Student Agency in Critical thought

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Student Agency in Critical thought

• A framework for the development
• of critical expression.
• Sue Jones
• Manchester Metropolitan
• University. UK

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Through a process of group work students follow a
process of argument construction. The group
process is important in forming, presenting,
analysing, defending, listening, reframing and
consolidating our thoughts The process leads us
to examine, relinquish, assert, consolidate,
collaborate, synthesise what we believe. This
type of learning ensures that we constantly test
our values and beliefs and practice
ethically. These skills lead us to become
self-flourishing professionals in a contested and
shifting discourse of professional practice.
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Playing the Game How about some fun? Lets try
this exercise. Read the copy of the article.
It should only take about 5 minutes. Then choose
a partner to work with. Each of you say what you
think the main message of the article is and
write this down. Keep the paper and write your
ideas down after each part of the process.
(DEDUCTION) About 10 minutes. Next join with
another pair and together decide what you want
to take forward as your 4 key themes. Write
these down. These form your premises. (CRITICAL
DEDUCTION) About 10 minutes.
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Now stay in your group and together draw out your
ideas for each of your key themes - premises.
Why do these ideas seem important to you?
(INDUCTIVE/INFERENCE) About 10 minutes. Next,
still in the same group, take each of the
premises and draw out the evidence to support
them. This is so that you can justify why you
think what you think. (CRITICAL INFERENCE) About
10 minutes. Then, as a whole group summarise
your group premises to present a coherent
argument. (INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE REASONING)
About 10 minutes. Next present your group
argument to another group/the whole group in a
coherent way demonstrating your thinking and
reasoning in the premises, argument and by
drawing all to a conclusion. (PREMISES, SYNTHESIS
AND REASONING) About 15 minutes.
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You have completed the process of using the
framework to work through how you might develop
your thinking. This process of working through
given knowledge enables us to challenge
the status quo create new knowledge
work collaboratively with others
develop our question posing even where
we may not know the answer develop
credible arguments that contribute to the
dynamic nature of our professions. All this I
call the development of HOLISTIC CRITICALITY
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REFERENCES BOWEL, T AND KEMP G.(2002) CRITICAL
THINKING - A CONCISE GUIDE (2ND ED) OXFORD.
ROUTLEDGE COTTRELL, S.(2005) CRITICAL THINKING
SKILLS - DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS AND
ARGUMENT. BASINGSTOKE, UK. PALGRAVE
MACMILLAN JONES, S (2009) CRITICAL LEARNING FOR
SOCIAL WORKERS. EXETER, UK. LEARNING MATTERS
WEBSITES http//lilt.ilstu.edu/staylor/critical_
thinking/argument_construction.htm http//www.tand
f.co.uk/journals/titles/17405904.asp This gives
access to the interdisciplinary journal Critical
Discourse Studies