Image Credit: Leeloo The First via Pexels
By The Educator Collaborative Associate Member Cathline Tanis
As I watched certain Americans literally “climbing the walls” on January 6, 2021, it occurred to me as an educator that somewhere in their educational journey, those folks did not learn how to think critically, learn whole history, or engage in civil discourse. Nor were these individuals taught how to engage in research, foster their own curiosity, identify bias, and/or recognize the kinds of rhetorical devices that drove them to the Capitol walls. So there they were, on my television screen, climbing the walls instead of researching, questioning, and making informed decisions.
Now more than ever, our educators need to keep it real and center student curiosity and critical research in their pedagogy. We know that encouraging student inquiry is crucial in an age of fake news and misinformation, because it fosters critical thinking and discernment at a time when the validity of information is often blurry. When students are taught to actively question and investigate information, they develop the skills they need to evaluate sources, identify biases, recognize common rhetorical devices, develop curiosity, engage in civil discourse, and learn to discern credible evidence from misinformation. These skills all empower students to navigate our complex media landscape more effectively, promoting a more informed, engaged and discerning society. Cultivating both curiosity and analytical skills will help students become more adept at distinguishing truth from fiction, which is essential for informed decision-making in today’s information-rich world and in times of national and global instability.
There are several strategies that teachers can use to make sure that they are incorporating opportunities for inquiry, research, questioning and discussion in their classrooms. I am sharing five easy strategies that you can implement right away that can support you in your teaching of truth and critical thought. As you continue to plan for the 2024-2025 school year, the upcoming election, and the days after, consider how you might incorporate a few of these strategies in your classroom.
- Critical Thinking Frameworks: Introduce students to frameworks like the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose) to evaluate the credibility of sources and information. The acronym is catchy and easy to remember and allows teachers to identify the various parts of the CRAAP test that impact how and why information is disseminated.
- Socratic Seminars: Use Socratic questioning to stimulate discussion and deeper thinking about the reliability of different news sources. Encourage students to ask questions about the evidence and the intentions behind the information presented.
- Source Analysis and Research: Teach students how to research and analyze the origins of news stories, including checking the publisher’s credibility, the site where the information is located, the author qualifications, the author background, the context in which it is written, and cross-referencing information with other reputable sources.
- Media Literacy Lessons: The state where I live has a media literacy mandate and recognizes the importance of students being equipped to navigate the murky online world of information. There are some very simple ways to integrate media literacy into the curriculum. As students read or research, take time to focus on the characteristics of fake news, such as sensationalist language, lack of evidence, and emotional manipulation. Pay attention to common rhetorical devices such as repetition in lieu of evidence. Also normalize fact-checking activities where students investigate and verify claims from various news and online stories using reliable fact-checking websites like Snopes or FactCheck.org.
- Collaborative Research Projects: Encourage group projects where students research a topic from multiple sources, compare findings, and present their conclusions, promoting collaborative inquiry and critical evaluation. This also encourages students not to work in an echo chamber and to be open to discussion, debate, and civil conversation.
As I write this, I also realize that many teachers may be working in school districts where they are not safe or are constrained in their teaching by a specific curriculum. I encourage you, if you are in such a position, to rely on questioning. Consider how you might use any of the following four strategies to support your classroom practice.
Ask Open-Ended Questions.
Pose questions that have multiple possible answers and require students to think critically; for example, “How do you think climate change might affect future generations?” or “What do you mean by that?” Consider following up with “Why do you think that is?” or “What evidence supports this view?”
Ask Comparative Questions.
Based on the content area you are teaching, ask students to compare and contrast different concepts or perspectives. For example, “How does this theory compare with another we studied? What are the similarities and differences…?”
Ask Clarifying Questions.
I use clarifying questions when someone is saying something that is so outrageous that I need them to hear themselves saying it again. But you can also ask students to elaborate on their thoughts so that they can partner with others in testing their logic. Questions like “Can you repeat that in your own words?” “Can you provide an example of this claim?” or “What evidence led you to that conclusion?” Help students to deepen their explanations and delve deeper into the information that they are sharing or repeating.
Ask Analytical and Inquiry-Based Questions.
Prompt students to analyze information or texts in detail. Ask questions like, “What are the underlying assumptions in this argument or claim?” or “How does this piece of evidence support the author’s thesis?” Also encourage students to generate their own questions. For example, “What questions do you still have about this subject? How might we go about finding answers?”
Ultimately, our goal is to encourage our students to think, to research, to discuss and to analyze. As teachers, we get to model what research, curiosity and informed discourse look like through our own practice. Our students are learning from us as they watch how we navigate difficult topics and information insecurity. We have learned from the past that assuming that students will be able to recognize truth from fiction does not always work–and we can’t afford to hope for the best.
So as I watched people, some of which are educated, climb the walls of the Capitol building, I wondered how they got to this place. I wondered if the “wall climbers’ questioned their news; if they researched their sources; if they fostered curiosity in their lives; if they thought critically about the issues that seemed to anger them. I still wonder.
