I don’t remember ever hearing the terms “critical thinking” or “problem solving” being used in my early education or even high school.  However they are frequently said in today’s classrooms.  I think that it is a great way to reference learning in real life.  They are phrases that have been incorporated into the language of the curriculum.

These common words describe important concepts.  They reach out to transform ordinary knowledge into real life strategies.  If one can learn to take the information gleaned from the classroom and apply it to daily life, true education comes to fruition.

Life itself is a backdrop for continuous decision-making.  Success in any discipline requires this skill.  Critical thinking is essential for creative problem solving.

I wish I had heard these words spoken in my classrooms.  Naming something gives it power.  And empowering students to learn and apply knowledge is one of the most significant, and indeed, noble goals of education.

Let me share an experience that I had while working with a student in her United States History class.  First of all, I need to preface this with the fact that I hated every History class that I had ever taken in high school and college.  But I was assigned to this student, who was in this particular class, so I had no choice in the matter.

From the very beginning, this class was different from anything I had ever experienced in my history classes.  The teacher was fully engaged in his teaching and my student and I were pulled into it.  We were “hooked.”

Day after day, history came alive. Historical figures were the players in this drama. Presidents and other famous people were the “flesh and blood” characters that we learned about.  And their stories were compelling.  No longer was I subjected to the endless lists of events and dates that held no meaning for me.  My student and I were learning and having fun with it.

The school textbooks were tedious and boring, so he used other materials, incorporating storytelling into the daily lectures.  In the process of helping my student, I became a student too.  We took notes, did the assigned reading and all of these were available to us when we took the tests.  However, the questions never had a “who,””what,”“where” or “when” in them.  Instead, they asked “why” and “how.”

Critical thinking was needed to answer these questions.  The tests always required the students to write short essays.  No multiple choice, true or false, matching or fill-in-the-blanks were to be found anywhere on the page.  One had to think, apply the knowledge, use notes, and give examples.  No two papers ever had the same answers.  It took a lot of time to correct these papers.  And he thought the kids were worth it!

Being in this class was the only time I ever really understood or cared about the significance of learning history.  I’d take it again, in a heartbeat, because I am sure I would learn even more the second time around.  Every time I hear “critical thinking skills, I think of him and smile.

Learning to think critically gives one the required tools to solve problems.  I can think of no greater educational goal than enabling students by teaching them how to proficiently apply these principles in their daily lives.

That is why I applaud dedicated teachers everywhere, for going into this incredibly demanding profession.  We must appreciate them and support them in their efforts. We are all needed to engage in the learning process on behalf of the children who are the faces of our future.  If we can equip them with the discipline of critical thinking, then surely problem solving will be much less of a problem.