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Stephen Brookfield Distinguished University Professor University of St. Thomas

CREATING CRITICAL CLASSROOMS Teaching and Learning Center 2009 Winter Faculty Conference Temple University. Stephen Brookfield Distinguished University Professor University of St. Thomas www.stephenbrookfield.com. WHAT IS IT? 4 FUNCTIONS. IDENTIFYING OUR ASSUMPTIONS

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Stephen Brookfield Distinguished University Professor University of St. Thomas

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  1. CREATING CRITICAL CLASSROOMSTeaching and Learning Center2009 Winter Faculty ConferenceTemple University Stephen Brookfield Distinguished University Professor University of St. Thomas www.stephenbrookfield.com

  2. WHAT IS IT? 4 FUNCTIONS • IDENTIFYING OUR ASSUMPTIONS • CHECKING THEIR ACCURACY & VALIDITY • VIEWING IDEAS & ACTIONS FROM ALTERNATE PERSPECTIVES • TAKING INFORMED ACTION - THE SURVIVAL SKILL OF ADULT LIFE

  3. WHY FOCUS ON IT?To Take Informed Action • Action Based on Evidence That Can be Cited & Considered By Others • Action That Can be Explained & Justified • Action That Has Its Assumptions Known & Checked • Action That Stands a Chance of Achieving Its Intended Consequence • Action That’s In Our Best Interest

  4. TYPES OF ASSUMPTIONS • CAUSAL - purports to explain a sequence of events • PRESCRIPTIVE - assumptions about how we wish things to be • PARADIGMATIC - framing, structuring assumptions viewed as obvious, natural, common sense

  5. WHAT SHOULD WE REMEMBER AS TEACHERS? • Modeling, Modeling, Modeling • Resistance is Normal & Predictable • Critical Thinking is Often Taught Incrementally - Start Well Away From the Student’s Reasoning & Actions, Help them Learn Critical Protocols, and Over Time Move Closer and Closer to the Student’s Own Reasoning & Actions

  6. WHEN IS IT BEST TAUGHT? • Beyond the Novice Level • After Initial Assimilation • When Classroom Skills and Knowledge Have to be Applied in the ‘Real’ World • When Independent Judgment is Called for and No Trusted Authority is at Hand

  7. WHEN IS IT BEST TAUGHT? • When Alternative Explanations and Interpretations are Possible • When Actions, Decisions, & Judgments Need to be Informed • When Thinking on Your Feet & Improvisation is Called For • When Venturing into New Territory With An Old Road Map

  8. WHAT STUDENTS SAY IS HELPFUL MODELING … • Seeing it MODELED & Named • When Teachers Talk Out Loud Their Assumptions Behind Practices • When Teachers Do Regular Assumption Audits • When Teachers Say When Their Assumptions are Confirmed & Challenged

  9. MODELING … • When Teachers Critique Their Own Positions - Moving Around the Classroom • When Teachers ‘Speak in Tongues’ at Different Stations in the Classroom • When Teachers Consistently Discuss Their Criteria for Judging Credibility of Authoritative Sources

  10. MODELING … • When Teachers Use the CIQ to Check Their Assumptions in Front of Students • When Teachers Bring in Real Life Experience When Assumptions Were Confirmed & Challenged • In Team Teaching - When Team Members Take Different Positions and Clarify Each Others’ Assumptions

  11. CRITICAL INCIDENT QUESTIONNAIRE • Most Engaged Moment as Learner • Most Distanced Moment as Learner • Most Helpful Action (Prof. or Peer) • Most Puzzling Action (Prof. or Peer) • What Surprised You Most

  12. HOW ADMINISTERED • Final 5 minutes of last class of week • Summary provided at start of the 1st class the following week • Demonstrates Student Diversity • Early Warning Device • Models Critical Thinking • Negotiation NOT Capitulation

  13. STUDENT PRACTICES • Conversational Roles : Devil’s Advocate, detective, textual focuser, evidential assessor • Conversational Moves : Disagree respectfully, develop a counter argument, clarify assumptions, provide authority source • Spot The Error: 1 per lecture or discussion • Assumption Audits: written or spoken • Critical Conversation Protocol • Critical Debate • Scenario Analysis

  14. CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE • Epistemological - Truths grounded in what evidence? Fusing descriptive & prescriptive? Paradigm predetermines conclusions? Culturally skewed? • Experiential - Metaphors? Omissions? • Communicative - Whose voices are heard? Unjustified jargon? • Political - Whose interests are served?

  15. QUOTES TO AFFIRM & CHALLENGE AFFIRM Well Expressed Empirically Accurate Produced A New Understanding CHALLENGE Incomprehensible False Protocol Empirically Inaccurate Ethically Dubious Omitted Evidence

  16. Stephen Brookfield Books • Developing Critical Thinkers (1987) • Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (1995) • The Power of Critical Theory (2004) • Discussion as a Way of Teaching (2005, 2nd. Ed.) With Stephen Preskill • The Skillful Teacher (2006, 2nd. Ed.) • All titles published by Jossey Bass, San Francisco. • To order:http://stephenbrookfield.com/books.html • Home Page:www.stephenbrookfield.com

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