Evolving the critical thinking skills in students

December 22, 2020

Evolving the critical thinking skills in students

Students are the pillars of the nation. Their thoughts and energy are so precious that channelizing them in the right direction does wonders. Accoutering them with the right skills and views prepares them for a standardized way of living with integrity. Apart from the subjects mentioned in their syllabus, students must be aware of their surroundings, imbibe moral and ethical values, and have a balanced knowledge in the political, cultural and economic fields.  Another very important skill that forms the basis of modern learning is critical thinking. The idea of evaluating things in a logical and rational manner and think in a clear manner is called critical thinking. The sole purpose behind introducing the students to critical thinking is to make them courageous enough to understand the real world problems and face them head on.

Not everything that they read in the books makes them smart. Smartness doesn’t come from being well-read; it is a result of rational thinking. Instead of passively receiving the information without understanding its essence, students must actively involve themselves in actual learning. Their purpose should be to evaluate certain ideas or assumptions whether they define the complete picture or not.  Critical thinkers analyze and examine the problems with logic and rational thinking and arrive on an unbiased solution. They understand the patterns in the problem statement, approach them in a systematic manner, justify their assumptions and establish the importance of ideas and arguments.

The teachers of modern times need to understand the importance of critical thinking and evolve that of students. There are many ways in which they can make their students a critical thinker. Students must be given the freedom of solving a problem in their own ways. Instead of relying on the traditional methods of problem solving, the teachers must ask the students to develop a creative approach for every problem. As the students assume the ownership of the problem, they start finding different approaches to solve it.

No student will ever face a classroom problem in their life. The whole purpose of education is to prepare the students to solve real world problems. There is no other way to do it than actually applying their knowledge through projects. The teachers must evaluate a student’s understanding of the topic based on how effectively he/she performs in their projects. To evolve critical thinking among students, it becomes pressing to establish the importance of different ideas, arguments and team work. Working in teams helps the student understand how different people can approach the same problem differently. They learn how to go about working in a community and critically think about the problem.

Challenges have always been known for energizing and motivating people. They help develop a sense of independence among the students and make them realize the importance of resources. When a teacher challenges the students with a crafty problem, they make use of the available resources and try to reach to the solution. Any kind of creativity among the students must be encouraged. Their creativity makes them better problem solvers as well as critical thinkers. They must be left independent to find solutions to a given problem. No teacher should spoon-feed the answers to students. This helps in evaluating the understanding of the students and helps them improvise whatever they have learnt in class.

Apart from all that’s mentioned above, a very important aspect of critical thinking is to know how to express one. There are very few people who are great critical thinkers and can express the flow of their thoughts as well. Students must have a well-organized chain of thoughts that helps them express their interpretation of the problem statement. They should be able to justify whatever they have thought of and that justification should be completely unbiased.

The teachers must organize regular brainstorming sessions on different topics so that the students can learn how to think critically. They should be taught to evaluate the pros and cons related to a topic and reaching to an effective decision. The students must also get involved in productive debates so that they learn to welcome the ideas of others while justifying their own.

A focused learning is one where the students are actively involved in understanding the true concepts behind a topic. Instead of being a victim of traditional classroom learning, the students must aim for the modern ways of problem-solving. Critical thinking may not be a chapter in their syllabus but it definitely forms the basis of their lives.

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Comments:

Tunisha Banerjee

This blog is really educative with a sense that it intensifies the students to develop a strong communicative skill and face the daily challenges with a creative mind.




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