Why do you think critical thinking is important for teachers and learning’s in twenty century? | Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices| BEd Solved Assignment

Question. 1

Why do you think critical thinking is important for teachers and learning in the twentieth century?

Course: Critical thinking and reflective practices

Course code 8611

Level: B.Ed Solved Assignment 

Answer:

Today, critical thinking is considered one of the most important skills for career success and an essential component of life in the information age. Academia, business, and policymakers all concur on its importance. The USA-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) organization and the American Management Association lists it as a key 21st-century skill “expected to become even more important in the future.”

In the context of the UAE and the national agenda, it gains even more importance as ensuring students are equipped with critical thinking skills is primordial to achieving a competitive knowledge-based economy.

Critical thinking has been identified as a key skill to foster innovation. Research shows that critical thinking and creativity are correlated. Critical thinking training is becoming common practice in the workplace to help develop employees‟ innovation skills.

It is a required building block for a STEM education. Subjects in the STEM curriculum teach students how to think critically and how to solve problems —skills that can be used throughout life to help them get through tough times and take advantage of opportunities whenever they appear. On both accounts, critical thinking is key to the fulfillment of the UAE‟ 's aspiration outlined in Vision 2021 that “science, technology, and innovation become the real drivers for sustainable socio-economic development” and tangible goals outlined in the recently launched Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) policy.


In fact, it permeates many of the strategic sectors and focus areas outlined in the policy. In this context, critical thinking becomes more than a skill; it’s a mindset, often requiring a culture shift. For us educators, we recognize that is easier to create a culture rather than shift it.

Therefore, we believe that nurturing critical thinking from a young age at school is essential for it to become a constructive, life-long habit. One educational system that has adopted critical thinking as an essential part of its curriculum and teaching method is progressive education. It is a system that relies on active learning methods for children, starting from a very young age.

It provides a framework for the learning and teaching methods that can encourage critical and independent thinking in children and facilitate the process of learning in students. Leading educators agree that a curriculum aimed at building thinking skills would benefit not only the individual learner but also the community, and society at large.

Against this new paradigm, the role of education, teachers, and students inevitably must change. Today the role of the teacher in a progressive environment is very much different to that in a traditional classroom. Teachers need to move from primarily being the information keeper and information dispenser to being an enabler of learning where knowledge is co-constructed with the student.

Teachers will become facilitators, guides, mentors, sources, and resources that support children in acquiring independent thinking and „learning for life‟, stemming from the unique blend of traditional and experiential learning that progressive education offers.

At Clarion, the only school to date offering progressive education in the UAE, our teachers have the benefit of experience with and education from the world’s leader in progressive education, the NY-based Bank Street. In recognition of the increasing importance of progressive education, Bank Street has been tasked by the US Department of Education to guide the development of the curricula of schools around the United States to equip the students with the optimal education to prepare them for STEM-based and other priority 21st-century careers.

Empowered with the right education and values, children who grow up in the UAE have an opportunity to become truly global citizens and role models to children all over the world. As educators, it is our responsibility to ignite in them a natural curiosity for the world around them, the confidence to develop their independence of thinking, and harness their joy for learning. It’s a gift they will carry with them throughout their entire lives and one that will serve them well as they grow into the leaders, innovators, scientists, and shapers of tomorrow.

Related Topics

Information Identified as a Result of Action Research to the Stakeholders

Taxonomy of Question Types

Reflective Models of Professional Development

Roots of Critical Pedagogy 

Two News TV Channels Who Provide Opposite Narratives of Political Scenarios

Point of View about Social Media Used

Students and Parents be a part of the Assessment and Evaluation Process

Critical essay on the current syllabus of Urdu taught 

When can teachers conduct action research, How is it different from applied research and why is it needed

Gibbs Model 

Reflective Writing

Strategies of Developing Critical Classroom Interaction

 

Critical Thinking in the Elementary Classroom

Why do you think critical thinking is important for teachers and learning’s in twenty century