The merits of multiple perspectives in the classroom » Moving at the Speed of Creativity Annotated

“The only viable way to help students develop their critical thinking skills, in my view, is to encourage them to engage in extended conversations about issues which are not clearly black and white and involve some controversy. Sometimes in school we present the curriculum as a “here are the facts” sort of proposition, but particularly in the domain of science what we need to encourage is a questioning mind and an outlook which is always critical, searching for evidence.”
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I highlighted this entry from Wesley Fryer’s blog post today. For me it addresses the change that educators must make to prepare our students to live productively and in harmony in a global world. I think most of us know the “here are the facts” way of teaching is remembered for only a short while. How may of us remember the names of all 50 states and their capitals or the history of world wars and their purpose or outcome? Maybe, had the unit of study started with an essential question that addressed a real issue I might remember more of what I studied.

When we address those issues that are controversial, we get deep into the subject and encourage our students and ourselves to ask those questions that get us thinking about other perspectives. Is it comfortable for most of us to do this; no. I think that is why many educators don’t address curriculum in this way.

So, how to we get educators to change?