Critical Thinking, Now More Than Ever

“You can’t handle the truth!”  Of course you can! And so can your students. But with increasing charges of fake news, misinformation, or just plain lies flooding the contemporary discourse it is difficult to know what is true and what is not. One group reports that the economy is booming while another group believes that we are headed for economic doom. Some doctors tell us that the current pandemic is receding while others assure us that more misery is on its way. Various politicians proclaim that we are in the worst crime spree in decades while others claim that the crime statistics tell a different story and that actually, crime rates are down. What to believe? What to believe? It seems that every statement made these days, especially by politicians and bureaucrats, needs to be questioned.

This can be troubling and confusing for the public who rely on government leaders to provide information that can be trusted in order to make decisions about their finances, health, and daily activities. Fortunately, adults have resources and strategies to sort fact from fiction and respond appropriately. Presumably, informed citizens can identify and analyze public problems, work with others to address those problems, and then take civic action.

It is much more difficult for students to sort fact from fiction. It is even more challenging for teachers to provide them with the strategies they need to assess the validity of such information. This is especially true in a civics classroom. Teachers have always required students to verify claims and cite sources. However, in the current climate where the veracity of every statement is being challenged, it is imperative that educators give students the tools to verify their work.  Students also need to determine if the information they are gathering is accurate, especially when reading and researching civics. This requires students to think critically.

Fortunately, some educators have recognized the importance of utilizing critical thinking in the classroom and have begun to incorporate it through a number of programs and initiatives. One such initiative is a curricular framework known as C3 – College, Career, and Civic Life. C3 has a number of stated objectives one of which is to build critical thinking, problem solving, and participatory skills to become engaged citizens. If this framework is embedded in a school system’s curriculum, it could greatly enhance students’ ability to think critically and successfully analyze the veracity of the materials used in the classroom.

Curriculum planners believe that these procedures could assist teachers in preparing students to be both active learners and critical thinkers.

The good news is that many states have adopted the C3 guidelines in their social studies curriculum and have encouraged their teachers to implement the strategies embedded in the program. This blog's author encourages interested educators to visit the various cites that explain the C3 program and offer sample lesson plans.

• C3 Teachers Website
• C3 Framework

Another program readily available to civics teachers is the We the People program created and managed by The Center for Civic Education.  The We the People curriculum is an innovative course of instruction on the history and principles of the United States constitutional democratic republic. This program comes in three levels (elementary, middle and high school). While the program focuses on the delivery of content, its culminating activity and optional assessment tool relies heavily on critical thinking as well as the ability to evaluate sources. The We the People program’s culminating activity is a simulated congressional hearing.  In this simulated hearing, students “testify” before a panel of judges, who act as members of Congress. Students demonstrate their understanding of constitutional principles through evaluating and defending positions on relevant issues, both historical and contemporary. This activity requires critical thinking. After a unit of study, a teacher might choose to conduct a simulated congressional hearing. During the “hearing” a judge (this can be the teacher, a parent or guest) might ask the following question to a 5^th grade student:

Congress has formed a congressional committee. This committee is examining the United States Constitution and the purposes of government. The members of your group are expert witnesses who are appearing before the committee. We are now going to ask you to testify on the following questions.

· What responsibilities go along with the rights of citizens?

· Do you think every citizen should be required to participate in his or her government? How?

· How does a responsible citizen promote the common good?

· Why do so many people not fulfill their responsibility to vote?

· As citizens of a democratic republic, do we have responsibilities to other nations of the world?

In order for students to successfully respond to these questions they must first have a mastery of the content. This would be standard practice in any social studies or civics classroom and this content is covered in the We the People text. However, several of those questions require more than rote recitation of facts. Students must present their opinion, based on facts, and the justification of that opinion using those facts. A student could not just respond to the last question by stating,

- Or -

The student would have to justify that response:

- Or -

Keep in mind that some of the questions require a student’s opinion. What a judge measures is the justification of that opinion using facts learned in preparation for this exercise. If the justification is not being cited appropriately or correctly it will be pointed out by the judges. Students learn to think critically by being allowed to express and defend their positions which can be followed by safe and open discussion. As a judge, I might tell the 5^th grade student that she did correctly cite the Preamble, but perhaps a closer examination of the Constitution might lead her to a different response. Also, I might suggest that she remember her responses and that upon reaching middle and high school she will more closely delve into the text of the Constitution and possibly amend her opinion. In this way, students’ opinions are accepted and respected and students are also given the opportunity to reconsider their responses without negative feedback. What better way is there to promote critical thinking than having students evaluate Constitutional issues using research and analysis, forming opinions and defending those opinions? If you are not familiar with this program you can learn more at The Center for Civic Education.

These are just two of the numerous programs that promote critical thinking in civics classrooms. We will visit others in future blog posts.

Once we equip students with those critical thinking skills, we next must provide them with the tools to tackle the “fake news” we mentioned earlier in our blog. Here are some sites that might help:

News Literacy  https://newslit.org/about/

Civics Online Reasoning      https://cor.stanford.edu/

ICivics       https://www.icivics.org/curriculum/media-literacy-library