Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce
Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce
We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming international conference on “Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce”. The conference is interdisciplinary, it will cover a diverse range of fields and perspectives on the development of critical thinking skills in different academic fields at universities and labour market institutions. Showcasing the holistic approach, the conference aims to explore the vital role of critical thinking in diverse academic disciplines and its significance in the ever-evolving landscape of labour market institutions.
The conference aims to bridge the gap between universities and labour market institutions, fostering a culture of critical thinking that thrives in the classroom and enhances professional growth in the workplace. This conference will serve as a platform for educators, researchers, and labour market professionals from diverse fields to explore innovative strategies, and share best practices and collaborate on integrating critical thinking skills into educational curricula.
Keynote speakers
Alistair Starling
Co-Founder and Managing Director of the European Diplomats
Luís Sebastião
Associate Professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Education, Director of the Center for Research in Education and Psychology, University of Évora
Dimitris Pnevmatikos
Professor in the Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Western Macedonia
Erika Vaiginienė
Associate professor in the Department of Business, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vilnius University
Inga Jončienė
Head of Business Development at Alliance for Recruitment
Adam Mastandrea
Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Institute of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University
Daiva Penkauskienė
Director of Modern Didactics Center, Associate Professor in the Institute of Educational Sciences and Social Work, Mykolas Romeris University
Sandra Kairė
Associate Professor, Director of the Institute of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University
Kay Hemmerling
Dr Kay Hemmerling, Chairman at the Institute for Moral-Democratic Competence (IMDC e.V.)
Programme
Programme
Svetozar Postic
Development of Critical Thinking Skills in Literature Classes
Development of Critical Thinking Skills in Literature Classes
Svetozar Postic
Vilnius University Faculty of Philology, Institute of Foreign Languages, Lithuania
Abstract
This paper analyses the use of techniques through which critical thinking skills can be developed, honed, and nurtured during university literature classes. First, it reviews all the definitions of critical thinking, paying special attention to how they have evolved during the last one hundred years, and selecting those that are useful for literature teaching. Further, it uses the critical thinking skills, listed by an international expert group and described by Peter Facione in his 2011 article entitled “Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts,” and recommends ways in which they can be developed in a literature classroom. The six consensual skills listed by the group are interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and self-regulation.
The recommended techniques in the following section heavily rely on the Dialogue Teaching Model, described in a 1990 work by William Hayes entitled “Critical Thinking through Literature: A Dialogue Teaching Model.” The model this author uses involves five basic steps: getting students to respond to their reading in some significant open-ended way, comparing their reasoning to that of others, reflecting on their own reasoning after considering what others have said, revising or maintaining their responses in the light of other viewpoints, and demonstrating their understanding of a literary piece through a written or oral assignment. This procedure cultivates the expression of one’s own opinion, the ability to listen and comprehend other people’s views and opinions, the encouragement of open-mindedness to different opinions, and the willingness to adapt your own stance according to the information and arguments collected from others. The principle aim of the work is to demonstrate how discussions about literature are one of the most effective ways to develop critical thinking skills.
Keywords: Critical Thinking, Literature, Dialogue Teaching Model, University Classroom
References
Facione, P.A. (2011). Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Insight assessment.
Hayes, W. H. (1990) Critical Thinking through Literature: A Dialogue Teaching Model. Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection. 140. https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1139&context=cct_capstone
Shukri, N. A. and Makundan J. (2015). A Review on Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Literature Texts. Advances in Language and Literary Studies 6(2): 4–9.
Tung, C. and Chang, S. (2009). Developing Critical Thinking through Literature Reading.
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 19: 287–317.
Biodata
Associate Professor, Institute of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Research interests: Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Second-Language Acquisition.
