How to Think Critically (Like a Student)
English lessons are most effective when students are debating their views in response to texts—vigorously and respectfully. This practice is crucial training for exams—and for life.
English exams make use of evaluative question styles, asking students ‘how far’ or ‘to what extent’ they agree with given statements or ideas. An example of this an exam question asking students to ‘Explore how far Lady Macbeth is presented as a strong female character.’
The question implies a spectrum of agreement—a line drawn between agreement and disagreement—along which a student can position themselves.
This placement on the spectrum encourages students to question:
Why have I placed my view there?
How is it possible to see the statement from both sides?
Concerning Lady Macbeth’s female strength, it can be argued Macbeth would not have murdered Duncan without her coercion, making her manipulation the catalyst for the entire tragedy. Yet she is forced to call on the forces of darkness to ‘unsex her’, suggesting a perceived lack of strength in her natural femininity. She can’t go through with the killing, as the King ‘resembled’ her ‘father as he slept’. By the end of the drama she is reduced to sleepwalking in guilt, washing imaginary blood from her hands, and she dies offstage with a scream—an imagined suicide. Nonetheless, Lady Macbeth maintains a strong and lasting presence in the audience’s imagination, as a forceful and consequential female character.
This back and forth is the stuff of critical thinking, and it’s the most vital product of English teaching.
Through this instruction, students are encouraged to acknowledge alternative views and consider counterarguments—they are taught to agree or disagree partially with statements.
The more complexity, nuance and ambiguity students can observe, the better they perform, with top students demonstrating perception and insight, but also balance and moderation in their thinking.
How to think critically (like a student)
The ability to question our own views, like a student, is one of the most important challenges we can give ourselves—at any stage of life.
In response to a given issue, imagine a spectrum of agreement, and pose the questions:
Where is my view along this spectrum?
Why do I hold this position?
How is it possible to see this issue from both sides?