students
are often content to guess at a word's meaning, even a key word in a test question. I
frequently
give vocabulary quizzes and demand that students "translate" a text's meaning into everyday
speech. Essential terms are stressed again and again, and I verbally quiz the students on them
to
see that they understand the concept and can relate it in meaningful ways to other concepts.
This
process applies to grammatical concepts like subject or independent clause, as well as literary
terms like point of view or metaphor. In my prose fiction class, for instance, the students were
required to identify the point of view of every text we read on the day we began our analysis.
At
the end of the course, one student told me, "I had always heard those terms in English classes,
but I never could understand them before or use them myself in writing a paper. Thank-you for
taking time to spoon-feed us on them." While I don't consider myself a "spoon-feeder," I was
pleased at least one of my students appreciated my stress on the basics.
Finally, an essential part of critical thinking which I stress is the need to use
critical
feedback to improve one's thinking, studying, and writing. I make very clear the grading
process which I use and have the students practice evaluating their own and others' writing. I
write comments that make clear what are the strengths and weakness of a student's
performance
on an assignment. Usually I suggest exercises to help improve recurrent problems. In addition,
I
make clear that I am judging performance, not their overall competence, and I am trying to get
them to perform to the best of their ability. I encourage the rewriting of any paper that I grade
below passing because I feel that the student must have failed to grasp an essential aspect of
the
assignment and will benefit from redoing it. I also share my own writing experiences with
students--so they can learn from my mistakes and successes as well as their own.
Teaching writing, literary analysis, and literary knowledge is not as different as
one
might expect. Most, if not all, students need to be guided on how to maximize their own
talents
and to sharpen their thinking. Active participation is essential to this, and, in all of my classes,
discussion and group work plays an important part. I see myself as actively learning as well,
but
with more experience than my pupils. I try to be a friendly coach and role-model for my
students. When my pupils come to me for help with job, school, and scholarship applications
and to help them understand other teachers' assignments, I am pleased that they feel
comfortable
enough to ask my help and that they respect my ability to assist them. For me, teaching is a
personal and rewarding vocation. When I see evidence my student has become an active,
engaged critical thinker and transferred the knowledge gained in my course to his or her daily
life, I feel I have truly contributed something meaningful to our world.