scholarly journals Addressing social polarization through critical thinking: Theoretical application in the “Living Well With Difference” course in secondary schools in England

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 490-505
Author(s):  
Sara Savage ◽  
Emily Oliver ◽  
Ellen Gordon ◽  
Lucy Tutton
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Dual Systems ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
Living Well ◽  
Social Polarization ◽  
Theoretical Application ◽  
Systems Framework

Responding to international calls for critical thinking programs to address social polarisations and extremism through education, this article examines the cognitive and socio-psychological foundations of a critical thinking programme for secondary schools in England called “Living Well With Difference” (LWWD). The aim of LWWD is to develop critical thinking about issues of social polarisation, prejudice and any kind of extreme thinking. These issues often involve the interaction of emotion and thinking, which is understood using a dual systems framework, illustrated with examples of course methodology and content. The learning process aims to promote more cognitively flexible, complex and integrated thinking, measured by integrative complexity, and is supported by meta-awareness to enable emotion management. The aim is for participants to engage with difficult social issues through structured group activities, while becoming aware of social, emotional, textual, visual and rhetorical influences to increase Media Information Literacy, as a foundation for engaging with differing perspectives in order to reduce barriers between groups in society.

scholarly journals A moral education? British Values, colour-blindness, and preventing terrorism

2021 ◽  
pp. 026101832199892
Author(s):  
Christine Winter ◽  
Charlotte Heath-Kelly ◽  
Amna Kaleem ◽  
China Mills
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Colour Blindness ◽  
British Education

The Prevent Strategy tasks the British education sector with preventing radicalisation and extremism. It defines extremism as opposition to fundamental British Values and requires schools to promote these values and refer students and staff believed to be vulnerable to radicalisation. Little research examining the enactment of the Prevent and British Values curriculum has included students. To fill this gap, we investigated how students, teachers and Prevent/British Values trainers engage with this curriculum by conducting individual interviews in two multicultural secondary schools in England, framing the study in recent work on colour-blindness. We found that whilst multiculturalism was celebrated, discussion about everyday structural racism was avoided. Critical thinking was performed strategically, and classrooms were securitised as sites for identifying potential safeguarding referrals. Moral education, colour-blindness and safeguarding intersected to negate racialised experiences, whilst exposing students and teachers to racialised Prevent referrals.

scholarly journals Teaching students how to think, not what to think: Pedagogy and political psychology

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 388-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Velez ◽  
Séamus A. Power
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Political Psychology ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Ivory Tower ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Psychology Courses ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Do So

Academia is often critiqued as an “ivory tower” where research, thinking, and teaching are isolated from the complexity and everyday experience of so many people. As instructors of political and other psychology courses, we strive to break down these barriers and engage with the dynamic and nuanced nature of phenomena as situated in lived social and political contexts. In this report, we unpack and detail how we strive to achieve this goal by expanding on Plous’ articulation of action teaching (2012). We first define our pedagogical focus on active engagement, critical thinking, and staying on the move between multiple perspectives. We then provide specific examples of how we enact our philosophy in activities and assessment. We end by articulating how this approach to teaching in social and political psychology can be understood as furthering not only our students’ intellectual growth as psychologists, but also their development as democratic citizens. In doing so, we argue that action teaching not only involves course activities directly engaging with social issues, but also provides students with a scaffold to actually do so in a way that is attentive to the complexity, pluralism, and dynamism of social and political issues.

scholarly journals The Perceptions of Teachers at the Secondary Schools in Bani Obaid District at Irbid City for their Schools by Considering the Schools as Learning Organizations: تصورات معلمي المرحلة الثانوية في لواء بني عبيد بمدينة إربد لمدارسهم كمنظمات متعلمة

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (25) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asem Abdullah Al-Essa
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Learning Organizations ◽  
Years Of Experience ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
The Third ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
General Performance ◽  
Perceptions Of Teachers

This study investigates the perceptions of teachers at the secondary schools in Bani Obaid district at Irbid city for their schools by considering the schools as learning organizations. This study discovers the differences in participant responses that are related to their perceptions by considering the schools as educated organizations based on the following factors: gender, qualifications, and years of experience. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher follows the descriptive methodology by preparing a questionnaire which includes (35) parts. The sample of the study consists of (250) male and female teachers in the secondary schools at Bani Obaid district. They were collected randomly from the total number of teachers in that district which is (413). They represent (60%) of the teachers in the district. The perceptions of the teachers of the secondary schools at Bani Obaid district at Irbid city for their schools as educated organizations got (5,64) for the highest average based on the general performance using the tool. The results based on the scopes of the study are as the following: working as a team got the highest average (3.91). The followed scope is the mental models (3.66). The third one is related to the personal ability with average (3.91) then the collective vision with average (3.50) and lastly, the critical thinking with average (3.49). There were not much significant statistical differences in level (α≤0.05) in the sample responses which are related to the study scopes and tool based on the sex and years of experience in addition to (collective vision and personal ability) dimensions based on the qualification. There were significant statistical differences in level (α≤0.05) in the sample responses which are related to the scopes of (collective vision, mental models and teamwork) based on the qualification dimension specially the bachelor degree. Based on the results of the research, the researcher recommends providing financial and moral incentives for the distinguished secondary schools to apply the principles of the educated schools.

scholarly journals Alternativas para reflexionar aspectos críticos de la ciencia en el aula-Alternatives to Reflect on Critical Aspects of Science in the Classroom

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (22) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Jordi Solbes-Matarredona ◽  
Nidia Yaneth Torres-Merchán
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Teacher Training Students ◽  
Critical Aspects ◽  
Formación Docente ◽  
Estudiantes Universitarios

Este artículo forma parte de una investigación sobre el uso de cuestiones socio-científicas a fin de promover las competencias para el pensamiento crítico en estudiantes universitarios. La primera parte presenta las apreciaciones de un grupo de estudiantes en formación docente acerca de la criticidad de la ciencia y lo que entienden por ciencia crítica. También, se presenta y se discute sobre las experiencias de algunos investigadores perseguidos debido a sus contribuciones científicas, ya que tuvieron implicaciones sociales, o cuestiones sociocientíficas.Alternatives to Reflect on Critical Aspects of Science in the ClassroomThis paper is part of a research about the use of scientific-social issues to promote critical thinking skills in university students. The first part presents the considerations of a group of teacher training students about the criticality of science and what they understand about critical science. It also presents and discusses the experiences of some researchers who were persecuted because of their scientific contributions with social implications or scientific social issues.Alternativas para refletir aspectos críticos da ciência na sala de aulaEste artigo é parte de uma investigação sobre o uso de questões sociais científicos, para promover habilidades de pensamento crítico dos estudantes da universidade. A primeira parte apresenta os motivos que levaram um grupo de estudantes de formação de professores sobre a criticidade da ciência e o que eles querem dizer com uma ciência crítica. Ele também apresenta e discute alguns investigadores perseguidos por suas contribuições científicas para implicações sociais ou questões sociais científicos. 

A Critical Review of Five Commonly Used Social-Emotional and Behavioral Screeners for Elementary or Secondary Schools

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndsay N. Jenkins ◽  
Michelle K. Demaray ◽  
Nicole Smit Wren ◽  
Stephanie M. Secord ◽  
Kelly M. Lyell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Social Emotional

scholarly journals BUILDING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS THROUGH LITERARY TEXTS IN EFL CLASSES

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Osidak ◽  
Nataliia Nesterenko
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Cognitive Learning ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Practical Implementation

Background: The chapter argues that building critical thinking skills and enhancing students’ cognitive processes has become a primary goal of teaching in secondary schools. It is generally agreed that the relationship between learning and reading literature has always been very close. Also, literature is widely recognised as an effective, motivating and enjoyable facilitator for work on critical thinking skills through challenging students’ cognitive processes by means of comparing and contrasting of and differentiating between the specific events of the plot, analysing main characters, interpreting the meaning created by the author’s choice of words etc. For these reasons this chapter investigates the efficacy of literary texts in building critical thinking skills in secondary schools. Purpose: The main focus of the chapter was on designing effective and feasible critical thinking model of teaching instruction that incorporates literary text in EFL classroom to stimulate students’ cognitive processes. Results: Many methods have been suggested to teaching reading literary texts. For the purpose of this study the authors adopted personal growth model developed by Lindsay Clanfield. The model draws heavily on learners’ involvement in reading with the aim of explaining the implied message of the literary text through employing crucial critical thinking skills such as problem solving, decision making, interpretation, logical reasoning, and metacognition. The critical thinking model consists of the three stages defined as “challenge – comprehension – reflection”. Each of the defined stages focuses on utilising some of the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives through activities that promote these cognitive processes. For example, to complete activities of the ‘challenge’ stage students rely heavily on their knowledge; cognitive levels of comprehension, application and synthesis are essential at the ‘comprehension’ stage; finally, at the ‘reflection’ stage students are involved in evaluation ideas of moral and social aspects discussed in the text and appraising of their acquired experience. Drawing on this conclusion, the article presents a practical implementation of the model with the focus on cognitive processes and development of critical thinking skills in teaching English through literary texts. Discussion: In further research, it is necessary to experimentally verify the effectiveness of the critical thinking model in building critical thinking skills through literary texts in EFL classes.

Teaching Critical Thinking and Team Based Concept Mapping

2010 ◽  
pp. 171-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawndra Meers-Scott ◽  
LesLee Taylor ◽  
John Pelley
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Concept Mapping ◽  
Concept Maps ◽  
Personality Types ◽  
New Method ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Group Activities

Critical thinking cannot be fully developed without involvement in collaborative learning activities that elicit problem solving dialogue. Concept maps are effective tools for dialogue because they require decisions about the organization of and the relationships between facts and concepts. This active decision making process develops both long term memory and the ability to apply that knowledge. The authors describe a new method for incorporating scored concept maps into an established collaborative learning method, Team-Based Learning, as a way to improve the effectiveness of individual preparation and for enhancing the problem solving dialogue during group activities. Their new method, Team-Based Concept Mapping, has advantages for students with different personality types and with different backgrounds because it provides greater clarity and precision in the group dialogue. The effect of concept mapping on the interaction between different personality types is discussed and suggestions for future studies to develop this method are offered.

Using Argumentation to Develop Critical Thinking About Social Issues in the Classroom

2021 ◽  
pp. 508-522
Author(s):  
N. Leigh Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Real World ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
World Today ◽  
The World ◽  
Framework For Teaching ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Dialogic Argumentation

Thanks to the polarized nature of politics in the world today, students need to learn how to think critically about social issues. Argumentation can be both a type of critical thinking and a tool with which to teach students to think critically about social issues. This chapter lays out a framework for teaching students how to develop critical thinking about real world issues through the use of dialogic argumentation. The impact of dialogic argumentative activities in the classroom are discussed, particularly as they relate to the development of metacognition and theory of mind, as well as how they help students develop an “inner-locutor” that allows them to evaluate both their position and opposing positions. Finally, a model for how these elements contribute to students' value-loaded critical thinking about social issues is outlined.

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