Transcript Presentation Title - Indiana University

Aligning the Paul-Elder and
Brookfield Models
The Community of Practice for Critical Thinking
Gateway Critical Thinking Summer Symposium
Indianapolis, IN
May 7, 2013
May 7, 2013
Important Aspects of the Paul-Elder
Model
• Elements of Thinking and Intellectual
Standards
(http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm)
May 7, 2013
Applying the Paul/Elder Model to a
Reading
• What question is the writer addressing? (Think
here of the issue focused on and a question he or
she appears to be addressing or trying to answer.)
• What information does the writer present in his or
her essay?
• What concepts does the essay depend upon, and
how does the writer use the concepts to further
his or her main idea?
• How is point of view affecting the way the writer is
addressing the issue? How does his or her point
of view affect what he or she says in the essay?
May 7, 2013
Important Aspects of the Brookfield
Model
• Identify Assumptions Informing
Thoughts and Actions
• Check Assumptions for Accuracy and
Validity
• View Ideas and Actions from
Alternative Perspectives
• Take Informed Action
May 7, 2013
Important Aspects of the Brookfield
Model
• Timing is everything
• Building the case for it is important
• Get students involved:
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Using Critical Incident Questionnaires
Voting on Teacher Assumption Inventories
Using clickers and other technology to begin
discussion
Conducting scenario analyses
(“Introducing Basic Protocols of Critical Thinking,” Teaching for Critical Thinking, 2012)
May 7, 2013
Important Aspects of the Brookfield
Model
• Work with five critical intellectual traditions:
• Analytic Philosophy and Logic: Detecting
Language Tricks
• Natural Sciences: The Hypothetico-Deductive
Method
• Pragmatism: The Experimental Pursuit of
Beautiful Consequences
• Psychoanalysis: Living an Integrated, Authentic
Life
• Critical Theory: Speaking Truth to Power
(“Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines,” Teaching for Critical Thinking, 2012)
May 7, 2013
Combining the Two
• Begin with one, two, or three of the
Paul-Elder elements of thinking
• Add more as students become confident
• Use Brookfield’s ideas for specific
classroom situations
• Check results with the Paul-Elder
intellectual standards and/or
standards derived from the five
critical intellectual traditions