September 2019 Critical Thinking Educators and Administrators Academy

September 2019 Critical Thinking Educators and Administrators Academy

Event Cancelled

Understanding the Proper Role of Socratic Questioning And Assessment in Teaching and Learning   

 Plus: Advanced Seminar for Returning Delegates

A Two-Part Academy; Attend Two Days or Four

312 N. Main St.
Bentonville, AR 72712

The purpose of assessment in instruction is improvement. The purpose of assessing instruction for critical thinking is improving the teaching of discipline-based thinking (historical thinking, biological thinking, sociological thinking, mathematical thinking, and so on). It is to improve students’ abilities to think their way through content using disciplined reasoning. 

However, there is often a crucial missing link between what we teach and how we assess what we teach. In instruction, we tend to think of our primary purpose as “teaching the content.” We tend to dedicate the first part of the course to “teaching the first part of the content.” We then at some point “assess” what students have “learned” in our courses (usually with a test which covers the “content” the students have presumably learned during this first period of the course). This same pattern is frequently repeated several times in a course, so that teachers and faculty come to believe they have thoroughly “covered” their content as long as student perform at “sufficient” levels on their tests.

But to internalize powerful ideas embedded in content entails assessing one’s learning while one is engaged in learning. Learning and the assessment of learning are intimately integrated in the mind of the disciplined reasoner. Put another way, learning and accurate assessment of that which has been learned are intertwined in the skilled reasoner.  Students come to take responsibility for their learning when they understand the intimate relationship between appropriate assessment of thought and the internalization of content. It is this for which we are aiming when we bring critical thinking and assessment to the core of teaching and learning.

This session will focus on methods for systematically integrating assessment through critical thinking into the teaching and learning process.  

For almost 40 years, The Foundation for Critical Thinking has taken the lead in advancing a robust, integrated, comprehensive conception of critical thinking throughout education and society. Consequently, the Paul-Elder Framework for Critical Thinking™ has been implemented by  educators at all levels and in all fields of study in the U.S. and abroad.

We invite all educators, administrators, professionals, and government officials to join us at the September 2019 Critical Thinking Educators and Administrators Academy. This event will be led by two leading international authorities on critical thinking: Dr. Linda Elder, Senior Fellow and educational psychologist, and Dr. Gerald Nosich, Senior Fellow and professor emeritus.

The Academy will entail four days of interactive workshops which will enhance your understanding of critical thinking and how to best foster it in your courses and at your institutions. The academy will be followed a few weeks later by two voluntary, one-hour online study groups (with dates and times to be announced). The follow-up study groups are designed to help you continue advancing in critical thinking by developing your instructional design plans and processes under our direction. Certificates of Completion will be available at the end of the process.  

The Academy will be held in a retreat setting in beautiful Northwest Arkansas, near the internationally-renowned Crystal Bridges Museum and world-class biking trails. Participants will stay in local hotels and rentals of their choosing.

This Academy is designed for teachers, faculty, administrators, and trainers in business, government, and the military working to bring substantive critical thinking across their respective institutions or into specific departments and divisions.

The Advanced Seminar will be for those who have been studying in the Paul-Elder Approach to Critical Thinking, and who want to advance their understandings of the theory and application of critical thinking for use in their work. Those who have met the Foundation for Critical Thinking prerequisites for certification in the Paul-Elder Approach can achieve certification at this academy, should they meet the requirements and apply for certification according to our certification guidelines.

Don’t miss this opportunity to work with world-class authorities on critical thinking in a small retreat setting.

Those who will benefit from this Academy include:

•      Teachers, faculty, and administrators who seek to understand the relationship between Socratic questioning and critical thinking across every field of study and within all domains of human thought.

•      Teachers, faculty, and administrators who seek to understand the proper role of assessment in teaching and learning, as well as the relationship between assessment and critical thinking.

•      Colleges and Universities committed to bringing critical thinking into the foundations of instruction across their respective institutions or within particular departments or divisions.

•      Colleges and Universities seeking accreditation or re-accreditation with emphasis on critical thinking (including critical reading and critical writing) through any accreditation body.

•      K-12 school districts and schools committed to infusing critical thinking within their curricula.

•      Those in government, business, or the military who seek to use and teach the Paul-Elder Approach in their work as trainers, administrators, or consultants.

•      Instructors who seek to more deeply command the concepts and principles found in a rich conception of critical thinking.

We invite you to submit a proposal for an Academy Presentation at the the October 2019 Critical Thinking Educators and Administrators Academy to share your experiences in critical thinking!

Academy Presentations are conducted by Academy participants whose proposals have been approved by Fellows of the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Each presenter will take his or her turn giving a 5-10 minute presentation to all Academy attendees, and each individual presentation will be followed by a brief question-and-answer session in which all attendees are invited to ask questions of the presenter.

Presenters should be advised that technology (such as projectors) will not be available to our knowledge, but that they can bring reasonable aids such as handouts.

All Academy Presentations are expected to be couched in a substantive conception of critical thinking. To submit a proposal, please email us with the following information written into the body of your email (not in an attached file, please):

1.   Your first and last name, and the first and last name of any co-presenters. 

2.   The name of your institution and your professional title, and the same for any co-presenters.

3.  The title of the Academy Presentation you are proposing.

4.   A brief abstract, including the purpose/function of your Presentation (Academy participants should have a reasonably clear idea of what to expect by reading the abstract).

5.  A brief description of your conception of critical thinking. E.g., 'To me, critical thinking is . . .'

6.  Your preferred contact telephone number.

Additional Information:

• Transportation , Lodging, and Leisure
• Daily Schedule
• Recreational Group Activities
  
• Limited Scholarships Available
• Advanced Seminar: Oxford Tutorial