The High Cost of Uncritical Teaching

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Every person—educated or not—possesses many of these capabilities for critical thinking. Different individuals employ them to varying degrees, often depending on time and circumstance. The previous list is not exhaustive, of course.

 

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES IN CURRICULUM

 

Some educators and parents feel that critical thinking opens classrooms to controversy. To ease this perceived problem, some schools have created a special area of curriculum called “controversial issues”—as though these matters could be isolated and handled gingerly in a guarded and sanitized arena. Quite frankly, this is educational nonsense, for those issues that we call controversial are inherent in any vital curriculum. Moreover, controversial issues reflect the most important values of a society, and they crop up most frequently in areas undergoing the most significant kinds of change. Indeed, these issues are the foci that make the curriculum meaningful and keep it alive.

 

The human tendency to suppress the critical capacity and to go along with the crowd was noted long ago by Alexis de Tocqueville, the great 19th-century French observer of society. He wrote, “It seems, at first sight, as if all the minds of the Americans were formed upon one model, so accurately do they correspond in their manner of judging.”

 

Honest people can, and will, differ over the meaning and importance of facts, events and ideas. Whatever the course of study—in science, social science or the humanities — it is the differences in viewpoints that offer the most fertile ground for discussion.

 

Teachers of all subjects must concern themselves more with discussion than with exposition. Above all, they must instill in students a familiarity with—and even a love of—critical thinking and discourse. Students and society will benefit greatly as a result.

Vocabulary Focus

exhaustive (adj) [i^5zC:stiv] complete; thorough

sanitized (adj) [5sAnitaizd] relating to something that has been made less shocking or upsetting, especially by not showing or expressing everything

crop up (idiom) to happen or appear unexpectedly

 

Specialized Terms

foci (n pl) （focus的正式复数形）重心；中心 the formal, plural form for focus, the main or central point of something

exposition (n) 阐述；解说 a systematic explanation or interpretation of an idea or theory

不具批判性的教学法代价高昂

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不论是否受过教育，每个人都具备许多这些批判性思考所需的能力。不同的人会根据时机或情况，将这些能力做不同程度的运用。上面所列出的当然不尽完整。

 

学校课程中具争论性的议题   

有些教育学者和家长认为批判性思考将课堂开放成争论不休的地方。为了缓和这所谓的问题，有些学校开设了一个特别领域的课程，称作“争论性的议题”，犹如这些问题可以在一个受监控和过滤过的地方被极其谨慎地隔离及处理。很坦白地说，这简直是教育上的自欺欺人，因为那些我们认为有争议的问题，存在于任何一套重要课程中。此外，争论性议题反映出社会上最重要的价值观，而且最常无预警地出现在正经历最重大改变的领域。这些议题确实是让学校课程有意义并且能持续下去的重心。   

伟大的19世纪法国社会观察家托克维尔很久以前就注意到，人性倾向压抑批判能力并随波逐流。他写道：“乍一看，似乎所有美国人的心智都由同一种模式塑造，因此他们断定事情的方式非常一致。”  

诚实的人能够，而且也会对事实、事件和观念的意义与重要性有不同意见。无论学习什么科目，包括自然科学、社会科学或人文学科，观点的差异性提供了最具营养的讨论沃土。   

各科老师必须更关心课堂讨论而不是一味地解说。最重要的是，老师们必须帮学生熟悉、甚至喜爱批判性思考及互动交流。结果是学生和社会均将受益良多。