Teachers’ Understandings of Critical and Higher Order Thinking and What This Means for Their Teaching and Assessments ...

• Main Authors: Schulz, Henry W, FitzPatrick, Beverly
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Alberta Journal of Educational Research 2016
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v62i1.56168; https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ajer/article/view/56168

Critical and higher order thinking is essential to education, but it is not clear what teachers understand this to mean and what role this has in their instruction. We interviewed 38 teachers in Kindergarten to Grade 9 classrooms from 14 schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, to obtain their understandings of critical and higher order thinking in social studies and science, and how this affects instruction and assessment. The teachers believed that higher order thinking was important for all students, and attempted to teach thinking; however, they were less sure of how they might assess thinking. The teachers indicated uncertainty about what higher order thinking means, and believed they were not well prepared to teach or assess higher order thinking. L’esprit critique et les habiletés supérieures de la pensée sont des éléments essentiels de l’éducation; pourtant, il n’est pas clair si les enseignants comprennent ces concepts ou le rôle que jouent ceux-ci dans leur enseignement. Nous avons interrogé ... : Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 62 No. 1 (2016): Spring ...