Kate Reinert Source 1

The question I am attempting to answer in this journal entry is: Should we be worried that Common Core, which is designed to promote critical thinking, is actually counterproductive?

Source Cited: Clemmitt, Marcia. "Teaching Critical Thinking." CQ Researcher 10 Apr. 2015: 313-36. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.

        For my first exploratory journal, I chose to read and analyze the article Teaching Critical Thinking, which discusses different ways of teaching critical thinking to students, and how these techniques, particularly common core, may have large drawbacks. In the article, Marcia Clemmitt writes, "Along with test pressure comes pressure to produce the single 'right' answer- and that... is driving out our thought and creativity." This sentence summarizes one of the four main arguments in the paper: 

• Standardized testing should not be given such a high priority because it teaches students how to pick out the "right" answer, rather than forcing them to question what they already know.
• Standardized testing is necessary to understand how students are developing nationwide and teachers' competence in the classroom.
• Most employers have stated that they prefer critical thinkers in the workplace because they are good at problem-solving and do not need step-by-step instruction.
• Employers say they want critical thinkers in the workplace, but critical thinkers tend to question what they have been taught more frequently, and therefore may question authority, making them difficult to manage. 

There are many other arguments made in the article as well, such as critical thinking being taught versus being a natural skill that cannot be improved upon, but the above are what I believe to be the most relevant questions both for the article and for my research topic. While some promote teaching critical thinking in the classroom because 81% of U.S. employers have said they prefer critical thinkers, others, such as the 2012 Texas Republican Party, believe critical thinking skills "have the purpose of challenging the student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority." This concern is not limited to parental authority, but applies to teachers' authority and employers' authority as well.
Currently, American education relies heavily on standardized tests, which "can be administered and scored consistently over large populations and diverse geographical areas." Often these tests are high-stakes, determining what schools receive funds and what schools don't, as well as where or if a student is admitted into an institution of higher education. This leads some to ask if the tests are doing more harm than good. Furman University's Thomas, who opposes these standards, says "the tests are top-down- devised by expert panels and educational publishers, not by the teachers and educators, who do the instruction. [This] devalues and de-professionalizes the teachers and fosters passivity among teachers and students, the opposite of what teaching and learning thinking demands."
         
         When I began reading this article, I expected to be reading about WHAT is being taught, not HOW it is taught. My original question dealt with whether or not cursive writing should be taught in schools, and while this source did not answer my question, it led me to a new one: Are Common Core standards and standardized testing really teaching our students critical thinking, or are they simply complicating the same information they would've been taught to memorize anyway? If we are not going to teach true critical thinking, wouldn't it be more beneficial to teach students facts the way they used to be taught? I think Thomas has a very important point about passivity among teachers and students- if teachers don't seem to care, why should the students? And if the students don't care, what motivation do they have to use critical thinking skills? While I agree that critical thinking may lead to the questioning of authority, I do not believe this is necessarily a bad thing. Blindly following authority has caused many problems in history. I believe it's important to question what we have always known to be true in order to develop both as individuals and society as a whole. But I do not believe that standardized testing and common core are the way to teach critical thinking. As a student, the tests never seemed to make me think deeper. It usually felt as if there was a clear cut right answer but it was nearly impossible to pick it out. Most standardized tests in the US are all multiple choice, and when you're limited to four options, creativity is not of use to you. While critical thinking is supposed to influence new ideas and ways of thinking, standardized tests and Common Core seem to teach the opposite. As a student, I've noticed when I'm asked to be creative, I'm often irritated- how is this going to help me when it's time to take the test? I think many students have this attitude, which is unfortunate. Teachers seem to feel the same way- why would I waste my time on this fun, creative project when we have two weeks of material to fit into the next three days? I think this article answered my research question for this journal. When I felt uninformed on common core and standardized testing before I read this article, I now feel like I have the knowledge to form an opinion, albeit tentative, about this topic.

           This article has led me to a lot of new questions, both answered and unanswered by the article. Most importantly, the article led me to my new research question, which I think is much more relevant. But also, some other important questions:

• With so many high-stakes standardized tests, are students concerned about learning and expanding their wisdom, or are the more worried about getting a good test grade, and if that is the case, what motivation do they have to retain the information or employ their critical thinking skills after the test? In my opinion, they don't have any motivation. While what they are being taught may seem relevant at the moment, 20 years from now, it may not be.
• If students don’t care about the topic, is critical thinking even worth teaching? To an extent, yes. Throughout life, people will have to deal with conflicts they have no interest in, or hope to avoid altogether. But often these conflicts have to be addressed whether or not we want them to be. Critical thinking is very important in life. However, I don't believe standardized testing is teaching how to use these skills most effectively.
• If teachers are more concerned with test scores than students learning the information and skills they will need in life, are the students really receiving a quality education? I don't think so. If teachers are forced to teach "for the test," they may not be given a chance to teach what they feel is the most interesting or most important. If a teacher is being forced to teach skills/information that they find unimportant, they may either intentionally or unintentionally gloss over the material, leaving students unprepared and confused when the test comes along. 
• If the teacher is not passionate about what they are being required to teach, how can we expect students to be enthusiastic about the subject? I don't think enthusiasm is necessary all the time in the classroom, but it is definitely vital to retaining information. Students, especially younger children, are much more likely to remember something they learned while having fun than something they heard lectured to them among one hundred other facts. Teachers have less say in what they get to teach with Common Core in place, which can cut out more interesting parts of learning.
• How do all of these questions tie together? I think in order to determine if common core or standardized testing are successful, these questions have to be answered. After all, common core mainly effects students and teachers, not the people creating the curricula and tests. If the goal is to promote critical thinking, we have to observe the actual results of Common Core, and not just the anticipated outcome.

So, where do I go from here? I believe in order to form a more informed opinion, I need to read more about the opposing side of the debate. For now I believe that common core and standardized testing are not helpful in the classroom and do not promote critical thinking but rather discourage it. But there are a lot of potential questions I have not yet asked. I hope to find an article that forces me to question my current opinion and lead me to new questions that will either change my view or strengthen it.