Critical thinking and problem solving
This was the second session of the workshop
Widening Our Real Learning Design has become a
real passion in education, since most linguists have found that Learning
English through content makes our students broaden their minds and develop
skills which will be beneficial for later life.
After defining CLIL as a dual focused approach
to teaching which aims to introduce pupils to content areas such as Science,
Technology or Social Studies using a foreign language as the medium to teach
all or part of the subject, it is clear that we cannot separate CLIL from life
skills such as Critical thinking and Problem solving.
Critical thinking definitions:
·
Critical
thinking is thinking that analyzes thought, that assesses thought, and that
transforms thought for the better.
·
A
way of thinking that enables a thinker to think regularly at a higher level
(than most people are capable of thinking
·
Thinking
skills used for determining the accuracy, or authenticity of something and the
ability to look for reasons and alternatives
Teaching critical thinking skills is an important goal of the modern educational system. Teachers are no longer content to have
students simply memorise facts, figures, and dates, they expect students to analyse situations and ponder it with all available data.
Questions are important catalysts in the critical thinking
process because they encourage students to reflect on the knowledge they have
acquired and to apply this to new situations, as it is one of the features of
CLIL. Students are asked to understand, analyse, synthesize and evaluate
content to reach the outcomes
A
critical thinking approach
helps students to ensure understanding and to express their ideas I their own
words. They also get used to analysing what they have learned and to “think”
about “thinking”.
Problem
solving:
Finding the
solution to a problem after analysing, finding the best way of action, trying
it out and evaluating.
