conceptualizing critical thinking pedagogy in teacher education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12957/childphilo.2024.81799Keywords:
critical thinking, critical language, critical theory, critical thinking pedagogy, teacher educationAbstract
Higher education institutions play a pivotal role in knowledge creation and distribution. Teacher education is at the forefront of this engagement. The role of teacher educators is significant in engaging teacher knowledge for shaping and informing ways of being and doing in the world. In recent years higher education has undergone considerable transformation. In South Africa there is a call for real-world transformation in pedagogical practices to address academic, socio-economic, and cultural inclusion and emancipation. As a human right for enabling student voices, a key issue for engaging relevant and fair pedagogical practices is critical thinking. Critical thinking is a rich concept and an attribute of consciousness required in all human activity. It is exercised through sound reasoning and dialogue. Critical thinking is also associated with understanding and engaging deep issues of socio–cultural and political domains of power and justice. However, engaging and enabling critical thinking pedagogy in education is complex and contradictory in nature. Conceptualizing critical thinking is expedient as an initial stage. The objective of this article, part of a larger study, is to provide a conceptualisation of critical thinking pedagogy toward addressing: In what ways is critical thinking pedagogy engaged in South African teacher education? Here, this article aims to address the question: what is critical thinking and critical thinking pedagogy? Methodologically, an interdisciplinary psycho–social philosophic educational documentary design is employed based on a selection of key critical thinking proponents. It further presents a conceptualisation of critical thinking pedagogy underpinned in critical theory especially those of Freire and Foucault. This article aims to spotlight the need for engaging critical thinking through a conceptualisation of critical thinking pedagogy in teacher education required for addressing new ways of teaching today.
Downloads
References
Adams, M. , Blumenfeld, W. J , Castaneda, C. , Hackman, H. W. , Peters, M. L. , & Zuniga, X. (Eds.). (2013). Reading for diversity and social justice (3rd ed). New York and London: Routledge.
Alim, H. S., Baglieri, S., Ladson-Billings, G., Paris, D., Rose, H. D., & Valente, M. J. (2017). Responding to “Cross-pollinating culturally sustaining pedagogy and universal design for learning: Toward an inclusive pedagogy that accounts for dis/ability”: A Harvard Educational Review Forum. Harvard Educational Review, 87 (1), 4–25.
Apple, M. W., & Au, W. (2009). Politics, theory, and reality in critical pedagogy. In R. Cowen & A. M. Kazamias (Eds.), International Handbook of Comparative Education (pp. 991-1007). Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
Arbeláez-Campillo, D. F., Tatsiy, V. Y., Rojas-Bahamón, M. J., & Danielyan, O. G. (2020). Contributions of critical thinking as a form of participation and political deliberation. Amazônia Investiga, 9(27), 5-12. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.34069/AI/2020.27.03.1
Aronowitz, S., & Giroux, H. (1985). Education under siege. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.
Bahr, N. (2010). Thinking critically about critical thinking in higher education. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4, 1-16. doi: 10.20429/ijsotl.2010.040209
Blommaert, J., Muyllaert, N., Huysmans, M., & Dyers, C. (2005). Peripheral normativity: Literacy and the production of locality in a South African township school. Linguistics and Education, 16, 378-403.
Celuch, K. , Black, G. , & Warthan, B. (2009). Student self-identity as a critical thinker: The influence of attitudes, attitude strength, and normative beliefs. Journal of Marketing Education, 31, 31-39. doi: 10.1177/0273475308324088
Christie, P. (1999). Changing curriculum: studies on outcomes-based education in South Africa. Kenwyn: Juta.
Christie, P., Butler, D. and Potterton, M. (2007). Schools that work. Report of the Ministerial Committee. Pretoria: Department of Education.
Christie, P. (2009). Peace, reconciliation and justice. In McGlynn, C., Zembylas, M., Bekerman, Z. (Eds.). (2009). Peace education in conflict and post-conflict societies: Comparative perspectives. (75 – 88). United States: Palgrave Macmillian.
Coffey, H. (2009). Critical literacy. Retrieved from https://www.nvit.ca/docs/critical%20literacy.pdf
Council on Higher Education. Report on the National Review of Academic and Professional Programs in Education, HE Monitor No.11 August 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2016 (http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Higher_Education_Monitor_11.pdf).
Cowden, M., & Singh, G. (2015). Critical pedagogy: Critical thinking as a social practice. In M. Davies & R. Barnett (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education.
Darder, A., Baltodano, M., & Torres, R. D. (2003). The critical pedagogy reader. New York and London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Darling–Hammond, L. (2000). How teacher education matters. Journal of Teacher Education, 51, 166-173.
Declaration of the rights of the child proclaimed by Resolution 1386 (XIV) of the General Assembly, Convention of the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN General Assembly, 20 November 1959, 30 years later, on 20 November 1989, and 2 September 1990. Retrieved on 2 December 2016.
Department of Education. (2008). Report of the Task Team on Higher Education Teaching.
Dewey, J. (1906). Selection from the educational essays. In Findlay, J.J. (ed.) The school and the child. London, Glasgow and Bombay: Blackie and Son Limited
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. New York: D.C. Heath and Company.
Ennis, R.H. (1964). A definition of critical thinking. The Reading Teacher, 17(8), 599–612. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20197828
Filloux, J. (1992). Étude critique: Michel Foucault et l'éducation. Revue française de pédagogie, 99, 115–120.
Foucault, M. (1966). The order of things: An archeology of the human sciences. France: Gallimard.
Foucault, M. (1969). The archeology of knowledge. France: Gallimard.
Foucault, M. (1970). The order of discourse. Inaugural lecture at Collège de France, 2 December 1970. In R. Young. (1981). (Ed.), Untying the text: A post-structuralist reader. Boston and London: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1976). The will to knowledge: The history of sexuality. Vol. 1. London: Penguin Books.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-67975-255-4.
Freire, P. & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Freire, P. (2001). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed. 50th Anniversary edition. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Gashan, A. K. (2015). Exploring Saudi pre-service teachers’ knowledge of critical thinking skills and their teaching perceptions. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 3, 26-33. doi: 10.7575/aiac.ijels.v3n.1p.26
Gaudelli, W. & Laverty, M. J. (2018). Reconstruction of Social Studies. Education and Culture, 34(1), 19-39
Giroux, H. (1983). Theory and resistance in education: A pedagogy for the opposition. Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey.
Giroux, H. (1994). Toward a pedagogy of critical thinking. In K. Walters, Thinking reason: New perspectives in critical thinking (pp. 200-201). Albany: SUNY Press.
Giroux, H. (2013). The necessity of critical pedagogy in dark times. Retrieved on 6 January 2016, from http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/14331-a-critical-interview-with-henry-giroux.
Glaser, E.M. (1941). An Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking, New York: Teacher’s College, Columbia University.
Goldstein, R. A. (Ed.), (2007). Useful theory: Making critical education practical. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Habermas, J. (1996). Between facts and norms. Cambridge: Polity.
Huber, C. R., & Kuncel, N. R. (2016). Does College Teach Critical Thinking? A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 86(2), 431-468. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315605917
Huntley, C. (2008). Supporting critical reflection in pre-service teacher education. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education, 3(1), 18-28. https://doi.org/10.31380/sotlched.3.1.18
Kizel, A. (2017). Philosophical communities of inquiry: The search for and finding of meaning as the basis for developing a sense of responsibility. Childhood & Philosophy, 13, 87–103.
Kohan, W. O. (2013). Plato and Socrates: From an educator of childhood to a childlike educator? Studies in Philosophy and Education, 32(3). DOI:10.1007/s11217-012-9348-x
Le Roux, A., & Mdunge, P. (2012). Difficult conversations: Lessons learnt from a diversity programme for initial teachers. Perspectives in Education, 30, 78–87.
Lipman, M. (1988). Critical thinking – What can it be? Education Leadership, September, 38–43. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_198809_lipman.pdf
Lipman, M. (1998). Teaching students to think reasonably: Some findings of the philosophy for children program. The Clearing House, 71(5), 277-280. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30189373
Lipman, M. (2003). Thinking in education (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McLaren, P. (1996). Critical theory. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 28-32.
McNulty, N. (2018). Disruption in education – are South African schools ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution?
Morgan, W. (1997). Critical literacy in the classroom. London, USA & Canada: Routledge.
Organization for Economic Co- Operation and Development. (2008). Reviews of the National Policies for Education: South Africa. France, OECD publications.
Paul, R., Binker, A. J. A., Martin, D., Vetrano, C., & Krekau, H. (1989). Critical thinking handbook: 6th-9th grades. Sonoma State University: Center for critical thinking and moral critique.
Paul, R., Elder, L., & Bartell, T. (1997). California teacher preparation for instruction in critical thinking: Research findings and policy recommendations. State of California, California Commission and Credentialing.
Popkewitz, T.S. and Fendler, L. (Eds.). (1999). Critical Theories in Education: Changing Terrains of Knowledge and Politics. New York and London: Routledge.
Sayed, Y., & Ahmed, R. (2011). Education quality in post-apartheid South African policy: Balancing equity, diversity, rights, and participation. Comparative Education, 47, 103–118.
Schiering, M.S. (2016). Teaching creative and critical thinking: An interactive workbook. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
Schleicher, A. (2016). How to transform schools into learning organizations? Education and skills today. Global perspectives on education and skills. Retrieved 26 November 2017, http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-to-transform-schools-into-learning.html
Schleicher, A. (2018). The case for 21st-century learning. OECD Education Directorate. https://www.oecd.org/general/thecasefor21st-centurylearning.htm
Scriven, M., & Paul, R. (1987). Statement at 8th annual international conference on critical thinking and education reform. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Journal, (2010), 54(4), 70.
Shor, I. (1980). Critical Teaching and Everyday Life. Boston: South End Press.
Siegel, H. (1985). Educating reason: Critical thinking, informal logic, and the philosophy of education. Part two: Philosophical questions underlying education for critical thinking. Philosophy. University of Miami Scholarly Repository Philosophy Articles and Papers.
Soudien, C. (2014). Exploring South Africa's troubled education system: Learning world. Euronews. YouTube, September 14, 2014. Retrieved on 29 April 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ll4iB74a4
Tan, C. (2017). Teaching critical thinking: Cultural challenges and strategies in Singapore. British Educational Research Journal, 43(5), 988-1002.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2011). Teaching philosophy in Europe and North America. Italian National Commission for UNESCO. Human Security, Democracy and Philosophy Section Social and Human Sciences Sector UNESCO. Paris: France. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Working_Document_Teaching_Philosophy_Milan2011_EN.pdf
Thomas, C., & Walker, P. C. (1997). A critical look at critical thinking. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 21, 221-224.
Wheatley, M. J. (2002). Turning to one another: Simple conversations to restore hope to the future. San Francisco: Berrett - Koehler Publishers.
Young, R. (1992). Critical theory and classroom talk. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
