Promote Critical Thinking Skills in Students
High School Teachers Use Role as Facilitator to Promote Learning
Mar 8, 2008
How can high school teachers light a fire for their students? Certainly, one of the greatest gifts teachers can give to students is the ability to think critically on a variety of topics. Start by honoring them and their abilities. Hold them accountable for their actions and set their expectations high when you teach critical thinking skills. Show them you value their input and opinions by serving as a facilitator, or guide, in classroom discussions.
Vary Teacher Roles
To begin exploring different discussion formats in your classroom, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you having difficulty maintaining student interest in class discussions?
- Do you feel that as the instructor you generally do most of the talking?
- Do you ask numerous yes/no questions?
- Are some of your students defensive when you call on them to participate?
- Is my classroom management system succeeding?
If you’ve nodded to any of these questions, you may benefit from experimenting with different teacher roles. Teachers most often implement the default role of direct instructor. There’s much to be gained by adopting this as your standard teaching persona; it’s accurate, efficient and organized. Using direct instruction in the high school classroom, teachers can more readily meet their course objectives or cover material. But sometimes students become oversaturated and tune out. Teachers must find ways to reconnect with them.
Teacher as Facilitator
Teachers sometimes need to take a backseat in order to maximize the organic flow of discussion and allow students to develop their critical thinking skills. That is, students need freedom to respond to their peers using a constructive, academic approach. If they are constantly being talked at or challenged by teachers, some students either wilt or bristle. But in a nurturing, structured environment, high school students are encouraged to voice their opinions while learning to back them up with facts and details they have learned in class.
Prepare for Student-Driven Discussion
Although teachers will take a peripheral role in student discussion, they need to meticulously prepare the structure and format of the class in advance. For those teachers who work within a 50 minute class period, time is precious. Discussion needs to quickly commence. Here are some suggestions to expedite the process:
- Set ground rules for conduct and review them before discussion begins. Be specific about types of behavior and comments that are appropriate. For example, students should take turns asking questions and allow others to finish speaking before they respond.
- Provide open-ended questions for students to use as springboards for discussion. Questions that begin with why, how and what if can help students approach topics more critically. These can be printed onto note cards for individual student use.
- Decide if you will arrange your students in mixed ability groups or design whole group discussion. How should the desks be organized to promote student interaction?
- Offer students bonus points if they relate back to a previous lesson or class discussion when developing their argument. Let them know you are taking notes on their performance.
Teachers fulfill many different roles. At different times, a teacher will be an instructor, a mentor, an editor, a disciplinarian, and—hopefully—a guide that inspires students to forge their own path towards improved critical thinking skills.
As said by William Butler Yeats, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
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