Strategies to Help Our Students Reflectively and Critically Think

Reflective and Critical  thinking, writing, and speaking have been defined in various ways:

Critical thinking is used to describe:

"... the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome...thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task. Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome." Halpern (1996).

Reflective thinking is a part of the critical thinking process referring specifically to the processes of analyzing and making judgments about what has happened. Making sense of an activity or lesson either verbally or written. Dewey (1933) suggests that reflective thinking is an active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge, of the grounds that support that knowledge, and the further conclusions to which that knowledge leads. Students should be aware and in control of their own learning. When they actively participate in reflective thinking – analyzing and critiquing what they know and need to know, they make their own choices and therefore can reflect on their decision making.

Critical thinking involves a wide range of thinking skills leading toward desirable outcomes and reflective thinking focuses on the process of making judgments about what has happened. While reflective thinking is important in prompting learning during problem-solving situations , it needs to be nurtured and practiced. Reflective thinking provides students with an opportunity to step back and think about how they actually solve problems which is an important step not only during experimental design but in all decision making. So how can we implement a particular set of problem solving strategies to help our students use both critical and reflective thinking that is appropriated for achieving their goal?

Raising students' awareness and attention to how they learn and how they process information is a very important step to helping students guide their own learning. My goal as a teacher is to step back and let my students teach themselves. however, this can be a challenge sometimes when they are not provided ample time to reflect and solve problems for themselves. Making lessons too challenging can cause frustration which is healthy, but too challenging can cause them to give up. To easy, they become disinterested and complacent. So the key is to challenge them but help them refine and strengthen their interpersonal skills, and self-reflective awareness. 

Herbert (1995) offers some excellent advice:

To be an effective facilitator of this type of reflection and an analysis, the teacher must be a good observer of what is happening. He or she needs to observe not only the learners' actions and non-actions toward the activity, but also toward each other. Then, at appropriate times, observations could be offered, questions asked, feelings explored.

The teacher must also be able to vary his or her approach in helping the students analyze what has taken place. The methods are dependent on the personalities and situations involved. At times, it might be necessary to be blunt and honest with feedback.

At other times, questions, discussions, or a gentle approach help students discover for themselves what they have done and how they are perceived. Sometimes nothing needs to be said. It is difficult to know the approach to use with each individual in each situation. Experience is a good teacher (p. 206).

Differentiating these techniques works best for me. The more reflective writing and collaborative activities we have in my classroom the more critical thinkers my students become. Talking through your ideas with your peers and seeing your ideas come to light is an experience every student experiences. When we hear critique and feedback it only strengthens our resolve and helps us put our learning into perspective. The more we reflect the more focused our learning becomes. The more practice we have with problem-solving and critical thinking the more strategies we discover to help us learn and grow.

Halpern, D. F. (1996). Thought and knowledge: an introduction to critical thinking (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.