Critical Thinking I

And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marveled at his answer, and held their peace. -Luke 20:26

“But I don’t want to think. Just give me the answer.” This is a line guaranteed to make teachers grind their teeth and employers lose any thoughts of seeing management potential. It is a common complaint of high school teachers in talking of their students. I know, because for years I have had to listen to one every evening. There are two kinds of knowledge; one, the anecdotal collection of facts ranging from the essential to the trivial, and the other, those ideas, principles, and suppositions buttressed by a superstructure of reasonings and conclusions. We learn the essentials of 2+2 but then launch these numbers into the realm of theoretical possibilities that propel men to the moon and back again. In between the two, an ocean of hard reasoning and creative thinking must take place that carefully builds theorem upon theorem, test upon test, and conclusion upon conclusion. Those who dare to think and stitch together the known to the unknown are those who build our future and become the path makers of tomorrow.

Building that kind of intellectual muscle takes time and practice. It is our nature to avoid strengthening exercises of any sort. We would prefer our meals fast, our stairs to be elevators, and our lessons spoon fed. Such attitude is quite common in adults, and we should not be surprised to find it in children. High level problem solving skills do not come naturally but must be fostered, taught, and encouraged. Yes, children will quickly find ways of reaching a high-shelved cookie jar but must be taught the problem solving involved with washing clothes, simple geometry, or finding a cure for cancer.

C.S. Lewis credits a teacher, a Mr. Kirkpatrick, with teaching him the skill of dialectic, the art or practice of examining ideas logically to determine their validity.* Lewis was boy of 16 when sent away to the care of this giant of a man who became affectionately among the Lewis family as “the great Knock.” He met young protogé at the train station and walked him into town. “Kirk” began their amble with the solemn pronouncement that they were “proceeding along the principal artery between Great and Little Bookham.” Not knowing what to say, Lewis tried to make small talk commenting that the scenery of Surrey was much “wilder” than he had expected. “Stop!” shouted Kirk with a suddenness that made him jump. “What do you mean by wildness and what grounds had you for not expecting it?” What followed was more “conversation” in which each answer was torn to shreds. It finally occurred to Lewis that his teacher really wanted to know. Lewis was guided to the conclusion that he had no right whatsoever to any opinion on the subject. So began one of the most significant relationships in the formation of Lewis’s keen mind and intellect. He acknowledged that many boys would have fled such a withering inquisition, but for him it was all red beef and strong drink. “Here was a man who thought not about you but about what you said.” We all owe debt of gratitude to “the great Knock” for those early lessons.

I have asked our teachers this year to look to their curriculum to see if we are doing enough to encourage critical thinking skills. We will never be able to supply our students with enough answers for life. In fact, we have no idea of the questions and challenges they will face as the future generation. It is for us to equip them with the skills of using their God given minds to be able to think through the unknowns of tomorrow with sound reasoning and the application of Scriptural principles. (to be continued)

*Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis

The New

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” -NIV Isaiah 43:18-19

It has begun. A parent stopped me on Monday to exclaim how the first day of school is always so exciting. I marveled, somewhat, as this was coming from a former teacher who had experienced many first days of school in her recent past. Yet, she was genuinely excited in large part because of her children and their first day of a new year, a new grade, a new teacher, and a new school. She was not alone as I sensed the electricity everywhere on that first morning. Our new teachers, especially, were tuned to a fever pitch. And returning teachers were exultant over the new students they were receiving.

There is something distinctly human about all this. There is an inherent love for new things in the human heart that can’t be disguised. A new job, a new house, or a new baby all bring a certain kind of joy and excitement that is undeniable. What is it that resonates within us to rejoice in something new? I can’t help but believe that it derives from the image of God whose stamp we bear. Our God is a creative God who took delight in creation with a full spectrum of colors, infinite variety, and downright whimsy. Witness the lowly walking stick or the marvel of the hummingbird or a dog’s hind leg and you will see incredible creativity at every hand. Not only did God create the tree but, indeed, thousands of species of them each bearing its own special design, grain, and inherent characteristics that woodworkers love to explore. Creation is a riot of excess that surrounds us all.

So, too, man is not content to live out his days in tedious monotony. To do so is the very diabolical heart of incarceration and imprisonment. My grandchildren at age one and two have to find something to do, to play with, to experience anew with every passing hour much to the tired chagrin of their parents. Adults, also, must create and build and learn each day or else their souls begin to whither and die within them. It is an intense and very real force that resides within. And new challenges, new opportunities, new experiences awaken in us that God given fire to imitate in part what He has done in the whole. It is what we were born to do. I know of no other adequate explanation.

May we all keep that fire burning within us to grow and exult in the new, the novel, the fresh and to relish opportunities for innovation, pioneering, and creating. I must remind myself that this is a unique year of life for this school and each of your children, and it will never pass this way again. That thought should impel us all to remove our hum drum shoes of habit and custom for we are standing on holy ground. Let us rejoice as well in the newness of life that God is still in the process of building within each of us. He has not rested from His labors but desires earnestly that we become more and more conformed to the image of His Son. To that end, He still works and toils and, I suspect, takes joy in it with each new day.