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My Teaching Philosophy:
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Critical thinking vs. knowledge
During my years at school, and as a parent of children attending public school, I frequently heard educators speak disparagingly of “regurgitating facts,” warning that students should not “merely parrot back” what they had learned, and stating that education should be about “critical thinking” and not “just” acquiring facts. Once I attended a speech given by a high-ranking professional in the local school district my children attended. He avowed the usual sentiments, but I noticed he made an allusion to “Ozzie and Harriet” in illustrating a point. He was assuming that his audience would be familiar with a 1950’s television program and, further, understand that he was making a disparaging reference to that period of history. Simply by saying “Ozzie and Harriet,” he could, with great economy of speech, convey a lot of meaning to his audience. Therefore he was assuming a degree of cultural literacy in his listeners which was completely at odds with his thesis that critical thinking mattered and knowledge acquisition didn’t. Some educators show their allegiance to the critical thinking camp by quoting William Butler Yeats: “the mind is not a bucket to be filled, but a fire to be lighted.” Ironically, those who repeat this quote evidently don’t possess the literary knowledge to question whether this sounds like something Yeats would say, or the research skills to realize that nowhere in Yeats’ published work can this quote be found. While this in itself might not matter much, the inability to distinguish a fact from a falsehood, or rather, the ability to alert oneself to the possibility that a fact needs to be checked, is essential to critical thinking. Researcher Garson O’Toole traced the purported Yeats quote to a quote attributed to Plutarch (“education is a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted”) and discovered what Plutarch actually said was: For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth. It is a joyful thing for a teacher to feel that he or she has kindled a fire in a student’s mind, but first, there must be kindling. The student brings his or her own experiences to the classroom – no one is suggesting that students are a tabula rasa -- but nevertheless, teachers must start with facts to build that fire. These facts can be presented in an interesting fashion, calling upon the teacher’s skills as a presenter and sharing the teacher’s passion for the subject -- but still, we need some facts. Critical thinking relies upon knowledge Daniel T. Willingham, a professor of cognitive psychology, has argued that critical thinking can only take place when the thinker has fields of knowledge to draw upon. He cites the example of an experiment where a group of American students and Chinese students were given the same brain teaser: A treasure hunter is going to explore a cave up on a hill near a beach. He suspected there might be many paths inside the cave so he was afraid he might get lost. Obviously, he did not have a map of the cave; all he had with him were some common items such as a flashlight and a bag. What could he do to make sure he did not get lost trying to get back out of the cave later? The American students fared better because, the researchers surmise, they all knew the fable of Hansel and Gretel. When the Chinese students were presented with a different brain teaser drawn from their cultural background, they were able to use critical thinking to solve the problem. E.D. Hirsch, Jr. is the leading champion of cultural literacy in education. Inevitably, his views have been challenged by those who suggest that it is impossible to define what should or shouldn’t be on the list of things all educated people should know, and further that to speak of cultural literacy is to be exclusionary, snobbish and Western-centric, and to give too much credence to “dead white males.” However, there are practical reasons for desiring cultural literacy and research appears to back Hirsch’s viewpoint: As summarized by Pentony [1997] Hirsch’s thesis is that “poor readers [who] do not know much about their cultural background… [are] at a serious disadvantage in reading comprehension. [Pentony, Joseph F., Adult Basic Education, v7 n1 p39-45 Spring 1997.] Pentony’s research validated Hirsch’s hypothesis that students who scored well in cultural literacy knowledge tended to do well in their studies, while those who lacked cultural literacy did not. It is simply not fair for schools to withhold from disadvantaged children the background knowledge that the most successful advantaged students accumulate from their homes and, to varying degrees, from their schools over a period of years. 
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Knowledge gives a feeling of belonging
Few if any peoples on this earth are more “disadvantaged” than North Koreans. Even if a North Korean escapes to the South, adjustment to life outside of the dictatorship is very difficult. The South Korean government devotes considerable resources to helping North Korean refugees. Despite this, North Koreans drop out of South Korean universities at high rates, often because they struggle with English. A Korean newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo, reported: …the dropout rate of 28.4 percent is much higher than the average dropout rate… [of] 4.5 percent. Also, 43.6 percent of North Korean students in the South took leave of absence, due to difficulties with their academic work caused by the language barrier, which includes English expressions and unfamiliar words." The huge educational and cultural gap between North and South Koreans meant that North Koreans could not understand much of their university curriculum in addition to feeling isolated and ostracized. Implications for ESL instruction I believe a key factor in motivating students is for the students to feel that they are acquiring “inside knowledge.” As part of my practicum, I compiled and presented a short video about the history of English, which illustrated how Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Norman French and even the Vikings contributed to modern English. Do ESL students need to know these things? No. Could they derive some benefit and interest from getting the “inside story” about the language they are studying? Of course. When students can use even rudimentary English to appreciate a poem, or laugh at a joke in English, they become more active and engaged learners. How rewarding for a student to realize they have just understood a short passage from Shakespeare, and they can reach across a barrier of language and time to recognize the common humanity we share with each other, and with a man who wrote over four hundred years ago. But a person who doesn’t know what he is missing, because no one ever told him about the feast that awaits, is like the proverbial frog at the bottom of a well. Can you discuss English culture without being a cultural chauvinist? The concern, as expressed by Professor David Johnson of Kennesaw State University, is that “teaching culture necessitates exclusionary practices that could be interpreted as hegemonic….. Instructors lack time and expertise to include all relevant aspects (if it were even possible to determine what all the relevant aspects were). The dilemma then for ESL teachers is to include and integrate culture in their language curriculum without hegemonizing” The teacher can show respect for the student’s culture by studying and, where appropriate, referencing that country’s history, and include their folk tales, songs and poetry in translation. Commonalities between cultures can also be explored through folk tales. For example, the Koreans have a Cinderella story, although their Cinderella is named “Pear Blossom.” In the old Korean folk tale of the Heavenly Maiden and the Woodcutter, a poor woodcutter is told he can have a beautiful heavenly maiden for his wife, but he must hide her enchanted clothing (that enables her to fly back to heaven), from her until she has borne three children. This is because the maiden can carry only one child on each arm and she would never leave earth to return to heaven if it meant leaving one of her children behind. This story could serve as a launching point for a discussion of the history of women’s rights in Korea, or the tug-of-war between personal aspiration and family life felt by working women the world over. Just a little effort in this direction can help counteract the appearance of a one-way transmission of culture. This kind of teaching need not be confined to advanced English classes. A Beatles tune such as “Love Me Do,” can be used with beginning English students and the students in turn could share some of their favourite songs and explain their meaning to the class. In the end, however, as a teacher I am comfortable, even unapologetic, about the notion that there exists a broadly understood and agreed-upon corpus of knowledge, including the classics of western literature, the Bible (as historical document and influencer of western literature, not as Revealed Truth), our Greco-Roman heritage, and the flowering of knowledge during the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. And this heritage is not reserved for people with pale skins; it is available to everyone. Thanks to the internet, this knowledge has never been more accessible. Conclusion Therefore, while being the “guide on the side” has much to recommend it in terms of student engagement and adult learning, teachers who have some knowledge of, and appreciation for, their cultural heritage can enrich the classroom by being the “sage on the stage” once in a while. A little imagination in terms of curriculum design can result in many student-directed activities. Big caveat: Teachers who use the classroom to indoctrinate their students with their political and social viewpoints. Here's a link to my article about the #disrupttexts movement. I will continue to post on this topic on my blog as I come across research and commentary of interest. Update: Teachers, I recommend following teacher and research Greg Ashman and his podcast "Filling the Pail." He is the author of The Power of Explicit Teaching and Direct Instruction. "the single worst idea in education — that we learn something better by figuring it out for ourselves" |
Bibliography
“Critical Thinking: Why is it so hard to teach?,” by Daniel T. Willingham, American Educator, Summer 2007, 8-19
Goldberg, Mark F. 1997. "Doing What Works: An Interview with E.D. Hirsch, Jr." Phi Delta Kappan 79, no. 1: 83-85.
Teaching Culture in Adult ESL: Pedagogical and Ethical Considerations, David Johnson, English Department, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA,
in TESL-EJ, electronic journal of Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.
“Critical Thinking: Why is it so hard to teach?,” by Daniel T. Willingham, American Educator, Summer 2007, 8-19
Goldberg, Mark F. 1997. "Doing What Works: An Interview with E.D. Hirsch, Jr." Phi Delta Kappan 79, no. 1: 83-85.
Teaching Culture in Adult ESL: Pedagogical and Ethical Considerations, David Johnson, English Department, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA,
in TESL-EJ, electronic journal of Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.