In my PD role of training Writing Center tutors, I have to make sure they learn to ask questions, and not assume they know what the student wants to say. To ask a student to articulate meaning when s/he hasn't stated it clearly is a step to clear writing, but also clear thinking. I caution them about imposing their own interpretation--even grammatical--on a student's work, and ask the student to find what might have gone wrong and try to correct it. In other words, I try, as much as possible, though not as often as I'd like in my own tutoring one-on-one practice, especially erlectronically, when I'm crunched for time and deadlines (theirs and mind) to ask the student to generate the ideas if they're not stated correctly, clearly, or more strategically. Most faculty when they see a badly written paper just assume the student doesn't know how to write, and dismiss it. To tease the underlying thoughts out through an entire writing process (from
 brainstorming on) or form a draft is the ideal Writing Center relationship. The students think they're just learning to write correctly, but they're really learning to pay attention to their thinking. I also teach that in reading comprehension: ask the students to pay attention to how they read--even if it is still on the level of comprehension. Could they learn more effective strategies? How could this help them understand and be more actively engaged in what they're reading, and not just dismiss it as "boring." Again, they're learning how to think, not "just" to read. In other PD roles as tutor trainer my biggest battle was to caution tutors against unconscious bias, and we had exercises for that, as well as active listening. Brookfield, in his article on assessing critical thinking, has a situational format of story-telling, detectives, and an umpire to detect unconscious bias in any or all of the participants, contending that critical thinking
 cannot be assessed in a standardized but only a situational way.
Enough from me before I become more incoherent than usual.
Bonnie Odiorne, Post University



----- Original Message ----
From: "Taylor, Jackie" <jataylor at utk.edu>
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 3:09:10 PM
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 2265] Critical Thinking in Professional Development


Dear Colleagues,
This has been a fascinating discussion and I am working on a draft compilation of the wide range of ways we’ve said that we understand critical thinking, strategies for critical thinking and student involvement, along with links to threads of discussion sorted by theme.
 
In the meantime I’d like to call our attention to a point Phillip made and a question Cynthia raised:
 
What are the implications are for professional development? Do we promote critical exploration of issues in professional development and if so, how? 
 
I welcome your thoughts.
 
Best, Jackie
 
Jackie Taylor, List Moderator, jataylor at utk.edu 
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