Critical thinking in education

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

07/28/2009

Category :

Social studies

Sub category :

Educational studies

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Summary :

Introduction
The Socratic method
Socratic pedagogy and inmate education
Socrates in the classroom
Intellectual curiosity
Reasons for which college instructors should encourage student internet use
Integration of critical thinking skills into teacher education courses
The case for inductive teaching
Teaching with analogies method
Conclusion
References

Abstract

The issue is how teachers can teach critical thinking skills and still learn substantive material. The issue of critical thinking will be reviewed at all levels of education to include secondary and higher education. Specific focus will go to researching the efforts that most teachers place on critical thinking skills and how the No Child Left Behind Act fits into critical thinking skills

The first article that I want to highlight is "The Socratic Method" in the Stanford University Center for Teaching Journal. The article summarizes the idea and concept of the Socratic Method. The idea of Socratic inquiry is to engage the students in critical thinking skills. It is really more guidance than teaching.

Through critical and probing questions, the teacher leads the student to the proper answer or merely into the proper thought process. Instead of a true right answer, the goal of the Socratic Method is to engage the student in the proper thought process. Often, the teacher will play devil's advocate to an idea or answer. This forces the students to back up their answers or critically think about another solution.

There should be no pre-determined goal in the Socratic Method. The teacher is making a mistake if it seems as if they are just "testing" their students to get the teacher's handbook answer. The goal is open-ended inquiry. Students at the secondary level are not often introduced to the Socratic Method so there is a bit of a learning curve and adjustment.