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Reflection; Assumptions and Professional Practice

Julius Bonga Ouko

American College of Education

ED5253 Cognition and Critical Thinking

Dr. Ann Mowery

March 20, 2023

Reflection; Assumptions and Professional Practice

Assumptions are based on experiences, convictions, religious views, etc.

Assumptions are ideas that are accepted without question or proof (Cambridge Dictionary,

2023.). Critical thinking is defined as, “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue…to

form a judgment” (Oxford Languages, n.d.-b) and “the intentional application of rational, higher

order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving,

inference, and evaluation” (Angelo, 1995, p. 6). In this essay, we will examine any assumptions

we may have about critical analysis and professional practice. In terms of when, where, and how

critical thinking can be taught in schools, we will then attempt to describe different critical

thinking components.

My first assumption about learning and critical thinking is that everyone can improve.

Students and teachers are included in this assumption. Regarding students, i assume that every

child can succeed given the proper environment and support. In my view, there is no ‘weak

learner’ or low ability learner rather there are learners who require a little more or do not have

sufficient information. All students are capable of success if the environment is condusive and

adequate prerequisite knowledge is provided. For instance, i believe that all learners can draw

and analyze graphs in a math class if they all have sufficient time, prerequisite information and

guidance. Drawing and analysis of graphs is an opportunity to develop critical thinking. Every

teacher, no matter how excellent or bad they are, can get better, in my opinion. They can

improve as teachers if they concentrate on making minor adjustments to their methods and use

high-impact techniques. This assumption has challenged how i relate with my co workers

because i look I have chosen to take on the role of an instructional coach in order to support
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some of the instructors at my school in enhancing their teaching. I also learn from my co workers

by observing their lessons.

My other assumption is that teaching must be improved if learning is to be improved. The

best method to raise the standard of education for large numbers of students is through high-

quality instruction. This presumption is unrelated to ideas about effective pedagogies because, if

you subscribe to constructivist theories, you would see the teacher as playing a key role in

guiding the students, whereas if you subscribe to a more explicit approach, you would see the

importance of improving explanations and other aspects of instruction. Any effective educational

model will outperform any ineffective model in terms of instructional quality. Given that

everyone can progress, which is my first assumption, this implies that it is our duty as

professionals to constantly strive to do better. As a teacher who firmly believes that better

teaching results in better learning, I regularly participate in professional development

opportunities, bi-weekly departmental meetings, and faculty meetings with the goal of enhancing

my teaching techniques. This has improved the way that I interact with my coworkers. Because I

was able to challenge my beliefs and assumptions through questioning and critical analysis, this

course forced me to deepen and validate my assumptions.

As a teacher, my other assumption is that success leads to motivation; Learners do well

and have positive attitude in areas they succeed in. We are inspired by our strengths and

appreciate learning about them. On a personal level I always enjoyed science as I was excellent

at it. For whatever reason, feeling successful in a topic makes us feel good about ourselves,

which inspires us to pursue it further. In this respect, it is my responsibility as a teacher to help

students feel successful in mathematics so that they will be inspired to put in more effort.

Contrarily, a lot of people in education believe that we should inspire children to succeed. This
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takes many forms, including entertaining hooks for classes, motivational speeches, connections

to the real world, etc. Through this course i have learnt how to check if my assumptions are

valid. This assumption is accurate because it is corroborated by my peers. It has influenced how i

relate with my co workers.

As a teacher, i have always assumed that knowledge is the foundation of learning. I

believe this is accurate because my experience tells me so and that what my co workers do. “

thinking at high order level is much easier when thinkers already possess the knowledge and

skills required to understand and apply what they have learned.” ( ACE, 2023). Based on what

we already know, students can acquire new things. From being rigid to being completely

transferable, this knowledge moves through stages. This development is inevitable. Critical

thinking is an example of a skill that depends significantly on knowledge and is domain specific.

Critical thinking is no different from other processes or methods in that it is made up of

necessary components. These elements give the process structure, which, when used, enables

verbal communication that is persuasive, sincere, and supportive to significantly affect others'

points of view and message approval. Afaneh,(1998, 46) defined critical thinking skills in five

skills, namely:

⚫ Predicting assumptions.

⚫ Interpretation.

⚫ Evaluating discussions

⚫ Deduction

⚫ Induction
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Dywer (2014) states that, “ critical thinking is a meta cognitive process , that through

reflective, purposeful judgement, increases the chances of producing logical conclusion to an

argument or a solution to a problem.” I think critical thinking is a form of meta cognition. While

critical thinking can be applied to claims made by others, being a critical thinker also necessitates

self-reflection and an assessment of one's own ideas and views. An important component of the

critical-thinking process is the careful examination of our own emotional and cognitive biases,

the corrupting influence of self-interest, and our own tacit acceptance of unquestioned societal

norms and taboos. Additionally, critical-thinking processes can be applied to the metacognitive

cycle. Planning, monitoring, evaluating, and regulating are the four stages that make up the self-

regulation cycle, which is helpful and pertinent to the critical-thinking process.

In conclusion, we are reflecting on the role of reflection in critical thinking. Reflection

helps in challenging students to connect new knowledge to prior understanding especially during

warm ups or lesson starters. Reflection also helps learners to think abstractly and conceptually

and to use specific strategies in novel tasks. Finally through reflection, students comprehend

their own thinking and learning strategies. I consider reflection in the as an aid in the

development of higher-order thinking skills.

References

Abdelati, Hassan. (2008). Critical thinking in the age of informatics. Information studies, 2, pp.

149-180.

American College of Education. (2023). ED5253: Cognition and Critical Thinking: Module 1

[Part 3 Presentation]. Canvas.

Bloom, B.H. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives; Handbook 1; Cognitive Domain;New

York, David Mackay co.

Cambridge Dictionary (2023) Assumption. Retrieved

from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/assumption

Dwyer, C. P., Hogan, M. J., & Stewart, I. (2014). An integrated critical thinking framework for

the 21st century. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 12, 43–

52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2013.12.004