Like Abbie, I began my reading for this week with Sherry Linkon’s “The Reader’s Apprentice.” And, like her, I also find myself struck by something in the article that is forcing me to pause my reading in order to think through my thoughts by writing them down.
On page 251, Linkon paraphrases Randy Bass, “…one of the differences between expert and novice readers is that experts are able to both formulate hypotheses and defer reaching conclusions, practices that novices do not use comfortably. Expert reading is thus critical in part because it involves actively considering multiple interpretations.”
I propose that you re-read that quote and substitute the word “think” for “read”. Really. Try it.
Perhaps this is at the heart of why English teachers have such a hard time engaging students and motivating them to put in the time and mental work to really read something, even if it is difficult or boring or seemingly irrelevant to their lives. Maybe we can’t just blame their English teachers from the previous years. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that for some reason, these students don’t know how to think critically. But, does thinking need to be taught? Isn’t this something that is inherently natural to humans?
As discussed in class this last week, our education system seems to favor breadth over depth. When learning isn’t deep, how can thinking be deep? If students don’t think deeply, how can we expect them to read critically? I don’t think we can. Every one of us in this class thinks (and reads) critically. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be in this field of study. Who taught us how to think? Were we taught, or have we just had these inquiring, critical minds since childhood? Were we all reading novels and having philosophical debates at age seven because we were born with the ability, or did someone in our lives teach us to reach past the surface of things and question them, to consider more than one perspective, to draw connections between ideas, and to formulate interpretations that we can justify but aren’t afraid to modify? All children are curious, but why do some seem to lose that at some point along the way and replace it with a shrug, an eye roll, and an attitude?
As current and/or future teachers of literature, our job is to not just to teach students how to read critically, but it is to require them to think deeply and critically first. Perhaps for some students, that will be a new experience and a serious challenge. For us, it will definitely be a challenge.
You ask: “Who taught us how to think? Were we taught, or have we just had these inquiring, critical minds since childhood?”
Personally, I think I became interested in English studies and literature because I love to read. When I was growing up, “Use both hands” was code for “Put down the book” in my house. I love reading — I love experiencing what a book makes me feel, how it makes me think, what it makes me think about.
English studies/lit. filled a carved-out hole in my life because it gave me a space to explore and understand /why/ I loved reading so much, and why I love books. Instead of reacting purely emotionally, I could put names to things, put a finger on “why.” All of which, of course, deepens the enjoyment (for me at least) and creates new, exciting questions.
In general, I would submit that people are curious about things that they react strongly to. I don’t ask many questions about carbon dating because I don’t really care. I get that it’s important to figuring out the life span of the world and what’s in it, but that doesn’t make me jump up and say “Oo, yeah!”
Which is why I think that making literature accessible — more importantly, making the /ideas/ in literature accessible — might be one way to keep students interested, no matter their field of study or interest. Talk to them about the movie /The Lion King/, then blow their minds by telling them that it’s basically Disney’s take on /Hamlet/. Show them how literature permeates their lives, even if they don’t know it. That’s how I’d hope to get (& keep!) students interested.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on how we develop critical thinking skills. I have many of the same thoughts and questions myself. I tend to think that critical thinking is “natural,” but, as Abbie pointed out, each individual has different areas/topics that are more natural to him/her than others.
I know I always come back to discussing my IB students compared to my regular-level students, but teaching these two levels really makes me think about a lot of issues, one of which is critical thinking. My IB students have this drive to think deeply and my regular-level students do not. And I’m not just talking in terms of literature. When we discuss current events and issues, my advanced students think, discuss, and debate, and my general-level students really don’t even seem to care. There is such a feeling of apathy in my regular-level classes, and I’m always wondering, “Why?” “What happened?”
I don’t have any answers for this issue, but I am interested in continued discussion on critical thinking and how/when we develop these essential skills and how we help our students to continue to develop them.