Critical and creative thinking

Underlying skills and attitudes

Emotional self-management

It should respect people's opinions when you are talking about a topic. If you disagree with them or they disagree with you, you should manage your emotion and understand that everybody thinks different. Normally, when I'm in a discussion meeting, I always try to everybody gives their opinion and after I give my opinions. When I feel another one who disagrees with me to try offending me with their opinion, I look for reasons which support my ideas or on the contrary, I leave the discussion meeting.

Influences on my thinking

Emotional balance is very important because of this influences in my thinking which makes me a more reasonable and critical person. Based on them I can become aware by myself. There are times that we do not want to accept that we are wrong and we lose our control. 

For the same reason, I try to think very well the circumstance and thus look for reasons that make me realize that I was wrong.

Challenging opinions

The importance of being a critical person helps us to be able to evaluate the opinions of someone and meant that his/her is wrong. We should take into account how we will give that criticism because there are people who do not know to receive a critique or that can annoy him/her a bit that criticism

Sometimes it is difficult to understand what the other person is saying. It also happens with us of not being able to give good our ideas and only we make us misunderstanding.

REFLECTION

• Do you recognise anything of yourself in Bodner´s description of students? What effect would the approach he suggests have on your learning and understanding?

I agree with Bordner's description. There are professors who only fill those gaps in the students. On the contrary, we must make the student look beyond what it is. Knowledge is limitless and we should not put limits on it.

A teacher should not be limited to one type of knowledge but expand to other knowledge, to other areas.

Critical and creative thinking by Dr. Stephen Brookflied

Dr. Stephen Brookflied talks about critical and creative thinking and how students take challengings to develop the skill. He gives us a clear example, teach is very linked to the  autobiography. He meant, that a teacher was also a student. Then this gives us a huge advantage because we already know the student and based on our experiences as a student gives us more reach the student. We cannot define the critical and creative thinking of a student through a pencil and paper. Dr. Stephen Brookflied always failed the exams but he had a great capacity in his studied area. Bone, if it were not for his critical and creative ability, he would never have graduated.

He says that decisions, acts and choices are based on three types of assumptions. One that is the casual assumption (sequence of events), the another one is the prescriptible assumption, (how things should happen and thus have a result) and to finish the assumption Paradigmatic, (framing and structuring the most common and relevant senses).

He explains the four key intellectual traditions. They are the analytic philosophy (to be inductive, deductive, analogical, inferencial and reasoning), the natural science (to be hypothetical), the critical theory (To gain power, dynamics and ideological manipulation) and the pragmatism (Focus more experimental and creative than the consequences).

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8umk4w8kB8&t=1118s

The talk offered by Michael Sandel

1.    How does Michael Sandel support the thesis that "over the past three decades we have drifted from having a market economy to becoming a market society?"

The market economy (ME) is based only on buying and selling, so there is no sense in it. People only think about making money and then spend it. The ME only seeks for people to use their money for their needs. Michael gives some examples of how the ME should be and how is nowadays.

The ME helps a lot in organizing productive activity and providing prosperity to countries around the world. The main idea of this thesis is that people realize how wrong we are, that everything has a price and thus carry out values and union as a society.

2.    What sorts of arguments are offered for and against the assumed proposal of paying young children two dollars for every book they read?

For: It is good to motivate the child to read and take the habit of reading. Giving two dollars to the child to read can be a type of motivation. He/she, in wanting to obtain those two dollars, will begin to read books and in this way, he or she will be able to obtain the habit of reading. Even, the money could be used by him/her to buy more books. The purpose of this motivation is for children to increase their love of learning through books.

Against: It is not the best way to encourage a child to read because this makes the child take a negative performance since he will only read if there is a materialistic reward (Money). He or she will read for reading and not for learning or enjoying reading. Even, he/she will read books regardless of what kind of book it is and if they are educational for them. People believe that money can buy everything, and it applies in this case because they can not buy the habit of reading.

3.    Now, what is your standpoint about cash incentives at school or at home to encourage students to read more books?

I find it's not the best way to help a child read. Maybe this kind of motivation can help a lot, but at the moment you do not give money to the child, he will not want to read more or otherwise, he will not be interested in the money because he already has the habit of reading. This could greatly affect the behavior of the child since he will want to be rewarded with money for all the books he will read. It would already instill the love for the money and not for reading.

4.    When Michael Sandel contends that "this tendency of markets and cash incentives of crowding out nonmarket goods, higher goods, can be seen in many spheres of social life, what sort of "higher goods" do you think he is refering to?

Money is very important in our lives because we can get everything through it. With money we make uses to buy all our needs but we must take into account that not everything can be bought as an example, higher goods that are our beliefs, values, love, honesty, happiness, friendship, health.

5.    What kind of nonmaterial goods do you think have been crowded out by market transactions in Colombia?

Corruption in politicians. The politicians in their electoral campaigns show to be good aspirants and propose excellent projects that would help in the development of the society. But all those projects are uncertain and after all those lies is to obtain the power to steal the few financial and natural resources of the Colombian people.

6.    What should be the role of money and markets in our Colombian society?

The role of money is to help the Colombian people. For instance, the money must be invested in the basic rights of society such as health, decent housing, education, and nutrition/food. And in the markets, in exporting more Colombian products and creating more companies that can provide employment to Colombians and thus all we can have a better quality of life.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvDpYHyBlgc&t=735s

At the end of "Critical Theory and Educational Practice", Giroux states that "The point is that critical theory needs to be reformulated to provide the opportunity to both critique and elaborate its insights beyond the constraints and historical conditions under which they were firts generated" (p. 50). 

How do you think Frankfurt School thoughts can be applied to today in our own culture?

Frankfurt School thoughts can be applied to schools nowadays, taking into account the context in which we are living and the kind of society in which we are. The best solution is for teachers to encourage students to think and reflect on specific issues, the things that surround us or the things that happen on a daily basis. The main idea of this is to make the student build his own knowledge, to be more critical and not be a simple container of information. Although we are in another society, but there are schools that still impose their own beliefs, to what end ?. This simply causes the student not to build their own beliefs and not to develop their own knowledge towards a society or critical thinking.

DRAFT

English teachers should implement the use of ICT in their classes

Education is one of the main ways to make changes in a country or even worldwide. Since the existence of education, pedagogies of different approaches have been implemented in the schools or colleges. In this new era, new technological devices have been created that have evolved over the years. As technology is evolving also pedagogical methods. Why not use technology to innovate a new pedagogy? both of them evolve together, where students could learn through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Teachers should use ICT to innovate their pedagogical classes.

ICT works through technological devices making our lives easier. If a teacher wants to teach new vocabulary about farm animals, she could use ICT to promote teaching and technology, for example, Children can play didactic games about that vocabulary through computers. In this way, the student is learning through the games and will motivate them to continue studying. On the other hand, you can also use videos, movies, songs and among others to make your class. There were studies that have shown that children learn much more about the use of ICT than the board and marker class. On the Elmo website, says that "A report made by the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan, showed that an increase in student exposure to educational ICT through curriculum integration has a significant and positive impact on student achievement, especially in terms of" Knowledge · Comprehension "·" Practical skill "and" Presentation skill "in subject areas such as mathematics, science, and social study."

It is estimated that a good use of technology is not being made by the child or student, for example, one of the devices that misuse most are cell phones and for which some schools prohibit their use. It is difficult for a teacher to be dictating the class while one or more students are using their cell phones, of course, it encourages deconcentration and lack of interest in the class. If the teacher wants his students to make good use of this device and to encourage learning, he or she must integrate this device into their class. A clear example, Using cell phones as a dictionary through applications such as Google translation, SpanishDict, WordReference, and others; or use educational applications to learn English such as Duolingo, Memrise, Hello English, ABA English, Word Bit and many more.

On the other hand, Colombia is a developing country that is betting on bilingualism. The Ministry of National Education (MEN) put into effect a new project that is learning English with native speakers. Some public schools in Colombia have two or more native speakers of English. The simple kind of grammar work in textbooks must come to an end because the teacher is only filling spaces in the students' brains and is not allowing them to put their knowledge into practice. On the other hand, this project helps the student to be more motivated in learning English and that they see it as something important and fundamental. Good results have been given with this project because it gives the student the opportunity to practice English directly with a person speaking English; so the government will continue to implement it and every year it will continue to hire more native English speakers. But this does not cover all public schools in Colombia, thus the government could implement platforms on Internet where non-beneficiary students can have the opportunity to practice with a native and have extra classes where she or he can put their skills to use to the language.

The implementation of education should be complemented with the use of ICT because of the fact that we live in a world of technology. Education needs a way to make learning more effective and fun because in each time students need more stimulation in their process of acquisition of the language. The teacher can be supported by didactic materials as this helps to facilitate the student's learning and thus making the classes more interesting and fun but at the same time that meets the objectives of the English language.

Thirtieth task 

Remembering 

1.Why does Gregory Bateson cite "organism plus environment"?

2.  Regarding the increase in sustainable development in the political education, what does the United Nations propose?

3. What do Jickling and González-Gaudiano say about critical eco pedagogies?

4. List and describe the three broad categorical types of literacy according to Jim Cummins and Dennis Sayers.

5. What do you label about  Zoo school in Apple Valley, Minnesota?

Understanding

1. How do you interpret the Bateson's quote “There is an ecology of bad ideas, just as there is an ecology of weeds.”?

2. How do you describe “friction-free” according to capitalist world?

3. How would you summarize the impact that giant corporate agribusinesses have on world consumption?

4. What do you think Americans are aware it is important implement environmental education in schools?

5.  How do you associate literacy movement with human education?

Applying

1.How can be solve the misconception of ´natural resources´´?

2.Can you describe the two services that are the most important for Capitalism system ?

3.Describe at least two consequences that the earth had suffer after the human had gradually  destroyed it?

4.Can you calculate how much time will take humans to extinguish a  new animal specie?

5.what would you do if you have the possibility to give a sustainable solution to stop cutting trees to make paper?

Analyzing 

1. Can you explain why was constituted the International Whaling Commission?

2. What is the connection between fast food and the massive production of meat?

3. what can you infer from what Matthew Scully says about?

4. what is motivating the human to devastate the planet in the last thirty years more than in sixty five million years?Analyze it and give a possible reason.

5. According to the human development report 1999 ,How  can you compare people from capitalist nations and their role in the environmental destruction and species genocide?

Evaluating:

1.Explain and support with arguments how teachers can help the environment through revolutionary pedagogy? According to the text.

2.Write a short reflection about the next quotation taken from the text ¨Simply,we must strive to challenge our old assumptions as educators ¨.

3.Give a  supporting argument according to the answer to the question number two including a recommendation .

4. Do you think that Capitalism system and a sustainable meat production can be a possible combination in the future?

5.In conclusion ,ecopedagogy  will be a powerful strategy to educate students about the future of the environment and create new alternatives to solve this problem?What do you think?

Creating:

1. What is the main issue facing the destruction of the environment?

2. What strategies will you create to implement ecological literacy?

3. Do you agree or disagree that environmental education is also implemented in politicians? Why? or why not?

4. Do you know any foundation that promotes the teaching and awareness of the environment in your country? and if you do not know a foundation, would you be a pioneer in your country in founding an institution that implements the teaching and awareness of the environment?

5.  The main factories exploit natural resources to obtain their products and to strengthen the economy of the country. Is it important to exhaust our natural resources to strengthen an economy taking into account that natural resources can not be recovered?