Critical Thinking Stage: The Mezirow (1991)

Critical thinking gives the person to think clearly and rationally and be understand the ideas. Critically thinking allows you to think of the best solution. When you critically thinking you can compare and contrast, explain what happen, understand the perspectives of others, and evaluate ideas and opinions. Thinking critical lays a foundation to make judgments, solve problems, think creatively, and communicate

Mezirow (1991) states that a learner’s viewpoint is interrupted when faced with perplexing problems in regards to their Weltanschauung. He defines several steps and phases of transformational learning which gives the learner an adaptation of a new way of thinking (Mezirow, 1991). It’s important to know that transformational learning is based on our own reflection and how we interpret our experiences, ideas, and assumptions gained through prior learning. By looking deeper into ourselves we can reflect on the positive and negative outcomes of our behaviors.

Critical thinking has an important role in learning and development because if properly executed it allows me to see the entire situation instead of the individual task. I plan to take the necessary actions to determine the task with open eyes and an unbiased approach. Remembering the facts about the situation can help in resolving the issue. Understanding by reiterating the problem can help me further comprehend. Applying then analyzing the tasks and or situations so I can prepare the steps to come to the evaluation. I can see if the resources are accurate and thorough. The last thing I should be able to do to assure my critical thinking skills are complete is a form of creating. I take all the information of this situation, and use it in my final resolution. These steps are crucial in the ability to think clearly and not be clouded by biased information.

For years, there have been many theorists who have shared their views on how individuals learn. Such research has determined that individuals have different learning styles. It is important for teacher to understand the learning styles of both themselves and their students because it helps them to relay the subject knowledge to the students. The teacher is in a position where they must be able to assess the learning styles of their students. This means that the students and teachers are both in a process of learning.

Critical thinking is described as unbiased, clear and factual thought process that helps any student with any decision-making process. Critical thinking is an essential tool that every student will need to master to continue academic success. There are multiple phases of critical thinking as described by Benjamin Bloom which include remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. The critical thinking process starts by remembering. If we can remember what we read and apply key facts we will be able to move forward to understand what decisions we need to make. From there we can then apply the facts to the decision we have to make and innovate, or create, as needed.

Definitions of learning vary drastically. This is primarily due to the differing conceptions of what learning actually is. Saljo (1979) identified five categories of learning. It is suggested that the five categories: “…increase in

The Learning Theory influences everyone’s culture, ethnicity, gender, and social status, by being from different geographical location and religious background everyone has a unique characteristic, when it comes to learning or problem solving. One of the most important events in a human’s life is the “Learning Theory”.

Elder and Paul (2011) posit, “There are predictable stages through which every person who develops as a critical thinker passes” (p. 1). I agree with this assertion. If we assume that the premise learning is a process holds true, then that process offers great insights of Elder and Paul’s argument. The later premise for learning as a process shows that a thinker must moves from regions of familiarity to unfamiliar one. Critical thinking requires that the person understand the basic concept of a theory if s/he is to think critically about that theory. The converse ideation where critical thinking precedes basic understanding is fallacious. This makes critical thinking process to be predictable.

Learning for me is the process of acquiring new or increasing the existing knowledge and skills. All living things have the ability to learn but the degree and the intensity of knowledge acquired and how it will be used varies. Learning in humans may occur due to education, training or personal development. The study of the teaching and learning process is known as pedagogy. This is a reflection on the observation of student and teacher behavior in the context of effective teaching, learning and learning environment. The observations are made on February 23, 2017 at La Sierra University in a Reading in Leadership class

There are six steps in the critical thinking process. Each step of the critical thinking method poses questions which encourages the individual to dig deeper into the subject to discover the answer needed to enhance their understanding of the subject. This type of thinking process opens the possibilities of many different levels of understanding on the subject matter providing information that joins together to form a new way of seeing the text. It is the process of gathering evidence to seek a resolution.

Critical thinking is a complex sector of education and how to apply it to teaching students. It is a difficult term to define and teach to a student, it has been a mystery to most teachers to teach students to think critically. Just as Brookfield, explains in chapter one of his book that outlines

Humans are adapted uniquely to learn, and this process id has done throughout their entire lifespan, for the cases of learning, it does not stop even after higher education, implying that learning is a gradual process throughout the entire lifespan. Those people who keep learning are always very successful in transforming their lives, that of their families, and then that of the entire community. Also, the process of learning does not take place in isolation. Furthermore, there are some factors that may either be instrumental in boosting the learning process or hindering the process of learning. The motivation of a person can either help or sometimes hinder his ability in the process of learning. One's external factors, for instance, the demands and obligations can be either hinder or help his learning process. There are some factors can influence learning behavior of a person, and these may include the resources of possessed by the people, availability of the information concerning learning opportunities, the presence of favorable learning environment, and among

A number of contemporary theories were developed in order to understand the way that children gain knowledge during their developmental stages. Those theoretical paradigms have been widely used as the foundation to create appropriate methods for students in the practical education setting. Among various concepts, the mode of learning showing and doing which is known as socio-cultural perspectives, and the learning mode of motivation referring to the behavioral perspectives are two most popular theories being applied on teaching and learning. This paper will focus on comparing and describing the connection of those learning modes and theories to learning and teaching including their benefits and limitations, as well as analyze how educators

Learning is a multifaceted perception unique to each individual. In looking to address the intricacies of learning, there have been a multitude of learning theories established over the centuries. To this day new theories are developed and traditional theories continue to be developed and expanded upon. (Swinburne Online, 2016)

There are said to be six stages of critical thinking, the unreflective, challenged, beginning, practicing, advanced, and accomplished thinker. The unreflective thinker is unable to asses their thinking skills while in the second stage of challenged thinkers, they are becoming aware and figuring out problems. The beginning thinker is similar to concrete thinking, which contains no depth, it regards to the facts and thinking in the periphery. At the fourth stage, the practicing thinker is developing the knowledge for systematic practice, while the advanced thinker now has good habits and can actively analyze information. Lastly, the accomplished thinker can access their intuitiveness and take a position on things in everyday life(Edler, Paul).