Learning to think: Critical Pedagogy
If you trace back in educational history, origins of Critical Pedagogy can be traced back to the time of Plato and Socrates. They recognised the importance of discussion for human interaction and for education
However, it was in the 1960s and 70s that Critical Pedagogy truly emerged as a theory and a distinct field of study, which was pioneered by the works of Paulo Freire.
But, the question is, If these ideas about teaching have been around for so long, why have the teachers not changed yet? Why we still circle around traditional teaching methods? Are traditional teaching methods that bad?
In the traditional approach to teaching methods, the teacher delivers explicit instruction and subject matter during the class. There are few students who question themselves about the subject matter and then there are students who blindly follow the instructions just to get through the class. With the increasing number of students and the limited time for a single subject, traditional way is more effective. But, does this method actually serve the main purpose of learning? do students learn?
If you just think about exams, YES students to learn how to answer the questions in the exam and get a good grade. But If you think about actually learning the concept NO.
Quote Paulo Freire ” Intellectuals who memorize everything reading for hours on end … fearful of taking a risk speaking as they were resiting from memory fail to make a connection between what they have read and what is happening in the real world… “
Because what I believe is explicit instruction does not allow students to develop as critical thinkers. One thing I observed as a TA is students can answer quantitative questions but if you ask the same question qualitatively they get stuck . Because most of the time what happens is you memorise the theory and you have explicit instructions to solve a problem but, you never question the theory and learn the concept behind it.
That is why it is important to promote critical thinking in the classroom and encourage students to question to make classroom highly interactive. It is better to have students who ask questions analyse and learn, rather than having unquestioning receivers.
As Carol Dweck demonstrates it is important to promote a growth mindset in the classroom, not a fixed mindset.
So, given the importance of an implicit classroom, LEARNING TO THINK is as important as the basic knowledge you get.