Base education on critical thinking

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Education should not be based solely on the amount of book knowledge, but on critical thinking. By extension, metacognitive and metalinguistic reasoning skills are part of this critical thinking. Within this framework, multiculturally designed curricula (the Australian model is exemplary) should define the instructional objectives, standards, and goals of each unit, with teachers having a significant input, especially at the school level, to bolster grasp and ownership.

Besides direct subject content built into curriculum planning, skillets and standards that foster intelligence, analysis, and synthesis have to be taught. The pedagogy of Pablo Freire is a good starting point in this respect. In this context, the regional offices of the Ministry of Education should seek to strengthen instructional leadership and promote equitable learning via culturally responsive and effective instructional output and accountability. The workshop model, for example, is a methodology that pushes students to be creative and responsible for their own learning.

It can be supplemented by various other approaches that may include:

· Alternative teaching: a co-teaching model in which one teacher works with a small group of students as the other teacher instructs the large group.

· Peer instruction: students work in pairs or small groups engaged in active learning from, and teaching to, their partners or the rest of the group.

· Small group work: gives students the opportunity to engage in process skills that are critical for processing information, solving problems, and evaluating management skills and self-responsibility through the use of roles within groups.

·Flipped classroom: the teacher acts as a facilitator, monitoring students’ progress on assigned work, and stepping in to help when they get stuck.

· Project-based learning: students engage in projects, and are responsible for doing their own research and solving problems for themselves, with minimum guidance.

Similarly, multiple evaluation yardsticks should be applied – standardised tests, project-based assessments; performance assessments, group work assessments; portfolios, game-based assessments, conferencing assessments, and peer and self-assessments that include use of checklists and rubrics.

Teachers and schools should be equipped with the necessary tools and mechanisms to promote inclusive learning, especially in depressed regions of their country.

Personality development via pedagogical approach in education can reduce cognitive impoverishment and social and emotional underskilling. This will ensure enabling both egalitarianism and equity in the education process.

ANNAN BOODRAM