Developing Critical Thinking: From Theory to Classroom Practice

Critical thinking requires a deep understanding of the topic at hand and the ability to look at content from diverse, and often unfamiliar, perspectives. Critical thinkers engage with material in innovative and creative ways to analyze, synthesize and assess it in order to reach their own informed conclusions. Developing Critical Thinking: From Theory to Classroom Practice invites readers to revisit their pedagogy to promote this type of inquiry. Scholars and practitioners from several content areas introduce several examples of instructional strategies, classroom practices, and projects at multiple grade levels. Their experiences come together to highlight practical ways to foster students’ critical thinking skills and encourage them to engage in learning in new ways.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction: Teaching and Learning Critical Thinking Fernando Naiditch, Montclair State University, USA Chapter 1: Understanding Critical Thinking – What is it? Can we teach it? How do we learn it? Fernando Naiditch,Montclair State University, USA Chapter 2: Philosophy for Children and Critical Thinking: Creating a Space for Children to Think in a Kindergarten Classroom Olivier Michaud,Université du Québec à Rimouski, Québec, Canada Chapter 3: Critical Thinking in Action: A Collaborative Early Childhood Approach to Curriculum Design Elizabeth Quintero,California State University, Channel Islands, USA Chapter 4: Promoting Respect through Collaboration: A School Responds to Bullying by Engaging the Community Jean Ann Slusarczyk & Lucy Villaluz,Franklin Elementary School, Bloomfield, NJ, USA Chapter 5: Co-construction as a Critical Approach to Mathematics Education Mark Russo,Pascack Valley Regional High School District, NJ, USA Chapter 6: Critical Pedagogy and the Teaching of Reading for Social Action Fernando Naiditch,Montclair State University, USA Chapter 7:Think Critically and Act Collaboratively: A Critical Framework for Teaching Students with Special Needs Mark Alter and Joan Rosenberg,New York University, USA Chapter 8: Creativity and Motivation in the Teaching and Learning Process Bettina Steren dos Santos, Carla Spagnolo, and Caroline Buker, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Chapter 9: Critical Second Language Pedagogy: Lessons Learned from Teaching Students in Poverty Fernando Naiditch,Montclair State University, USA Afterword: Encouraging Teachers’ Growth and Development using Practitioner Research Kathryn Herr,Montclair State University, USA About the Editor About the Contributors

About the Author :
Dr. Fernando Naiditch has more than 25 years of experience teaching students at all levels in multiple international settings. He brings together an academic background in linguistics with extensive experience preparing teachers for diverse classrooms, schools, and societies. Fernando Naiditch is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Secondary and Special Education in the College of Education and Human Services at Montclair State University.

Review :
Developing Critical Thinking presents a courageous and progressive voice to the educational discourse, bridging theory and practice. Each chapter is a subtle and persuasive theory of action that encourages teacher growth and development through critical teaching frameworks that blend research with the science of care. The contributors to this wonderful edited volume give new meaning to the now popular idea of 'critical thinking,' opening a new world of possibility where thought begins in the soul. This is a definitive text. It is essential reading. Developing Critical Thinking: From Theory to Classroom Practice is atypical of the genre of book in which Higher Ed research is focused like a prescription on shifting classroom practice. Taking up the issue of critical thinking, Naiditch and the scholars he has enlisted turn to real classrooms and real children to show how teachers in schools and universities are using thoughtful study of their practice to engage their students in critical thinking. Their focus is on engaging learners (both teachers and students) to look at a variety of problems ranging from intensely personal ones like making algebra meaningful to general ones shared across a class and school, for example, bullying. In each instance, learners are encouraged both to use the broad range of knowing that is available in their community and to share and question so that multiple points of view are brought to the issue, are heard, and are considered. This is difficult work! There is no right way espoused here unless it is that when there is a genuine quest for knowledge on the part of teachers and students, high-level critical thinking is inevitable, engaging, and inspiring. Fernando Naiditch and his colleagues have produced a very important book that examines critical thinking, an essentially contested concept. Critical thinking means many things to different educators and we find here a carefully constructed book that focuses on what critical thinking looks like in classrooms without minimizing the important philosophical elements it represents. Drawing on constructivism, literacy education, and disabilities education among other fields, we find a compelling argument for the essential importance of critical thinking as part of education in a democracy. Drawing implicitly on the ideas of Dewey and Goodlad, Naiditch makes clear that we need to prepare students to participate in a democratic society by listening carefully, accepting diverse positions, thinking critically about what they mean and seeking compromise. It goes a long way in helping educators use this essential pedagogical tool in their teaching.