Teaching Critical Thinking

Teaching Critical Thinking presents case studies of teaching in four disciplines, demonstrating how teachers view secondary content and transform content knowledge into work tasks for students. Based on interviews and classroom observation, the volume identifies the relation between imagery embedded in content knowledge and the transformation of pedagogical content knowledge into curriculum. Although most educators argue for the primacy of pedagogy in teaching critical thinking, Grant asserts that teachers' content understanding shapes instructional functions and the selection of activities. Included is an analysis of four teachers' efforts to convey their content understanding to students through critical thinking tasks.

This collection of essays addresses problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, and various conceptions of the learning and thinking process as well as suggestions on how to facilitate these within the academic and business domains. Included are current points of view on the nature of learning and thinking from a wide representation of international sources. The book provides: an overview of cognitive science; a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of higher order thinking; developed programs for the enhancement of thinking skills in elementary, secondary, and college populations; essays on reading and arithmetic, as well as history, physical education, and social competence; a discussion of the role and development of thinking skills in the business domain; and essays emphasizing that creative thinking is within the reach of almost anyone.

The arts are truly "adventures of the mind." Yet, except for a fortunate but relatively small number, even the more educated and sophisticated segments of U.S. society are hardly able to relate to the arts. This book stresses that the arts are cognitive and affective essentials in human development. It provides a thousand year overview of some of the foundational thinking on aesthetic processes and the mind, and then focuses on the critical thinking mechanics and the processes such as aesthetic awareness, cognition, imagery, and the psyche. The book ends with a discussion of aesthetics, cultural literacy, school reform, and teaching approaches.