Critical Thinking: What is it, and How

Can it Be Taught in High School English

Classrooms?

By: Megan Schmidt

Introduction
Observations
• Teachers are encouraged by researchers to incorporate “critical thinking”
into the classroom to support the development of modern students

• The term “critical thinking” is ambiguous and has multiple contrasting

definitions

• The skills involved in critical thinking are necessary to succeeding in

decision making as an adult
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Initial Wonderings
• What is “critical thinking” exactly?

• How is critical thinking defined by researchers across disciplines,

and what meaning can be drawn from these definitions?

• How can critical thinking be taught in a way that prepares high

school students for their future?
Study Background

Setting: High school in the western United States with around 1,000 students

My Role: intern/student teacher observer

Situation: Critical thinking is a difficult process to teach due to ambiguity

surrounding the skills involved and a lack of effective strategies to engage students in
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developing INFORMATION
those skills.

Critical Factors: Student participation, time, not all thinking is visible

Purpose & Rationale
Purpose: to clarify the skills involved in the process of critical thinking and
provide examples of activities and types of questions that can be used to
successfully teach these skills

• Useful resource for teachers looking to incorporate critical thinking skills in

the classroom

• Prepares students with the skills necessary for the modern workforce
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Research Questions
• Which teaching methods and assessments most effectively engage
high school students’ critical thinking skills?

• In what observable ways do students demonstrate critical thinking

skills?

• How can technology in the classroom aid in the development of

media literacy?
Literature Review
 Critical Thinking Defined

Philosophy Psychology
- Focus is on the qualities or dispositions of the - Focus is on the mental processes and products
“ideal critical thinker” of complex thinking

- Critical thinkers are open minded, reflective, - Some researchers believe critical thinking is
and often seek reason “domain specific”, meaning non-transferable and
reliant on contexts

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Education
- Bloom’s Taxonomy has been the traditional reference point in understanding critical thinking through the
section of the pyramid labeled “higher order thinking” skills

- Critical thinking is defined a student’s ability to justify their reasoning, but a second term referred to as
“critical analytical thinking” includes the habituation of this thinking style across contexts

- Modern researchers propose a new umbrella term: devising, and it emphasizes the transferability of knowledge
and skills to solve new problems
Teaching Critical Thinking

Researchers suggest to:

- Make sure teachers have a clear understanding of what

skills make up critical thinking and how to teach those
skills

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Incorporate students’ unique experiences and
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background knowledge

- Model the process of critical thinking for students

- Make expectations for assignments clear, and provide

feedback and guidance
Methodology
 Methodology
Participants: Students of 3 advanced high school level English courses

Study Design: Qualitative analysis of teaching strategies and skills involved in the
process of critical thinking.

Data Sources: Individual writing samples from Google Classroom and observational
notes
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Validity, Reliability, and Credibility: Methods for this study are strictly anonymous
and non-disruptive; all data analyzed will be products of situations that occur
naturally in the classroom as part of daily procedures

Procedures and Timeline: Data was collected in and outside of class from August
31st, 2023 to November 30th, 2023.
- Took notes detailing discussion questions, activities, and assessments
designed to incite critical thinking
- Analyzed student work on Google Classroom and looked for patterns of
specific skills
Results & Limitations
 Skills involved in the critical thinking
process (from data):

• Inference • Connecting to
• Questioning universal themes Limitations
• Explaining in their • Connecting to
own words personal
• Synthesis across experience • Students do not always
contexts • Reflection provide evidence of critical
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thinking skills
• Participation can be
Successful Teaching Strategies (from impacted by countless
data): factors
• Small sample size
• Open-ended • Drawing • Only observed classes once
discussion connections to art a week
questions and other media • Notes cannot capture entire
• Creative activities • Creative writing participation during a
with textual discussion
relevance
Conclusion
 Significance of Findings
• Data demonstrates the concept that critical thinking is not a skill in itself; it is a
transferable process composed of many skills that students develop through
practicing analysis and creativity

• Assessments asking students to work directly with Bloom’s taxonomy or other

metacognitive scaffolding are less engaging to students than creative teaching
strategies
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• Teachers can use this research to understand how to model and inspire the
transferable process of critical thinking in their classrooms.
 Action Plan
• Design creative lessons with open ended questions that give students the
opportunity to make connections across contexts

• Model critical thinking skills for students, give feedback, and provide guidance

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Continue tracking successes in the teaching of critical thinking while further
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researching how digital media both impacts and can be used in the development
of critical analysis skills
Questions?