Which of the Seven Principles Do I Believe Students Would Find the Most Difficult To Embody?

 

Which of the Seven Principles Do I Believe Students Would Find the Most Difficult To Embody?

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

If students are encouraged to engage in critical thought about the material, learning takes place effectively in the classroom. They are learning how to extrapolate fresh knowledge from it. The ability to think critically helps students develop their thought processes. Walker (2003) defined critical thinking as the process in which students mix knowledge, attitudes, and abilities to identify problems and make deliberate use of self-regulatory judgment. Students will be examining, interpreting, and analyzing the material throughout the process. In doing so, assumptions and conclusions are also examined for sound reasoning. Basically, students will be enhancing their thinking depending on what they have learned by the end of the course (University of Louisville, 2022).

Walker (2003) in Table 2 of his journal “Active Learning Strategies to Promote Critical Thinking “ suggested seven dispositions for the successful development of critical thinking among students, such as inquisitiveness, open-mindedness, systematicity, analyticity, truth-seeking, self-confidence, and maturity. Although they are proven successful dispositions to promote positive critical thinking, I suspect that some of them might be problematic for many students to exhibit well while processing their critical thinking.

The hardest traits for pupils to demonstrate in the classroom are self-assurance and an open mind. Many times, students' ability to pursue the critical thinking process without running across hurdles is related to their fear of being incorrect or making mistakes as well as their fear of being rejected because of opposing viewpoints (Tracy, 2016). The homeostatic impulse in the students would prevent them from entering their knowledge even though they are capable as a result of these anxieties, which would cause them to lose confidence during the classroom activity process in the classroom (Tracy, 2016). For instance, during critical thinking exercises in my literature class, students are frequently required to contextualize the material using literary history and frame the new information from the perspective of contemporary Bhutanese society. Although they can do so, I frequently observe my students unable to express themselves during class discussions. They frequently admit that they are unsure of their ideas and might be mistaken after discussing them with me. As a result, just one or two members of a group contribute effectively, and the remaining members are unwilling to contribute throughout the critical thinking process. In such cases, students are seen as sensitive to their views due to the lack of trust in what they are reasoning, and they don’t want to be a reason for a problem that may affect the quality of work during the presentation of the task they are assigned with.

On the other side, students' inquisitiveness would also pose the biggest challenge for teachers to deal with in the classroom. It's because professors' prepared notes and explanations are what students are used to. Because of this worry, teachers frequently struggle to pique their students' interest in learning. The kind of support students receive in the classroom frequently demotivates them there. It may be because of a variety of things that are impeding their ability to learn, such as mental, physical, emotional, and personal problems that prevent people from being motivated to study (Carnegie Mellon University, 2022). If these problems are not adequately addressed by teachers in the classroom, it is difficult for pupils to develop a disposition that is less likely to appear. To motivate students and pique their interest in learning, teachers must address several motivational strategies to the degree of their own capacity. For instance, I had no idea that three of the students in my class the previous year were struggling with personal matters at home. They remained mute and lost, so I noticed that their involvement in the discussion was really low. I found out from them individually that they were all juggling problems that made it hard for them to focus on their schoolwork. In order to speed up their academic progress, I counseled them for approximately a week and even spoke with their parents. To encourage all of the pupils in the classroom, I gradually implemented a reward system, which ultimately was successful.

Despite the difficulties teachers experience, encouraging students to use critical thinking would be simple if sufficient direction, supervision, care, assessment, and encouragement were prioritized in the classroom. With the right activities and evaluation strategies, teachers may help students develop their critical thinking skills while keeping them focused on the material they are studying (Walker, 2003).

References

Carnegie Mellon University. (2022). Students lack interest or motivation. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/solveproblem/strat-lackmotivation/index.html

Tracy, B. (2016).  6 Obstacles to Creative Thinking and How to Overcome Them. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/282960

University of Louisville. (2022). What is Critical Thinking? https://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/about/criticalthinking/what

Walker, S. E. (2003). Active learning strategies to promote critical thinking. Journal of athletic training. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b68a/a3bde182f829774c4926f8ea724cf56fd633.pdf