Needed: HITS in Teacher Education Programs

The Team
Jun 1, 2023
2 min read

Recently, Dr. Joseph Sanacore (jsanac@optonline.net) contacted MyTeachersFiji to share with us his latest work on Higher Interactive and Thinking Skills. At some stage in future, he has promised to conduct a zoom session with us to share his knowledge and expertise with us.

Joseph is a journalist, researcher, and professor at the Post Campus of Long Island University, Brookville, NY. Dr. Sanacore has written more than 100 articles, essays, and book chapters. His most recent book is Teaching Critical Thinking in the Context of Political Rhetoric: A Guide for Classroom Practice (2022, Routledge/Taylor & Francis).

Abstract

From kindergarten children to graduate-level students, critical thinking is vitally important for personal and academic growth. Because today’s world is saturated with all types of information, citizens—young and old—need the tools for determining what is true, “fake,” or biased. Especially needed are teacher education programs that support higher interactive thinking skills (HITS) for undergraduate and graduate students. Whether they are preparing for student teaching or engaged in classroom practice, education majors benefit from gaining insights about critical thinking so they can nurture this growth in the children and adolescents who are entrusted to them.

Fortunately, professional literature and evidence-based practices are available that support efforts to understand the critical thinking process and to apply it across content areas, resulting in transfer of learning.

The blitz of information during the past several decades, sometimes referred to as the knowledge explosion, instigates a call to action to teach critical thinking. Especially needed are teacher education programs that highlight the value of engaging children and adolescents in higher-level thinking. In these programs, undergraduate and graduate students need to develop a profound understanding of the critical-thinking process so they can apply related evidence-based practices to the students who are entrusted to them. Whether they are preparing for student teaching or currently engaged in classroom practice, they are the key players for nurturing critical thinking in their diverse population of K-12 students.

Please click on the pdf document below to read the full article.