1. E5E4 cover storycover story
Gulf News | Sunday, February 3, 2013 | gulfnews.comgulfnews.com | Sunday, February 3, 2013 | Gulf News
of an exclusive
series for
Education
10part of 11
this week
Test of learning is quality of thinking
Set intellectual StandardS for your child againSt which you and your child can meaSure hiS or her progreSS in thinking
O
nce attitudes and
motivation have
been understood
and are being in-
culcated, and your
child is learning through cog-
nitive strategies and metacog-
nition, then it is time to look at
the intellectual standards you
will expect when she solves
a problem, prepares an es-
say, answers questions about
what is being learned, etc. We
can think of them as values or
principles about what is quality
thinking.
The general concept of
standards should be clear, but
can often be confusing. In its
basic form, standards are val-
ues or principles set up and es-
tablished by authority as a rule
for the measure of quantity,
weight, extent, value, or qual-
ity. They are criteria, a word
which comes from the Greek
and means judging or deciding.
Intellectual
standards
Intellectual standards are
benchmarks or goalposts
against which you and your
child can measure his or her
progress in thinking. In your
efforts to help your children
learn to think critically, you
will want to adopt standards
that are directly related to the
quality of thinking and the ex-
pression of the results.
Good quality thinking is the
examination and test of sug-
gestions which are offered for
acceptance, to find out if they
adequately match reality. Criti-
cal thinking is a mental habit
and a developed power. It is
a safeguard against delusion,
deception and superstition. By
our nature as humans, we are
subject to uncertainty, in the
form of:
■ 1) our mind does not always
naturally grasp the truth,
■ 2) We do not always naturally
see things completely as they
are,
■ 3) Do not always automati-
cally know what is reasonable or
unreasonable,
■ 4) We frequently see things as
we want them to be, not as they
are (confirmation bias),
■ 5) We unconsciously twist real-
ity to fit our preconceived ideas.
In order to reduce errors and
particularly in order to teach
our children how they can re-
duce errors in thinking, we
should take rational control of
our thinking processes to help
to determine what to accept
and what to reject and what to
be dubious about or more will-
ing to trust. That means we
(and our children) need stand-
ards, principles, guidelines that
direct us to consistently excel-
lent thinking.
1) Clarity: How to
ensure your child
is thinking clearly
Clarity is the condition of
being clear, lucid, sharp and
apparent. It is the opposite
of cloudiness, opacity, or ob-
scure. This is a major stand-
ard: the biggest goal post for
your children to achieve. It
means that what is said or
written is easily understand-
able, can be grasped free from
ambiguity, is not obscure or
vague. When a child makes a statement at home or in class,
when he or she answers a question, the response should be
clear, the concepts used should be appropriate.
Development of clarity should begin very early. Parents must
place emphasis on clarity, in a guiding fashion and through use
of clear examples, modelling what are clear statements.
Developing clarity is done by two basic actions: pointing out
when something is not clear and demonstrating how to make it
clearer. The first step is easy but requires vigilance.
■ Questions that encourage clarity:
■ excuse me that was not very clear.
■ can you repeat that more clearly, please.
■ What did you mean by ….?
■ Would you say more about_____?
■ can you give an example of what you are talking about?
■ that was vague. can you restate it more clearly?
■ can you be more explicit?
■ If I understand, you mean _____. Is that right?
■ Do you know what that word means? can you tell me using a
different word?
■ Would this be an example? can you give another example?
your child is learning to think
critically. He or she has developed
a general grasp of what it means
to learn and with your help has
learned cognitive learning strate-
gies which notably increase the
effectiveness and durability of
learning.
He or she has learned to use
mindfulness, metacognition, to
facilitate learning and problem
solving and to help provide per-
sonal feedback on progress and
adequacy of learning.
you have paid attention to, and
have understood, the impor-
tance of developing dispositions
and managing their interactions
with emotions. you know that
self-efficacy is the key to motiva-
tion and successful learning and
application.
Why I chose ‘girls
only’ education
for my daughters
A
s a girl in Grade 1, I gleefully clapped my hands and
sang a nursery rhyme while dancing in a circle with
a group of girls during recess. Inevitably, a few boys
would leave their pebble-throwing antics aside for a while
to push us and taunt us.
For one reason or another, the boys teased, pushed and
taunted us girls throughout our school years. Teachers
seemed to spend most of the class period trying to get my
male counterparts to “settle down.”
They spent the rest of the time responding to Todd’s or
Ed’s ridiculous questions or comments, which were always
completely unrelated to the lesson at hand. I yearned to at-
tend a school where civilised young ladies could peacefully
play and study without interruption from jeering, boisterous
boys.
“How in the world do boys grow up to rule the world?” I
often wondered.
To escape the classroom
tyranny, I delved into a world
of girl heroines between the
pages of Little Women, Hei-
di, Helen Keller and Nancy
Drew. During that stage, The
Trouble with Angels was my
favourite movie, because it
featured students at an all-
girls school.
While the protagonist was
mischievous, somewhat like
the heroine in Pippi Long-
stocking, she was able to look
into her soul and correct her
own character flaws.
Even in university, I
yearned for women heroines,
and studied under women’s
literature scholar Dr Mildred
Hill-Lubin at the University of
Florida. There, I learned about
the vibrant women charac-
ters developed by Zora Neale
Hurston, Maya Angelou and
Alice Walker.
There were no girls’ schools
to be found in Miami when I
searched for a serene educa-
tional setting for my first two
daughters, Nuola, now age 23;
and Moremi, now 19. They
ended up attending a Span-
ish-English, bilingual educa-
tion school.
Rough and tough
I was in Dubai when my
now 5-year-old twins, Bre-
anna and Brooke, were ready
for KG1. I consider myself
quite fortunate to work at
the same place where my
girls study, at the Ameri-
can Academy in Al Mizhar
(AAM). It is the only accred-
ited American-curriculum
school that provides a girls-
only education for students
in Grades 1-12. Kindergarten
classes are, separately, co-ed
or girls-only.
Breanna was in a co-ed
class last year in KG1, while
Brooke was in a girls-only
class. Now, they are both in
girls-only classes. Unlike me,
Breanna — who enjoys rough-
housing — actually enjoyed
playing with boys.
“You talk to girls, and they
cry,” Breanna said. “But boys,
you can tell them anything.
You can push them. You can
punch them. You can kick them, and they don’t cry.”
Brooke, on the other hand, prefers a softer approach,
which comes from being in class with girls.
“Girls are nice and smart,” she said. “The girls are nic-
er than the boys, but I like just one nice boy in another
class.” She likes to head to the playground and play with
them.
At their young age, it’s not very significant for them to be
in class with mixed genders.
But my older girls, Nuola and Moremi, say that as they
moved to the higher grades, they began competing with
other girls for the attention of boys.
They also said they felt like they had to “dumb down”
their academic prowess in front of boys so they would not
feel threatened by the girls’ intelligence.
I believe that we are doing things the right way at the
American Academy in Al Mizhar: letting boys and girls
mix in the younger grades, but separating them when
they get older. In this way, girls can develop and mature
on their own, without having to worry about “snips and
snails.”
■ The author is Director of Development and Admissions at the
American Academy in Al Mizhar.
GUEST OF THE MONTH
Looking
ahead
A
B
Special to
Gulf News
●
But my older
girls, Nuola and
Moremi, say that
as they moved to
the higher grades,
they began com-
peting with other
girls for the atten-
tion of boys. They
also said they felt
like they had to
“dumb down”
their academic
prowess in front
of boys so their
male egos would
not feel threatened
by the girls’ intel-
ligence. I believe
that we are doing
things the right
way at the Ameri-
can Academy in
Al Mizhar: letting
boys and girls mix
in the younger
grades, but sepa-
rating them when
they get older.
Dubai hosts
Harvard
congress
Dubai
The American University in
Dubai recently hosted the
Harvard Model Congress
Dubai (HMCD) with more
than 300 delegates from 10
countries and 26 schools for
the first time in the region.
The HMCD is one of the larg-
est high school conferences
of its kind in the region and
is a government simulation
conference run entirely by
Harvard students who are
passionate about interna-
tional relations, government
and teaching. (Staff Report)
conference
Giving
students
a voice
Dubai
GEMS Education recently
partnered with Canon Mid-
dle East to launch the ‘Stu-
dent Voice’ initiative aimed
at giving parents insight
into the life of today’s stu-
dent. The ‘Student Voice’
was recently inaugurated at
Al Khaleej National School
in Dubai as a part of GEMS
Education’s ongoing Paren-
tal Engagement campaign,
highlighting the impor-
tance of parental involve-
ment in the youth educa-
tion process. (Staff Report)
gems education
Making smart
learning a
priority
Dubai
The Gulf Educational Sup-
plies and Solutions (GESS)
and the Ministry of Educa-
tion’s Global Education Fo-
rum recently announced the
theme of this year’s exhibi-
tion to be ‘Smart learning
and technical advanced in
education.’ The latest data
from the World Bank shows
public education expendi-
ture in the region stands at
18.6 per cent of total govern-
ment spending compared to
the world average of 14.2 per
cent.(Staff Report)
exhibition
Repton
appoints
headmaster
abu Dhabi
The founding Headmaster of
Repton School, Abu Dhabi,
was recently announced by
EvolvenceKnowledgeInvest-
ments. Robert Relton is set
to take up his post once the
school opens on Reem Island
in September (construction
is underway). Relton is set
to relocate to the UAE with
more than 20 years experi-
ence in British education. He
will join Repton Abu Dhabi
from his previous post as
headmaster at Ravenscourt
Park Preparatory School in
London. (Staff Report)
relocation
●
Good qual-
ity thinking is the
examination and
test of suggestions
which are offered
for acceptance,
to find out if they
adequately match
reality. Criti-
cal thinking is a
mental habit and a
developed power.
4) Logic
The fourth pillar is logic,
i.e., do the parts and how
they are arranged make
sense, do they make for
sound judgement and rea-
soning. Obviously, thinking
can vary in its degree of log-
ic. The main point is to lead
them to think in an orderly
way that closely resembles
reality and is “logical.”
When we teach our chil-
dren to be logical we ask
them if what they are saying or thinking is consistent
and integrated. Does the whole thought or the compo-
nents of the thought fit together sensibly and plausibly?
Does the answer demonstrate the correct structure?
Does it fit into a recognisable pattern?
One of the main tests of logic to answer is if what
your child says follows from the evidence. Can your
child identify and provide examples which help to es-
tablish the veracity of what has been said?
And there is always the test of: “Does this really make
sense?”
■ Questions that encourage logical thinking
■ Does the solution make sense?
■ Do the pieces of the solution fit together tightly?
■ What is the line of reasoning that brought you to this
point?
■ can you explain the process you have used to come to this
conclusion?
■ can you show how this answer fits into the overall struc-
ture of the domain?
3) Precision: You
can be clear and
accurate but are
you precise as
well?
To be precise means to be
exact to the necessary level
of detail, to be specific. It
requires exactitude, fine-
ness, preciseness, rigor, and
veracity. A statement can be
clear and accurate but not
precise (Jack is overweight).
What do we mean by overweight? How does it dif-
fer from obesity? Thinking and speaking should be
as precise as possible.
At the primary school level, and at home, precision
is taught first through spelling and math. The words
your child learns must be spelled correctly and pro-
nounced correctly. The math answers must be pre-
cise: two plus two cannot be five.
If you wish to teach quality standards to your child
you will help them to learn about the importance of
precision, when it is necessary and how to avoid ex-
aggeration.
■ Questions that encourage precision:
■ can you give me more details about that?
■ could you be more specific
■ could you express your claims more fully?
■ Have you exaggerated any aspect of your position?
■ Have you used questions most relevant to your current
situation
■ teach your child to answer with the core ideas and
concepts first, then provide more details.
2) Accuracy: How
to ensure your
child does not
commit errors
Accuracy means free from
error especially as the result
of care, such as an accurate
diagnosis. It means conform-
ing exactly to truth or to a
standard or being able to give
an accurate result. For exam-
ple, when you weigh yourself
you want the devices to give
you answers that are free from error.
This standard means that what is presented does not contain
errors, mistakes or distortions. How can your child check to
see if her ideas and thoughts and statements are true? How can
parents teach children to verify the alleged facts?
■ Questions that encourage accuracy:
■ can you be more specific?
■ How many kids were in the park?
■ Are you sure that number is correct?
■ When did that happen? What date?
■ Who said what to whom?
■ Are you sure that is correct?
clarity, Precision, Accuracy and Logic form a
group of very important standards, call them
“the Big Four.” they are the fundamental
standards which children must learn. As a par-
ent, you should pay close attention to them and
encourage your children to develop respect for
them. they should have a strong grasp of the
significance of these standards and most of their
learning behaviour should be guided by the big
four.
So, these are the Big Four
So, what are such standards?
Intellectual standards
●
Your child has developed a general grasp of what it means to
learn and with your help has learned cognitive learning
strategies which notably increase the effectiveness of learning
4Next week
�Concluding with Critical
Thinking and Problem
Solving.
up ahead
Mind
games
D C
C
Special to
Gulf News
■ Dr Clifton Chadwick, centre
for research on teaching critical
thinking at British University in
Dubai
■ If you want to comment or ask
questions, please write to clifton-
chadwick@buid.ac.ae