For those of you who read my blog, you know that I have had the great opportunity to work with an amazing mentor, Mr. Garfield Gini- Newman, who is a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).  Over the past year-and-a-half, I have gained new insights and skills on how to embed critical thinking from a “small c  level”, focusing on daily lesson planning, to a “big c level”, focusing on unit and year plans. With the onset of summer holidays,  I have had greater opportunity to reflect upon my growth and the areas that I still need to work on.   I admire and envy Garfield’s ability to look at any type of idea and:

• develop incredibly interesting and engaging questions that are connected to clear criteria
• create authentic critical thinking challenges/problems/tasks
• formulate learning journeys that constantly push students to think and rethink their understandings

I have come to understand that well-designed critical thinking learning opportunities should enable students to develop “provably correct” answers.

I have found it challenging to develop a succinct, clear, and engaging overarching critical thinking question that leads my students to uncover a unit’s big picture learning.  I have come to realize that word choice does play an important role in designing critical thinking questions.  The bolded words below identify thinking categories and the italic words represent possible choices that guide students learning within a particular category. Depending on the designer’s intended purpose, some words can enter into multiple categories

• decoding  –plausible, key, significant, dominant
  • Which of the theories used by scientists to explain the dinosaurs disappearance from the face of the Earth is most plausible?
  •  What is the dominant perspective represented by this picture and caption?
  • What would be the most important factors to consider when designing a gourmet kitchen?
• critiquing  – best, powerful, degree,  important
  • To what degree, in 2018, does United States of America represent a pluralistic society?
  • Which sport would best meet the needs of someone with asthma – diving, soccer or tennis?
• reworking  – sound, reasonable, convincing
  • Which student proposal is most sound to move our school forward in addressing the recommendations outlined by Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
• designing –
  • Which slide would give the most exhilarating ride?

I have also found it equally challenging to zero in and pinpoint 3-4 pieces of  clear criteria to guide student thinking.

Over the past year-and-a-half, I have kept a thoughtbook where I jotted down key understandings that I developed and as well questions that I needed clarification on.  The following are the initial ideas, in no particular order, that I have develop regarding a critical thinking classroom.  First, student learning must be relevant and authentic.  Side  note – Developing relevant and authentic learning opportunities for high school students is often easier said than done.  I believe that my students have different pictures in their head of what relevant and authentic learning comprises compared to my view.  From experience, I also know that many high school students question the value, and relevance of much of our require provincial curricula.  I feel that I am going to have to leverage greater student voice in my design process next year. I am not embarrassed to admit that this is a scary domain for me because I have seen variance in what the term “student voice” can comprise. Second, wonder must be the driver for learning, and thinking must reside at the core of learning. Third, a teacher needs to have a deep understanding of his or her content discipline because how can you create rich critical thinking learning experiences if you only have a superficial understanding of the material? Fourth, critical thinking is criterial thinking – thinking in the face of criteria.  Fifth, a classroom learning environment must not be dominated by finding “obviously correct” answers but rather  student learning should focus on creating  “provably correct” answers.  Finally, student collaboration is central to broadening the possible solutions to solve a problem.

In the last half of the semester, I have been grappling with the idea of wonder, specifically to what degree does a teacher’s lack of wonder limit his or her ability to develop powerful critical thinking learning experiences for students?  What I have found, in working with Garfield, is that Garfield is just a naturally curious and inquisitive person.  In one of our first meetings, we entered into a conversation about the high influx of asylum seekers that were entering into my province from the USA this past winter.  He instantly asked me, “Why do you think these individuals are coming through your provincial border and not the province to the west or east of you?” He caught me off guard because I never thought stop to think about that.  I was able to provide him with what I felt was a provably correct answer, but he made me sit back and think, days later, about why I hadn’t thought or wondered about this phenomena prior to him asking.  He has got me thinking about where my level of curiosity lies.

I just finally got to watch Garfield’s TedTalk, please see the link below, on inspiring wonder. I am reflecting on the level of wonder that has been embedded in my previous learning designs AND the level of wonder I fostered in the implementation of those designs. I am starting to grapple with what my genuine level of curiosity is as a learner.  Through my critical thinking professional development, I have been reawakened to the importance of wonder in the learning process. Some key questions that are now rolling around in my head are: Has my curiosity been somewhat “conditioned out” by the factory model, which shaped the 20th century education system? Has coming up with the “correct” answer in my early, middle, high school , and post-secondary studies, squashed the natural curiosity that I had when I was young? Did the factory model overtly or inadvertently de-emphasize the importance of wonder?

After watching his TedTalk below, these are the newest questions that I am going to be grappling with in my thoughtbook:

• To what degree do I model wondering in the classroom, and in my planning?
•  Has the “business of “doing” education, unknowingly stiffled my genuine sense of wonder?
• What does a wonder “reboot process” look like and involve?

Well, I must run.  I appreciate any feedback and comments that you have time to provide. Wishing everyone a wonderful and relaxing July!