Episode 108: Educational Growth — From Memorization to Critical Thinking

Are you doing these critical things to help your child succeed academically? Take the quiz now to find out the important actions you can take to enhance your child's education. Go to my website, liberationthrougheducation.com quiz and take the quiz today.

Welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim J. Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators, administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped with to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. This podcast is at the intersection between education research and parental actions. If you're looking to find out more about the current trends, issues and themes in education that could affect you or your children, and you want to know the specific actions you can take to support and advocate for your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 education topics is important to you, so keep listening. In this episode I'll be discussing the value of two very different types of memorizing and critical thinking. What are you doing right now? Are you thinking? Are you distracted or are you listening? Thinking is a natural process and we do it all day long, but left to itself, it is often biased, distorted, partial, uninformed and potentially prejudiced. How much information do you think you've memorized over the years? Is memorizing a necessary component of learning? Why is critical thinking such a sought after skill? The fact of the matter is that both are necessary components of the learning process. I explore these questions about memorization and critical thinking as well as the value of each in this episode. First, let's untangle this it is well known that rote memorization does not promote critical thinking. Yet memorizing information is necessary, especially in primary school, because it lays the foundation for higher order thinking. Critical thinking is the ability to apply analysis, synthesis, self reflection and perspective taking in order to be deliberate about thinking which leads to actions that are logical and appropriate. Let's first address memorizing. Memorization can play an important role in learning. Memorization relies on the background information and knowledge necessary to creatively solve problems. Memorization includes more than rote learning it includes using techniques such as mnemonic visualization, etc. To learn long lists of numbers, dates, names, and other things. Memorization is necessary to function on a daily basis. Personal information like name, address, date of birth, phone number. These types of things should be memorized at an early age, just as grammar, vocabulary, and syntax should be memorized at an early age. Some of the benefits of memorization Training the brain to remember things Challenging the brain Improving neuroplasticity Teaching rhythmic patterns, such as in nursery rhymes for young children. Promoting mental gymnastics, like remembering facts from sports history or sports scores, freeing up brain power because equations, definitions, and other memorized facts save brain power that could be used for other things. And finally, another benefit of memorization is developing memory training. Memorization provides exercise for the mind, and it trains the mind to pay attention and to focus intensely. Memorization techniques like mnemonics help students remember information through patterns. An example of a mnemonic for remembering the colors of the rainbow, for example, is Roy G. Biv for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Mental imagery is another memorization method that helps students build their working memory. An example of this would be for students in the primary classroom to visualize the words that would be included on a spelling test. When they hear the word, they visualize the word and then write the word. Even technology can be used in memorization. Students can take the information that they learned, put it into their own words, and send their point of view about what they just learned to a classmate via the computer. This is a fun and effective way to cement information into their brains. Another great way to memorize something is to connect it to emotion. Remembering facts in history, such as learning about Rosa Parks and asking students to put themselves in her position, would help anchor their feelings about the situation to what they need to remember about her. Interestingly, we never forget anything unless the brain has been affected by injury or disease. Under normal circumstances, it may take a while to retrieve information, but the brain never loses anything. Memorization is a technique that's widely used. People in language classes, particularly foreign language classes. Memorization develops the brain in a way that nothing else can. Memorizing information can make connections in the brain through frequency, intensity, and the duration of stimulation. It generally takes about 40 exposures to information before it becomes automatic. The mental discipline required to memorize material typically carries over into other academic areas. Memorization is a learning strategy that's most helpful in the early stages of learning. While it may not be all about learning, memorization is a basic and significant tool for the learning process. It may be an old school skills driven teaching method, but it could be used as a motivational tool to learn foundational concepts that could be key to to more advanced learning. Being able to apply critical thinking skills to solve problems is not something that typically results from memorization practice. So let's turn the discussion to critical thinking. Critical thinking involves evaluating information, analyzing an argument, integrating facts into theory, and taking different points of view on a given topic. One study found that critical thinking improved when a positive mood, such as listening to music or looking at images that produced positive feelings was provided in the classroom. The thinking was more creative and fluid under positive mood conditions. Increased energy seems to be a notable outcome when a positive mood is induced in the classroom. This was especially noted for females in this study. Critical thinking is a skill that has to be taught and practiced. Critical thinking skills are important because they help students deal effectively with social, scientific, and practical problems. As one of the critical 21st century skills skills, critical thinking enables students to solve problems, especially real world problems, effectively. Just having the knowledge or information is not enough. Critical thinking is a mental habit that requires students to think about their thinking and about ways to improve the process of thinking and learning. Perhaps the whole paradigm of the education system should be turned on its head. Educators should be teaching students how to think instead of teaching them what to think. Unfortunately, the current educational approach is about standardizing curricula and focusing on test scores, both of which undermine an instructor's ability to teach critical thinking in the classroom. Teaching to the test takes away from the learning process and puts emphasis on the content. Although students aren't typically given the freedom or responsibility to explore the content, to analyze resources, and to apply the information. In other words, students aren't typically taught to think or learn independently, and most of the time they rarely acquire the skills on their own. Critical thinking is not an innate ability. Therefore, students have to be trained to become systematically analytical, fair, and open minded as they pursue knowledge. So what's the major impediment to why critical thinking hasn't been fully integrated in education? There are four barriers that limit teaching critical thinking and education 1 lack of training, 2 lack of information, 3 preconceptions and 4 time constraints. Most elementary and secondary school teachers know their content but rarely receive any training devoted specifically to how to teach critical thinking skills. Additionally, few instructional materials provide critical thinking resources specifically for educators. Finally, it takes more time to develop and integrate project based and problem based learning opportunities for students to build critical thinking skills. Teaching critical thinking skills in the classroom involves elements such as presenting ill structured problems, criteria for assessing thinking, student assessment of his or her thinking and improvement of thinking. These types of lessons require require more time than just filling out worksheets, but they allow students to learn the process of critical thinking. These lessons also emphasize the importance of asking the right questions that help to stimulate students critical thinking skills. The type of questions to ask include what do you think about this? Why do you think that? What is your knowledge based on? Are there other possibilities? These types of questions require time for students to process and formulate their response in order to initiate the critical thinking process. The effort required by teachers to integrate critical thinking skills and exercises into the classroom is worth the reward which is producing students who can critically think for themselves and solve real world problems. How does the issue of learning styles come into play when teaching critical thinking skills? Teachers should utilize each student's strengths to build critical thinking skills. This doesn't mean ignoring a student's weaknesses, but it does mean providing exercises that enable the student to build the skills that are lacking. Since it's unlikely that a teacher can be all things to all students, it's important for the educator to provide varied activities that allow individual expression and skills, such as making both structured and open ended assignments, asking students to work independently and in pairs, asking students to find specific supporting arguments in the debate on a controversial issue, and asking students to imagine a future world where significant discoveries have yet to be made. Thinking is a natural process, yet excellence in thought must be cultivated. Critical thinkers ask vigorous questions and problems, formulate and gather and assess information using abstract ideas, being open minded and communicate effectively with others. On the other hand, passive thinkers have a limited and egocentric view of the world. They answer questions with yes or no and view their perspectives as being the only sensible one based on facts that are relevant for them. Critical thinking is a required skill in the 21st century workplace where it can be used to evaluate people, policies, and institutions, all of which could help mitigate social problems. Now let's move on from absorbing and listening to this discussion to applying it. With that in mind, how does what I've just discussed apply to you? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic. You know that memorizing information begins early in a child's life. Children as young as two years old can recite numbers, names of objects, etc. So keep teaching your children these things to build foundational knowledge. You may be wondering how you can build your child's critical thinking skills. Here are some suggestions for doing that. 1. Ask Follow up questions when your children are doing their homework. These would include questions like what do you think about this? Why do you think that? If things were different, how would that change the situation? What knowledge are you using to base your answers on? Another take on this is for you to have your children generate their own questions, including short answer and essay questions. This is especially helpful in text heavy subjects like reading, literature, history, geography, and science. Then have them answer their own questions. Finally, have them refer back to the text to see if the answers to their questions were correct. Your feedback during this process is vital because feedback is the key component of developing critical thinking skills. 2. Use imaginative writing to help your child think more actively. For example, you might ask your child to imagine a day in the life of an animal that he or she was studying in class. The writing could encompass things such as what the animal eats, sees its size, and daily routines. Or you could ask your children to write about what they did in a typical day while playing on the playground, having lunch with friends, etc. This exercise could last about 15 minutes and you could review it to see if anything was left out that needed to be included. A note on this though this exercise is not about free writing because your child is asked to write about something that he or she has either studied or experienced. 3. To build problem solving skills, have your children write and define terms or concepts from their readings. This will help them reflect on what they are learning, the value of what they are learning, and what else they need to learn. It's important for them to not skip over these terms, but to understand them and to use them appropriately in examples. This allows you to assess their level of understanding. Remember that critical thinking is a set of skills that can be improved through practice. Complex problems can be academic or personal and social in nature, and having a systematic way to solve these problems is part of the process of critical thinking. Here are this episode's takeaways. Memorization can play an important role in learning. It relies on the background information and knowledge necessary to create a solve problems. Memorization includes more than rote learning. It includes using techniques such as mnemonics, visualization, etc. To learn long lists of numbers, dates, names, and other items. Memorization is necessary to function on a daily basis. Memorization provides exercise for the mind and it trains the mind to pay attention and to focus intensely. Critical thinking involves evaluating information, analyzing an argument, integrating facts into theory, taking different points of view on a given topic. Critical thinking is a skill that has to be taught and practiced. Critical thinking skills are important because they help students deal effectively with with social, scientific and practical problems as one of the critical 21st century skills. Critical thinking enables students to solve problems, especially real world problems, effectively. Just having the knowledge or information is not enough. The major impediments as to why critical thinking hasn't fully been integrated in education in includes four barriers for teachers, lack of training, lack of information, preconceived notions, and time constraints. Perhaps the whole paradigm of the education system should be turned on its head. Educators should be teaching students how to think instead of teaching them what to think. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, then leave me a rating, a review, or a comment on Apple or podchaser. Leaving me a review is a great way to support me and to help my podcast grow. And do me a favor. Remember to share my podcast with anyone that you think will find valuable. That includes friends, family and your community. Thanks for tuning in and listening to this episode. I hope you'll come back for more K12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. Until next time, aim to learn something new every day.

Love my show. Consider being a regular subscriber. You can subscribe for as little as $3 per month. Just go to HTTPs://forward/tinyurl.com forward/podcast support there's no contractual obligation. You can cancel at any time. If you choose to subscribe, I'll give you a special shout out thanking you in an upcoming episode. Remember, that's tinyurl tin.

Com.

Podcast support. To subscribe.