@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix dc: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Education, Faculty of"@en, "Educational Studies (EDST), Department of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Howe, Edward Ronald"@en ; dcterms:issued "2009-07-10T22:31:39Z"@en, "2000"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Arts - MA"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """Critical thinking has received much attention among educators, yet remains largely undeveloped in traditional teacher-centred classrooms. Critical thinking is used in at least three major contexts: (1) the media and general public, (2) teacher pedagogy, and (3) academic discourse. Critical thinking must be better understood by individuals within all three levels. The purposes of this study were (1) to obtain an overall sense of what secondary school teachers believed critical thinking to entail; (2) to compare and contrast B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking; (3) to investigate the nature of B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and subject taught; and (4) to determine whether critical thinking is a significant part of B.C. and Japanese teaching and the curriculum at the secondary level. Over 150 secondary teachers from B.C. and Japan were asked to (1) sort through 50 potential definers denoting possible attributes of critical thinking; (2) rank the 10 most significant to critical thinking; and (3) answer a questionnaire about the nature of critical thinking. The quantitative data, effectively reduced through factor analysis, yielded a five factor solution: Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance, and Intellectual Engagement. B.C. teachers conceptualized critical thinking through Cognitive Strategizing and Relevance, while Japanese teachers favoured Conscientious Judgements and Intellectual Engagement. From a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data from teachers surveyed as well as expert opinion, critical thinking was found to be a process in which an individual is actively engaged in analyzing, reasoning, questioning, and creatively searching for alternatives in an effort to solve a problem or to make a decision or judgement. Teachers indicated that critical thinking was not rote memorization, demonstrating factual knowledge, comprehension or application. It was more than following a given algorithm or set of procedures. While over half the teachers surveyed indicated critical thinking was part of the curriculum and their teaching, many were unable to articulate how to teach it effectively. There were significant differences in teachers' conceptions of critical thinking. Culture accounted for more differences than gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, or the teaching of critical thinking. Using discriminant analysis, 27 definers distinguished between B.C. and Japanese teachers. While B.C. teachers tended to choose "Decision making," "Problem solving," "Divergent thinking," "Metacognitive skills," "Higher order thinking," "Deductive reasoning," and "Identifying/removing bias," Japanese teachers tended to chose "Fairness," "Adequacy," "Objective," "Consistency," "Completeness," Precision," and "Specificity." Over 96 percent of the teachers were correctly classified by culture. Further research is necessary on how to teach critical thinking across the curriculum and successfully integrate it with B.C. and Japanese educational reforms in areas such as curriculum development and teacher training. Critical thinking is a Western expression, yet the concept is not confined to the West. The author proposes the use of a new term for critical thinking with less emphasis on "critical" and more emphasis on "thinking"—kangaeru chikara or "powerful thinking" better encompasses the nature of critical thinking as it is conceived by B.C. and Japan's teachers. Teacher training must incorporate powerful thinking and teachers must model critical thinking, for any effort to reform the structure or organization of education ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the teacher."""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/10626?expand=metadata"@en ; dcterms:extent "5901429 bytes"@en ; dc:format "application/pdf"@en ; skos:note "SECONDARY SCHO O L TEACHERS' CONCEPTIONS OF CRITICAL T H I N K I N G IN BRITISH C O L U M B I A A N D JAPAN: A Comparative Study by E D W A R D R O N A L D H O W E B . S c , U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1988 B . E d . , U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1992 A T H E S I S S U B M I T T E D I N P A R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N T O F T H E R E Q U I R E M E N T S F O R T H E D E G R E E O F M A S T E R O F A R T S i n T H E F A C U L T Y O F G R A D U A T E STUDIES (Department of Educational Studies) W e accept this thesis as c o n f o r m i n g to the requ i red s tandard T H E UNIVERSITY O F BRITISH C O L U M B I A October, 2000 © E d w a r d R o n a l d H o w e , 2000 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date DE-6 (2/88) A B S T R A C T Critical thinking has received much attention among educators, yet remains largely undeveloped in traditional teacher-centred classrooms. Critical thinking is used in at least three major contexts: (1) the media and general public, (2) teacher pedagogy, and (3) academic discourse. Critical thinking must be better understood by individuals within all three levels. The purposes of this study were (1) to obtain an overall sense of what secondary school teachers believed critical thinking to entail; (2) to compare and contrast B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking; (3) to investigate the nature of B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and subject taught; and (4) to determine whether critical thinking is a significant part of B.C. and Japanese teaching and the curriculum at the secondary level. Over 150 secondary teachers from B.C. and Japan were asked to (1) sort through 50 potential definers denoting possible attributes of critical thinking; (2) rank the 10 most significant to critical thinking; and (3) answer a questionnaire about the nature of critical thinking. The quantitative data, effectively reduced through factor analysis, yielded a five factor solution: Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance, and Intellectual Engagement. B.C. teachers conceptualized critical thinking through Cognitive Strategizing and Relevance, while Japanese teachers favoured Conscientious Judgements and Intellectual Engagement. From a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data from teachers surveyed as well as expert opinion, critical thinking was found to be a process in which an individual is actively engaged in analyzing, reasoning, questioning, and creatively searching for alternatives in an effort to solve a problem or to make a decision or judgement. Teachers indicated that critical thinking was not rote memorization, demonstrating factual knowledge, comprehension or application. It was more than following a given algorithm or set of procedures. While over half the teachers surveyed indicated critical thinking was part of the curriculum and their teaching, many were unable to articulate how to teach it effectively. There were significant differences in teachers' conceptions of critical thinking. Culture accounted for more differences than gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, or the teaching of critical thinking. Using discriminant analysis, 27 definers distinguished between B.C. and Japanese teachers. While B.C. teachers tended to choose \"Decision making,\" \"Problem solving,\" \"Divergent thinking,\" \"Metacognitive skills,\" \"Higher order thinking,\" \"Deductive reasoning,\" and \"Identifying/removing bias,\" Japanese teachers tended to chose \"Fairness,\" \"Adequacy,\" \"Objective,\" \"Consistency,\" \"Completeness,\" Precision,\" and \"Specificity.\" Over 96 percent of the teachers were correctly classified by culture. Further research is necessary on how to teach critical thinking across the curriculum and successfully integrate it with B.C. and Japanese educational reforms in areas such as curriculum development and teacher training. Critical thinking is a Western expression, yet the concept is not confined to the West. The author proposes the use of a new term for critical thinking with less emphasis on \"critical\" and more emphasis on \"thinking\"—kangaeru chikara or \"powerful thinking\" better encompasses the nature of critical thinking as it is conceived by B.C. and Japan's teachers. Teacher training must incorporate powerful thinking and teachers must model critical thinking, for any effort to reform the structure or organization of education ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the teacher. T A B L E OF C O N T E N T S A B S T R A C T i i T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S i v LIST O F T A B L E S v i i LIST O F FIGURES v i i A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S ix C H A P T E R 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N T O T H E S T U D Y 1 The Problem: Critical Thinking Misconceptions 2 Background to the Study 3 Rationale and Conceptual Framework 4 Research Methodology and Data Analysis 7 Purposes 8 Organization of the Chapters 9 C H A P T E R 2 E D U C A T I O N IN BRITISH C O L U M B I A A N D J A P A N 10 Education in British Columbia 10 Historical Perspective 10 Higher Education 11 Teacher Education 12 Education in Japan 14 Historical Perspective 15 Comparative Perspective 16 Higher Education 18 Teacher Education 22 Comparisons Between B.C. and Japanese Teachers 25 Educational Reforms in B.C. and Japan 28 Teacher Education Reforms in B.C. and Japan 30 Summary 30 C H A P T E R 3 C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N G 32 32 34 36 38 The Components of Critical Thinking Learning Critical Thinking Distortions of Critical Thinking in the Media Critical Thinking Research i v C H A P T E R 4 R E S E A R C H M E T H O D O L O G Y 39 Sample 39 Schools 40 Teachers 45 Instrument Development 46 Critical Thinking Cards 46 Translation of Critical Thinking Definers 46 Procedures 47 P/iase 1—Pilot Study 47 Phase 2—Instrument Design 48 Phase 3—Survey of B.C. Teachers 48 Phase 4—Survey of Japanese Teachers 49 Data Preparation and Analysis 49 Summary 50 C H A P T E R 5 R E S U L T S - C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S O F R E S P O N D E N T S 52 Gender 52 Age 54 Teaching Experience 54 Subject Areas 55 Summary 56 C H A P T E R 6 R E S U L T S - C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N G 57 Definers of Critical Thinking 57 Differences Between B.C. and Japanese Teachers 61 Differences Based on the Total Number of Definers Chosen 63 Differences Based on Gender 64 Differences Based on Age 64 Differences Based on Career Experience 64 Relationships Based on Critical Thinking in the Curriculum 65 Relationships Based on Critical Thinking in Teaching 65 Distinguishing B.C. from Japanese Teachers 66 Ranking Selected Definers of Critical Thinking 68 The Structure of Critical Thinking 70 Elements of Critical Thinking and the Factoring Procedure 71 Factors of Critical Thinking 71 Factor 1: Scientific Reasoning 71 Factor 2: Cognitive Strategizing 73 Factor 3: Conscientious Judgements 73 Factor 4: Relevance 73 Factor 5: Intellectual Engagement 74 Scale Scoring 74 V Relationships Between Critical Thinking Scale Scores and Socio-demographic Characteristics of B.C. and Japanese Teachers 75 Culture 76 Gender!AgelTeaching Experience 77 Critical Thinking in the Curriculum and the Teaching of Critical Thinking 77 Total Number of Critical Thinking Definers Chosen 79 Subject Areas 79 Summary 79 C H A P T E R 7 DISCUSSION 81 Teachers' Conceptions of Critical Thinking 81 How Critical Thinking is Taught 83 Comparative Perspective 84 Implications of the Study 89 C H A P T E R 8 S U M M A R Y A N D C O N C L U S I O N S 91 Critical Analysis of the Methodology 91 Critical Analysis of the Results 94 Levels of Critical Thinking 94 Comparative Education Perspective 95 Recommendations and Implications for Future Studies 97 R E F E R E N C E S 101 A P P E N D I X A : Teacher Questionnaire (English Version) 108 A P P E N D I X B: Teacher Questionnaire (Japanese Version) 110 APPENDIX C: Critical Thinking Definers Spreadsheet 112 APPENDIX D: Rotated Component Matrix of 50 Critical Thinking Definers 113 v i LIST OF T A B L E S Table 1 Descriptions of B.C. and Japanese Schools Selected 39 Table 2. Coding of Critical Thinking Card Sort 49 Table 3. Characteristics of Selected Teachers in B.C. and Japanese High Schools 53 Table 4. Differences in Fifty Definers of Critical Thinking between Teachers in B.C. and Japanese High Schools 58 Table 5. Correlations Between Fifty Definers of Critical Thinking and Seven Characteristics of Teacher Demographics 62 Table 6. Critical Thinking Definers that Significantly Distinguished Between B.C. and Japanese Teachers 66 Table 7. Accuracy of Discriminant Function Distinguishing B.C. and Japanese Teachers 67 Table 8. Critical Thinking Factor Loadings 72 Table 9. Relationships Between Critical Thinking Scale Scores and Socio-demographic Characteristics of B.C. and Japanese Teachers 75 Table 10. Critical Thinking as Part of the Prescribed Curriculum 78 Table 11. Critical Thinking Taught in the Classroom 78 v i i LIST OF F I G U R E S Figure 1. Map of Japan 41 Figure 2. Map of British Columbia 41 Figure 3. Map of The Lower Mainland (Greater Vancouver) 42 Figure 4. Map of Kanto Region (Greater Tokyo) 42 Figure 5. Example of a Critical Thinking Card 46 Figure 6. Distribution of Respondents on the Single Canonical Discriminant Function of Significant Critical Thinking Definers 68 Figure 7. Percentage of Critical Thinking Definers Endorsed, then Subsequently Ranked in the Top Ten 69 v i i i A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S I would like to thank the many people who have helped to make this thesis possible. M y research supervisor, Roger Boshier as well as my other committee members: John Collins, Ishu Ishiyama, and Hans Schuetze helped guide me through the process of designing appropriate research tools and in the analysis of data. A special thank you to my wife, Emmy who helped immensely with translation and who showed a great deal of patience throughout my graduate work. Also, my Japanese liaison, Touji Tanaka from Tsukuba University was very kind and helpful. He enabled me to determine how suitable my research question was from a Japanese educator's perspective. In addition, Dr. Tanaka took time from his own research to contact each Principal from the Japanese high schools and to arrange for my subsequent visits to each high school. O n my initial visit to Tsukuba, Dr. Tanaka's graduate student, Tomomi Netsu was generous with his time and he was instrumental in the process of the translations of the critical thinking definers. Reiko Louie, a Japanese teacher here in B.C. was also a great help in the double-translation—a process that can be very time-consuming. O n my visit to Tsukuba's technical high school, another one of Dr. Tanaka's graduate students, Yoshihei Okabe must be thanked for spending an entire afternoon as chauffeur and guide to Tsukuba. Thank you to my father-in-law, Fumikazu Ohki for obtaining numerous Japanese books and Monbusho documents as well as serving as an educational consultant and contact to various Japanese individuals and institutions. Thank you to Susan Carpenter and Maria Trache and especially to John Collins in helping me with the data analysis. Finally, thank you to all my colleagues (both university graduate students and teachers) who have given their time to provide insight into the meaning of critical thinking. ix 1 C H A P T E R 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N T O T H E S T U D Y Like many other regions in the world, British Columbia is undergoing major changes in education. Educational reforms reflect international trends in education, advancements in communication technology and globalization of the economy. It is important, however, not to lose sight of the ultimate goal of these reforms—to improve student learning. In particular, educators are interested in teaching strategies that will improve student learning within the context of an ever-shrinking world. It was with this in mind that the Critical Thinking Cooperative was formed in 1994 as a project involving school districts, the Ministry of Education, and other educators across the province. Its purpose was to support learning and assessment resources and long-term, field-based professional development in the area of critical thinking. Similarly, in the U K , the Oxford Centre for Comparative Studies was formed in 1990. Its mandate was to make contributions to two important questions in the study of comparative education: (1) What lessons can be learnt from cross-national studies of issues in education? and (2) What problems of comparative methods do such studies have to address? Its first published paper raised the question... \"what are the specific lessons that the British could learn from the Japanese education system...\" (Phillips, 1990, p. 159). Much literature in this field has drastically oversimplified the Japanese educational system. It is the opinion of many researchers in comparative education that there is much work to be done in this field. In 1990, the Alberta Department of Education set up a committee to investigate the curriculum, values and lessons from other countries, principally Japan and Germany. Their report, International Comparisons in Education, stated that there are no definitive measures that compare Alberta directly with 2 in ternat ional systems. C a n a d i a n compar i sons are f l awed due to a lack of e m p i r i c a l research a n d therefore o p e n to controversy . The report r e c o m m e n d e d several educa t ion practices f rom the c o m p a r i s o n countr ies , transferable to A l b e r t a , regardless of societal differences. These practices i n c l u d e d teacher t r a in ing a n d schoo l admin i s t r a t ion (Alber ta Dept . of E d u c a t i o n , 1992, p p . 1-3). In T o k y o , Japan, the N a t i o n a l Institute for E d u c a t i o n a l Research ( N I E R ) m a d e s i m i l a r r ecommenda t ions i n c l u d i n g n a t i o n w i d e a n d in t e rna t iona l compara t ive s tudies o n achievement w i t h a focus o n l e a rn ing mot ives , att i tudes and thought processes of i n d i v i d u a l s . The N I E R made severa l r ecommenda t ions to the Japanese gove rnmen t i n c l u d i n g : an emphas i s o n i n d i v i d u a l i t y , cu l t i va t i on of c rea t iv i ty , t h i n k i n g ab i l i ty a n d p o w e r of express ion , h u m a n i z a t i o n of the educa t iona l e n v i r o n m e n t a n d c o p i n g w i t h in t e rna t iona l i za t ion ( N I E R , 1986a, 1986b). S i m i l a r l y , i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n has manda ted that b y the year 2000, a l l cu r r i cu l a w o u l d emphas ize p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g a n d c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , l i teracy and c o m m u n i c a t i o n , team w o r k a n d i n f o r m a t i o n technology (Br i t i sh C o l u m b i a M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n , 1993). The Problem: Critical Thinking Misconceptions It w o u l d appear that \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" is an in tegra l part of educa t iona l reforms i n Japan a n d N o r t h A m e r i c a ( M o n b u s h o , 1992, 1995; N o r r i s , 1988; Schlechty, 1997). In B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a and elsewhere, there is m u c h talk a m o n g educators, po l i t i c i ans a n d the med ia . H o w e v e r , m u c h is i d l e rhetor ic , as \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" has become the latest \" b u z z w o r d \" i n educa t ion . E v e r y o n e seems to agree o n its impor tance , yet few articulate exactly wha t they m e a n b y \"cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . \" H e r e are examples f rom recent newspapers : 3 Y o u need to be able to t h i n k v e r y c r i t i c a l l y and be h i g h l y literate to use the Internet effectively, says Te r ry C l a r k , the head of V a n c o u v e r P u b l i c L i b r a r y ' s ch i ld ren ' s d i v i s i o n (Vancouver Sun, October 20, 1998, p . A l ) . K i t Kr i ege r , pres ident of the B . C . Teachers Federa t ion , suggests that instead of a sk ing \"wha t d i d y o u do i n school today,\" ask y o u r c h i l d wha t quest ions were raised i n his or her m i n d today. That was the ques t ion asked b y the parents of N o b e l phys ic i s t H a n s Bette w h e n he was a student. It deve loped c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g rather than absorpt ive l e a r n i n g (Vancouver Sun, January 15, 1999, p . B7). T e d M c C a i n a n d B i l l H e n d e r s o n , t w o innova t ive B . C . teachers a w a r d e d the P r i m e M i n i s t e r ' s A w a r d for Teach ing excellence espouse their v i e w s o n the impor tance of teaching \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" : M c C a i n a n d H e n d e r s o n say a l though their s tudents leave h i g h schoo l w i t h h i g h l y marketable , cut t ing-edge sk i l l s , the technica l lessons are the least impor tan t t h i n g they take f r o m the c lass room. The focus of their teaching is p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g , t h i n k i n g c r i t i c a l l y a n d w o r k i n g as a team (Vancouver Sun, June 23, 1998, p . B4). \" C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g \" is no longer relegated to the pages of scho la r ly journa ls nor is it mere ly the hot topic of educa t iona l ph i losophers . Rather \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" is n o w i n the p u b l i c ' s vocabu la ry , h o w e v e r its m e a n i n g remains vague a n d c o n v o l u t e d . B a c k g r o u n d to the S t u d y C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g has rece ived m u c h at tention a m o n g educators , yet remains la rge ly u n d e v e l o p e d i n t r ad i t iona l teacher-centred secondary school classrooms. A t present, there is m u c h research i n progress o n the mean ing , t ransferabil i ty, a n d methods of teaching cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . H o w e v e r , there is s t i l l debate about w h a t is meant b y \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . \" W h i l e espoused b y educators a n d employer s b o t h i n B . C . a n d Japan, there has been l i t t le examina t i on of the 4 w a y cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is under s tood w i t h i n these t w o educa t ion systems. P r i o r to this s tudy, based o n searches of educa t iona l databases i n c l u d i n g E R I C a n d the w o r l d w i d e w e b , there was no data w h i c h compared cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g i n B . C . and Japan. In order to foster c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g b y students, teachers m us t first cr i t ique present educa t iona l practices a n d the beliefs u n d e r l y i n g them. T o unders t and the nature of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , educators mus t be asked quest ions about the nature of k n o w l e d g e , l e a rn ing a n d the process of t h i n k i n g . Rationale and Conceptual Framework C o m p a r a t i v e E d u c a t i o n is not yet a cohesive d i sc ip l ine bu t is rather an eclectic m i x of approaches w i t h i n a broader f ie ld . The spec t rum of approaches range f r o m c u l t u r a l r e l a t i v i s m to p o s i t i v i s m . M a n y compara t ive educa t ion researchers ' conceptua l f r ameworks l ie somewhere w i t h i n these boundar ies , for they are not necessar i ly m u t u a l l y exc lus ive concepts. H o w e v e r , attempts to formulate methods that d r a w o n bo th ends of the spec t rum have la rge ly not been successful. N o t e w o r t h y exceptions m a y inc lude the case s tudy , morphogene t ic approach and H o l m e s ' p r o b l e m s o l v i n g app roach (Epstein , 1988). W h i l e this s t udy is d e c i d e d l y pos i t iv i s t i n nature, the author recognizes the impor tance of cu l t u r a l r e l a t i v i sm and p o s i t i v i s m to compara t ive educa t ion , as ' c o m p a r i s o n ' has different mean ings for pos i t iv i s t s a n d relat ivis ts . C u l t u r a l r e l a t i v i sm uses c o m p a r i s o n to ga in a m u t u a l respect for differences w h i l e g u a r d i n g against e thnocentr i sm. Fo r the re la t iv is t ' c o m p a r i s o n ' is not a genera l i z ing process bu t is instead a m e t h o d to d i scover cu l tu ra l absolutes. H e r s k o v i t s , Boas, a n d Benedic t were a m o n g the first researchers to use cu l tu ra l r e l a t i v i sm , b e l i e v i n g a l l assessments were made re la t ive to s tandards d e r i v e d f rom cul ture (Epstein , 1988). C u l t u r a l r e l a t i v i sm denies that mean ing fu l 5 cross-cul tura l compar i sons are poss ib le as a l l educa t iona l p h e n o m e n a are e m b e d d e d i n cul tures that are un ique . Thus , cu l t u r a l re lat ivis ts w o u l d seem at odds w i t h those w h o embrace the roots of compara t ive educa t ion a n d w h o are la rge ly pos i t iv is t s . P o s i t i v i s m has been compara t ive educat ion ' s m a i n s t r e a m t r a d i t i o n since M a r c - A n t i o n e J u l l i e n set the stage i n the ear ly 19th century. Sir M i c h a e l Sadler , also saw the prac t ica l va lue of s t u d y i n g fore ign educa t ion systems i n order to make i m p r o v e m e n t s at home . F o r over one h u n d r e d a n d e igh ty years, pos i t iv i s t scholars have e x a m i n e d inva r i an t re la t ionships t r anscend ing the boundar i e s of par t icu la r societies. F r o m compara t ive educat ion ' s ' f o u n d i n g fathers' J u l l i e n a n d Sadler , to their m o d e r n contemporar ies N o a h and Ecks te in , p o s i t i v i s m has p r e v a i l e d . A l t h o u g h there are grave p rob lems inherent i n every effort to s tudy educa t ion a n d society compara t ive ly , a n d severe add i t i ona l p rob lems raised b y attempts to a p p l y socia l science techniques to compara t ive w o r k , the p romise b o t h of the general f ie ld of compara t ive educa t ion a n d the specific me thods advocated here remains great. The potent ia l of the f ie ld , as w e have a rgued , l ies first i n the p romise of ex tend ing the general i ty of p ropos i t ions b e y o n d the confines of a s ingle society; second, i n the p r o v i s i o n of an arena w h e r e p ropos i t ions , testable o n l y i n a cross-nat ional context, can be invest igated; t h i rd as a f ie ld for i n t e rd i s c ip l i na ry w o r k ; a n d f ina l ly , as an ins t rument for p lanners a n d p o l i c y makers ( N o a h & Ecks te in , 1998, p p . 28-29). F r o m a pos i t iv i s t perspect ive, cross-nat ional data can be used to test and ver i fy p ropos i t ions about re la t ionships be tween teaching practices a n d l ea rn ing outcomes. Thus , i n c o m p a r i n g B . C . a n d Japanese teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , a pos i t iv i s t approach was used i n order to seek m e a n i n g that t ranscended the t w o cul tures . The rat ionale for d o i n g a s tudy of this nature is perhaps not im m ed ia t e ly obv ious . Some educators i n i t i a l l y m a y feel the t w o educa t iona l systems (and cultures for that matter) are so d i s s imi l a r that l i t t le can be ga ined f rom one s t u d y i n g the other i n any deta i l . H o w e v e r , m u c h can be learned f rom cross-cu l tu ra l compar i sons ( C u m m i n g s & A l t b a c h , 1997; E l l i n g t o n , 1992; Eps te in , 1988; H a r a d a , 1993; H o w a r t h , 1991; K o b a y a s h i , 1990; N e w Y o r k State E d u c a t i o n Dept . , 1992; R o h l e n & LeTendre , 1996; Sh imahara & Saka i , 1995; Schr iewer , 1988; Stevenson & Stigler , 1992). H o w e v e r , compar i sons have l ed to an in te rna t iona l economic compe t i t ive agenda, a n d w h a t T h o m a s R o h l e n , au thor of the w e l l -k n o w n s tudy: Japan's High Schools, cal ls \"the r i s i ng t ide of na ive en thus iasm for educat ion 's benefits a m o n g economists , scientists, business people , (and) elected off ic ia ls\" (Rohlen , 1995, p . 104). R o h l e n reflects further o n the W e s t e r n percept ions of Japanese educa t ion and in te rna t iona l compe t i t i on b y stat ing: O u r defensiveness, for whatever reason, has l ed to d is tor t ions i n the p u b l i c image of educa t ion i n East A s i a . Portrai ts e m p h a s i z i n g \" exam he l l s , \" au thor i ta r ian teachers, s tudent malaise , lack of crea t iv i ty , a n d excessive confo rmi ty are c o m m o n . These portrai ts raise doubts that there is a n y t h i n g to be learned f rom school systems w i t h such a seeming ly a l i en character. Success at such a pr ice , w e say to ourselves, is ac tual ly no success at a l l . I cannot agree. I th ink I speak for most of m y colleagues w h o s tudy A s i a n educa t ion i n assert ing that there is m u c h to learn . W e f i n d m a n y faults w i t h A s i a n systems of educa t ion a n d do not a lways agree o n wha t is most impor tan t to their success. H o w e v e r , these differences make for l i v e l y debate, not d i s m i s s a l of the topic . W e seek to unders tand first a n d o n l y then to d r a w prac t ica l lessons (1995, p . 104). O n a persona l note, as a secondary school teacher w i t h experience teaching i n b o t h B . C . a n d Japan, I have a great interest i n compara t ive educat ion . Af te r s p e n d i n g two years teaching at several j un io r h i g h schools i n T o k y o , I was impressed b y the organiza t ion , teacher accul tura t ion a n d ethos of Japanese schools . A t the same t ime, I also noted deficiencies i n teaching strategies a n d in i t i a l teacher t r a in ing . It occur red to me that m u c h c o u l d be ga ined f rom c o m p a r i n g different educa t ion 7 systems and b o r r o w i n g ideas f rom abroad. Y o u c o u l d say that I w a s en l igh tened f rom m y experience overseas a n d reborn as a compara t ive educator! Increasingly, Japanese educators are c o m i n g to C a n a d a and the U . S . to learn about Wes t e rn educa t iona l systems. O v e r 3000 teachers are sent abroad every year (Kobayash i , 1993, p . 11). Since 1993, over 600 Canad ians per year have taken par t i n the Japan Exchange and Teach ing (JET) P r o g r a m ( M o n b u s h o , 1996, p . 51). They are d o i n g so because of the in te rna t iona l iza t ion of educa t ion , g loba l i za t ion of the economy, a n d increased trade a n d t ou r i sm . A n d b y their presence, great f o r w a r d strides have been made i n in te rna t iona l educa t ion and the exchange of ideas. B o t h B . C . a n d Japan s tand to benefit f rom this compara t ive s tudy . In par t icular , this thesis s h o u l d be of interest to compara t ive educa t ion researchers, educa t ion p o l i c y makers , teacher educators, and secondary schoo l teachers. Researchers, educators a n d c lass room teachers can ga in ins ights in to the nature of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . The cross-cul tura l lessons learned can be used to i m p r o v e teacher educa t ion p rograms a n d subsequent ly c u r r i c u l u m a n d c lass room teaching s h o u l d change i n order to enhance s tudent l ea rn ing . Research M e t h o d o l o g y a n d D a t a A n a l y s i s The task of this thesis was to compare a n d contrast B . C . a n d Japanese h i g h school teachers ' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g across the d imens ions of cul ture , subject taught, experience, age a n d gender. In order to facilitate this compar i son , a t w o part su rvey ins t rument was des igned (see A p p e n d i x A for the E n g l i s h ve r s ion a n d A p p e n d i x B for the Japanese vers ion) . Af te r a p i l o t s tudy a n d double- t rans la t ion , definers or descr ip t ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g (words a n d 8 phrases deno t ing cr i t ica l t h ink ing) were p r i n t ed o n 50 index cards ( in E n g l i s h o n one s ide a n d Japanese o n the other). Teachers (n=159) f r o m four Japanese and s ix B . C . p u b l i c h i g h schools were asked to sort the cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g cards, choos ing o n l y relevant ones. F r o m these, they were requ i red to rank the ten mos t significant. The results of this card-sort p rocedure were recorded i n a spreadsheet (see A p p e n d i x C ) . Thus , quant i ta t ive data was col lected f rom the ca rd sort p rocedure a n d quest ionnaire i n a d d i t i o n to qual i ta t ive data f r o m open-ended ques t ions . C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g , w h i l e v a l u e d b y most teachers, remains a concept that is not w e l l unders tood . In par t icular , teachers have d i f f icu l ty express ing h o w cr i t ical t h i n k i n g can be taught. It is h o p e d that this s tudy w i l l contr ibute to the f ie ld of compara t ive educa t ion and k n o w l e d g e of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g — a topic of great interest to educators i n B . C . a n d Japan. Purposes The purposes of this s tudy were: (1) To ob ta in an ove ra l l sense of w h a t secondary school teachers be l i eved cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g to en ta i l . (2) To compare a n d contrast B . C . and Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . (3) T o invest igate the nature of B . C . and Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g w i t h respect to gender, age, teaching experience a n d subject taught . (4) To determine whe ther c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is a s ignif icant par t of B . C . a n d Japanese teaching and the c u r r i c u l u m at the secondary l eve l . 9 O r g a n i z a t i o n of the Chapte r s In the f o l l o w i n g chapters, the nature of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n B . C . ' s and Japan's secondary schools is ana lyzed and compared . Chap te r 2 p r o v i d e s an o v e r v i e w of educa t ion i n B . C . and Japan. Chap te r 3 deals w i t h the concept of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . Chap te r 4 details the research me thodo logy , w h i l e Chapters 5 and 6 report the results of the s tudy. Chap te r 7 discusses teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g a n d offers a compara t ive perspect ive. F i n a l l y , C h a p t e r 8 serves as a conc lus ion a n d s u m m a r y of the research f ind ings . 10 C H A P T E R 2 E D U C A T I O N I N BRITISH C O L U M B I A A N D J A P A N T h r o u g h o u t t ime, c iv i l i z a t i ons have asked quest ions a n d sought answers i n a search for k n o w l e d g e . E d u c a t i o n has a lways been an essential par t of any society. To better unders tand cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g i n B . C . and Japan, first it is necessary to unde r s t and the broader context of educa t ion w i t h i n the t w o regions. E d u c a t i o n i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a B . C . cont inues to be a p ioneer i n progress ive reforms to educa t ion . A t the d a w n of the in fo rma t ion age, B . C . is po i s ed to become a w o r l d leader i n the role of teachers a n d the effective use of i n fo rma t ion technology, h o w e v e r further improvemen t s i n educa t ion are necessary for B . C . to prepare students for the challenges facing them. In par t icu lar , teacher educa t ion m us t change i n order to reflect the chang ing needs of society. Historical Perspective E d u c a t i o n i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a has e v o l v e d f r o m the one - roomed r u r a l schools of the late 1800s to the present complex system. D u r i n g the 1990s, near ly hal f the 75 school distr icts were i n the process of ama lgama t ion a n d centra l iza t ion. D u e to a huge increase i n p o p u l a t i o n , B . C . ' s schools were o v e r c r o w d e d a n d under - funded ( B C T F , 1998). There was an exp lo s ion of E . S . L . students, especia l ly i n the L o w e r M a i n l a n d . These factors have c o m b i n e d to p roduce a di f f icul t a n d chang ing env i ronmen t for educa t ion i n B . C . . In add i t i on , there have been s w e e p i n g changes to the c u r r i c u l u m i n order to reflect the need for c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g . In 1988, the E i g h t h B . C . R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o n E d u c a t i o n repor ted o n the state of educa t ion i n B . C . . A s a result , m a n y reforms took place 11 i n c l u d i n g c r i t e r ion referenced assessment, peer eva lua t ion a n d a focus o n student-centred approaches to l ea rn ing . C u r r e n t l y , the c u r r i c u l u m is d i v i d e d into three p rograms: p r i m a r y ( K - 3 ) , in termediate (4-7), and secondary (8-12). C u r r i c u l a r decis ions are made b y the B . C . M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n w h i l e the respons ib i l i ty for teacher t r a in ing and cert if icat ion is left to the B . C . Co l l ege of Teachers ( B C C T ) . The B C C T is compr i s ed of fifteen teachers, t w o cabinet appointees, t w o M i n i s t e r of E d u c a t i o n appointees a n d one representat ive f rom the Deans of the Facul t ies of Educa t i on . P r i o r to 1988, there w a s l i t t le accountabi l i ty a n d few standards for teachers. Since the B C C T was establ ished howeve r , teacher qual i f ica t ions a n d teacher educa t ion p r o g r a m s have i m p r o v e d . U n t i l the mid-1960s, h ighe r educa t ion i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a w a s p r o v i d e d almost exc lus ive ly b y its univers i t ies . D u r i n g the 1960s, howeve r , as the d e m a n d for greater var ie ty i n post secondary educa t ion rose sha rp ly a n d enro l lment expanded , systems of p u b l i c l y operated post-secondary non-un ive r s i t y ins t i tu t ions began to deve lop . E n r o l l m e n t s teadi ly increased d u r i n g the 1950s and 1960s w i t h the expans ion of the economy. M o r e a n d more peop le were ob ta in ing h i g h schoo l d i p l o m a s . In the late 1960s and the 1970s m a n y more were go ing o n to college a n d un ivers i ty . \" H u m a n cap i t a l \" was cons ide red of p r i m a r y impor tance to the g r o w t h of the economy. H o w e v e r , d u r i n g the ear ly 1980s, the e c o n o m y s l o w e d d o w n a n d u n e m p l o y m e n t rose. In the 1990s, the government r e c o m m e n d e d a closer fit be tween the educa t iona l sys tem a n d the l abour market , yet u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d u n d e r e m p l o y m e n t r e m a i n e d (L iv ings tone , 1996). Higher Education V i r t u a l l y a l l C a n a d i a n post secondary ins t i tu t ions , i n c l u d i n g the univers i t ies , offer b o t h f u l l and part- t ime adul t educat ion . O v e r the past 20 years, 12 w i t h the emphas i s o n l i f e long l ea rn ing , there has been a m a r k e d increase i n the n u m b e r of s tudents f rom outs ide the u s u a l 18 - to -24-yea r -o ld age g roup ; i n 1990, 24 percent of un ive r s i t y students were over the age of 24 c o m p a r e d w i t h a lmost 18 percent i n 1970-71 (Statistics C a n a d a , 1996). C u r r e n t l y , more than 55 percent of a l l u n i v e r s i t y s tudents are w o m e n , a n d more w o m e n receive u n i v e r s i t y qual i f ica t ions than m e n . S i m i l a r l y , over 53 percent of fu l l - t ime col lege students, and near ly 63 percent of par t - t ime college students are w o m e n . A d u l t educa t ion is a fas t -growing sector. In 1990, for example , 3.4 m i l l i o n adul ts or approx ima te ly 20 percent of Canad ians were t ak ing part- t ime courses (Statistics C a n a d a , 1996). C a n a d i a n pos t -secondary ins t i tu t ions have d e v e l o p e d comprehens ive , d ivers i f ied systems of educat ion , des igned to be un ive r sa l l y accessible, r e spond ing to the d iverse needs of its residents. Teacher Education Teacher educa t ion i n B . C . has progressed substant ia l ly since the N o r m a l schools of the ear ly part of this century. E v e n as recently as the 1960s it was possible to teach i n B . C . ' s p u b l i c schools w i t h l i t t le or no fo rma l teacher t r a in ing . This has changed a great dea l i n the last decade. Teach ing has g r a d u a l l y been ga in ing status as a legi t imate profess ion l ike med ic ine or l a w . Since 1988, teacher educa t ion a n d cert i f icat ion i n B . C . has been regulated b y the B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a Co l l ege of Teachers. A l l teachers since 1988 mus t have ob ta ined the equiva lent of at least f ive years of un ive r s i ty t r a in ing i n an a p p r o v e d post -secondary p r o g r a m l ead ing to a Bache lor of E d u c a t i o n degree. U p o n c o m p l e t i o n of either the elementary or secondary p r o g r a m , graduates mus t then a p p l y to the Teachers ' Qua l i f i ca t i on Service a n d the B C C T i n order to have their academic credentials assessed. The B . C . Profess ional Teach ing Certif icate i ssued is v a l i d indef in i te ly 13 for as l o n g as the i n d i v i d u a l cont inues to r e m a i n a member of the C o l l e g e i n good s tanding . The T w o Y e a r E lementa ry Teacher E d u c a t i o n P r o g r a m at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a (U .B .C . ) is o p e n to appl icants w h o have comple t ed a m i n i m u m of 90 credits i n A r t s , Science or H u m a n Kine t i c s , i n c l u d i n g relevant pre-a d m i s s i o n s tudies . The T w e l v e - M o n t h E lemen ta ry Teacher P r o g r a m , the P i l o t M i d d l e Schoo l Teacher E d u c a t i o n P r o g r a m , a n d the Secondary Teacher E d u c a t i o n P r o g r a m are open to appl icants w h o have comple t ed a four year Bachelor ' s degree w h i c h inc ludes relevant p r e - admis s ion studies. A d m i s s i o n to teacher educa t ion is l i m i t e d b y the avai lable spaces i n each p r o g r a m a n d e m p l o y m e n t prospects . Because of the compe t i t i on for a d m i s s i o n , s tudents are often requ i red to have a grade po in t average w e l l above the 65 percent m i n i m u m . In i t i a l ly , candidates deve lop a founda t ion of teaching t h r o u g h courses des igned to p r o v i d e a balance of general and spec ia l ized k n o w l e d g e about c u r r i c u l u m a n d ins t ruc t ion , i n c l u d i n g pedagog ica l k n o w l e d g e , educa t iona l p s y c h o l o g y a n d specia l educat ion. In add i t i on , students have a t w o week p r a c t i c u m for observat ions a n d or ienta t ion to the school i n w h i c h they w i l l be d o i n g the ex tended p rac t i cum. Af te r the first semester of s tudy , students enter a 13 week extended p r a c t i c u m consis t ing of a 20-30 percent teaching assignment, w h i c h is g r a d u a l l y increased to 80 percent for the f inal 4 weeks . B y the t ime they successfully comple te the ex tended p rac t i cum, students s h o u l d have demonst ra ted that they can p l a n , i m p l e m e n t a n d evaluate ins t ruc t ion at a s tandard expected of a b e g i n n i n g teacher. Af te r the p rac t i cum, students re turn to campus for one semester to engage i n studies des igned to p u t their teaching experiences i n a broader context. S i m o n Fraser U n i v e r s t i y (S.F.U.) , The U n i v e r s i t y of V i c t o r i a , T r i n i t y 14 Weste rn U n i v e r s i t y as w e l l as other B . C . U n i v e r s i t y - C o l l e g e s a l l offer p rograms for teacher p repara t ion . H o w e v e r , teacher educa t ion at B . C . ' s other ins t i tu t ions varies somewha t f rom U . B . C . ' s m o d e l . S . F . U . has students take t w o pract ica . O n e is a four-week p rac t i cum, done at the b e g i n n i n g of the p r o g r a m , before any s ignif icant course w o r k has been comple ted . The other is a ten w e e k in tens ive p r ac t i cum that demands that the s tudent mus t teach a f u l l course l o a d over at least a s ix week p e r i o d . S .F.U. ' s p r o g r a m attempts to place more emphas is o n a var ie ty of p r a c t i c u m experiences a n d o n the b e g i n n i n g teacher as a reflective pract i t ioner . There is dec ided ly less emphas is o n pedagog ica l theory a n d teacher educa t ion courses. Based o n this wr i te r ' s persona l experience i n U . B . C . ' s p r o g r a m (1989) a n d role as a sponsor teacher (school associate) i n S.F.U. 's p r o g r a m (1996, 1998), U . B . C . ' s p r o g r a m offers a g o o d balance of pedagogica l a n d prac t ica l t ra in ing . H a v i n g the ex tended p r a c t i c u m i n the same school as the i n i t i a l t w o w e e k p rac t i cum after the course w o r k offers greater cont inu i ty . A l s o , b y g r a d u a l l y increas ing the teaching load , the s tudent teacher can concentrate o n d a i l y lesson p l a n n i n g a n d the longer ou t look of un i t p l a n n i n g . In this wr i t e r ' s experience, the S .F .U . p r o g r a m does not prepare students for the r igorous teaching l o a d of the ten week p rac t i cum. A l s o , b y h a v i n g t w o pract ica i n different schools w i t h different schoo l associates, the pract ica are a d i scon t inuous a n d stressful experience as a result . Ne i the r p r o g r a m is idea l , i n c o m p a r i s o n to Japan's teacher educa t ion . Education in Japan In the 1980s a n d 1990s Japanese ins t i tu t ions of educa t ion u n d e r w e n t s ignif icant changes. Japan's rev i sed m o d e l of educa t ion has m u c h to offer. In 15 par t icular , the encu l tu ra t ion of b e g i n n i n g teachers s h o w s great p romise . H o w e v e r , m a n y reforms were not sufficient to address the major p rob lems facing Japan's students. Recent calls for educa t iona l reform, d r i v e n b y s l o w economic g r o w t h a n d s t ructura l changes to indus t ry , further i l lust ra te the need for comprehens ive changes to Japan's r i g i d au thor i ta r ian educa t ion sys tem. Historical Perspective Japanese cu l ture a n d t rad i t ion have p l a y e d an impor tan t role i n shap ing the educa t ion sys tem. Since the M e i j i res torat ion i n 1868, Japan has increas ing ly l o o k e d b e y o n d her shores for ideas a n d more efficient w a y s of a c c o m p l i s h i n g things. The Japanese are remarkable i n the w a y they have been able to take g o o d ideas f rom abroad, perfect ing a n d adap t ing them for their o w n purposes , w h i l e m a i n t a i n i n g their cu l ture and t radi t ions . E d u c a t i o n is a p r i m e example of this. B y l ea rn ing W e s t e r n methods of p r o d u c t i o n a n d adap t ing the W e s t e r n m o d e l of cap i t a l i sm to sui t their cul ture , Japan e v o l v e d f rom a feudal state to a m o d e r n i ndus t r i a l na t i on i n a short p e r i o d of t ime. E m p e r o r M e i j i u n d e r s t o o d that i n order for Japan to be compet i t ive i n the pos t - indus t r i a l w o r l d , the coun t ry w o u l d have to lea rn to be \" m o d e r n . \" H e sent scholars to E u r o p e , N o r t h A m e r i c a and A s i a to s tudy the educa t ion systems of other countr ies . Japan opened its doors to the rest of the w o r l d for the first t ime i n the h i s to ry of the na t ion . Th i s p r o v e d to be the s ingle mos t impor t an t factor i n f luenc ing Japanese educa t ion . Af te r W o r l d W a r II, d u r i n g the occupa t ion , Japanese educa t ion was m o d e l e d o n the A m e r i c a n 6 -3 -3 -4 system. In 1947, the F u n d a m e n t a l L a w of E d u c a t i o n a n d the Schoo l E d u c a t i o n L a w were enacted. U n d e r these l aws a fo rmal educa t iona l sys tem was establ ished o n the p r i n c i p l e of equa l educa t iona l oppor tun i ty . In 1948, a n e w sys tem of uppe r secondary schools was established. 16 Unive r s i t i e s started unde r the n e w sys tem i n 1949, a n d jun io r colleges i n the f o l l o w i n g year. H o w e v e r , c u r r i c u l u m and ins t ruc t ion i n Japanese p u b l i c schools, unde rwen t l i t t le change as a result (Beauchamp & V a r d m a n , 1994; O k a n o & Tsuch iya , 1999; R o h l e n , 1983; Shie lds , 1993; T a k a k u r a & M u r a t a , 1998). Japanese secondary school educa t ion is s t i l l character ized b y a d idac t ic teaching, rote m e m o r y style of l ea rn ing v e r y s imi l a r to the A m e r i c a n a n d B r i t i s h p u b l i c schools of the late 1800's—the v e r y sys tem it was m o d e l e d after (Roh len & LeTendre , 1996, p . 317). Th i s s i tua t ion is about to change howeve r , as Japanese educa t ion is p o i s e d to unde rgo a major p a r a d i g m shift f r o m rote l ea rn ing to cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998). Recent ly , the Japanese M i n i s t r y of Science a n d E d u c a t i o n ( in Japanese- Monbusho) in i t i a ted s igni f icant a n d far reaching reforms to ensure their students have the necessary t h i n k i n g sk i l l s to be successful i n the g loba l e c o n o m y of the 21st century. Comparative Perspective N o r t h A m e r i c a n educa t ion is often c o m p a r e d w i t h that of E u r o p e a n countries, bu t Japan is a better compar i son . First , bo th Japan a n d C a n a d a have reached the \" u n i v e r s a l \" stage of secondary educa t ion a n d the \"mass\" stage of h igher educa t ion . In 1995, the total en ro l lment rate i n senior h i g h schoo l was est imated to be 85.2 percent i n C a n a d a and 95.8 percent i n Japan, w h i l e the total enro l lment rate i n h igher educa t ion was est imated at 68 percent i n C a n a d a and 45.2 percent i n Japan (Statistics C a n a d a , 1996; M o n b u s h o , 1996, p . 18). In contrast, m a n y E u r o p e a n countr ies s t i l l have l o w e r en ro l lmen t rates i n secondary a n d post secondary educa t ion . Second, bo th Japan and C a n a d a have comprehens ive p u b l i c e lementary a n d jun io r h i g h schools offering a broad-based l ibera l educa t ion , i n contrast w i t h Europe ' s selective system. Desp i te these s imi lar i t ies , 17 Japan's ins t i tu t iona l na t iona l sys tem is a s t r i k i n g contrast to the p lu ra l i s t i c C a n a d i a n p r o v i n c i a l sys tem. Japan offers a clear example of ins t i tu t iona l l inkages be tween schools a n d workp laces . Japanese s choo l -work l inkages are regula ted b y the P u b l i c E m p l o y m e n t Securi ty Office (a na t iona l e m p l o y m e n t agency) and are based o n long- te rm \"semi fo rma l contacts\" be tween schools a n d e m p l o y i n g f i rms (Okano , 1993; R o s e n b a u m & K a r i y a , 1989). In Japan, the respons ib i l i ty for engender ing the hea l thy deve lopmen t of y o u n g people is shared b y fami ly , school , and the w o r k p l a c e . H i g h schools and colleges take an active role i n f i n d i n g e m p l o y m e n t for their graduates. \" In general , the i n t e r l ock ing , o v e r l a p p i n g , m u t u a l l y r e in fo rc ing respons ib i l i t i es shared b y the f ami ly , school , and c o m p a n y for the deve lopmen t of the i n d i v i d u a l is an impor tan t factor b e h i n d the success of Japanese educa t i on\" (Whi te , 1987, p . 73). Japan's h i g h schools p r o v i d e a b r o a d academic founda t ion a n d the oppo r tun i t y for students to be selective i n their choice of career path . U p o n g radua t ion f rom jun io r h i g h (grade 9), s tudents take va r ious h i g h school entrance exams to de termine w h i c h h i g h schoo l they w i l l at tend. H i g h school entrance exams then sort each age cohort into w h a t amounts to an eight- to ten-tier h i g h schoo l r a n k i n g sys tem (Rohlen , 1983, p . 308). Fu tu re occupa t iona l and status levels (elite, manager ia l , b lue-col lar , a n d so forth) are c lose ly equated to this r ank ing . Fur ther , at the po in t of h i g h school entrance the entire age cohort is d i v i d e d into three la rge ly i m m u t a b l e classif icatory d is t inc t ions : those l e a v i n g school , those enter ing voca t iona l ranks , and those g o i n g o n to academic h i g h schools. The rat io of students a t tending academic (general) h i g h schools has been steadi ly increas ing f rom 60 percent i n 1970 to over 74 percent current ly . The other s tudents at tend spec ia l i zed voca t iona l schools i n A g r i c u l t u r e , Indus t ry , C o m m e r c e , F i she ry , H o m e Economics , N u r s i n g a n d others. Since 1994, the 18 M o n b u s h o has i n t r o d u c e d comprehens ive schools . N o w , there is a t rend t o w a r d a l l h i g h schools offer ing a more l ibe ra l educa t ion w i t h s ign i f ican t ly more choices for students (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 29). In Japan, over 95 percent of a l l students are a d v a n c i n g to h i g h school and near ly as m a n y are g radua t ing , s ign i fy ing the near demise of the h i g h school degree as a m a r k of d i s t inc t ion . The type of h i g h schoo l a n d the status of one's un ive r s i ty were c ruc i a l measures. H i g h schools i n Japan re ly o n e x a m compe t i t ion for p r o v i d i n g d i s c i p l i n e and foundat ions of l ea rn ing , w h i l e l e a v i n g to univers i t ies a n d the w o r k p l a c e s the f inal responsibi l i t ies for d e c i d i n g w h a t add i t i ona l sk i l l s a n d specific t r a in ing are needed. Higher Education W h i l e parts of the Japanese educa t ion sys tem are cons idered b y m a n y to be the best i n the w o r l d , h igher educa t ion is cons idered b y b o t h the Japanese and others to be se r ious ly inadequate b y in ternat ional s tandards. The Repor t of the U n i v e r s i t y C o u n c i l i n 1991 r e c o m m e n d e d vast i m p r o v e m e n t s i n the qua l i t y of teaching a n d research, i n order to b r i n g Japanese univers i t ies to the in terna t ional academic l eve l (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 33). The d e m a n d for excellence, so prevalent f r o m k inde rga r t en t h r o u g h senior h i g h school , stops at the un ive r s i t y doorstep. Consequen t ly , the present sys tem of h igher educa t ion is not p r o v i d i n g k n o w l e d g e , sk i l l s , and the creat iv i ty needed to enable Japan to compete g loba l ly i n the \" i n fo rma t ion age\" or to succeed i n its long-range c o m m i t m e n t to restructure its manufac tu r ing base (Ha iducek , 1991, p . 40). A salient example is f ound i n an in te rna t iona l c o m p a r i s o n of N o b e l P r izes ( N a t u r a l Science, 1901-1995) a w a r d e d . W h i l e the U . S . w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n of over 260 m i l l i o n p r o d u c e d 175 N o b e l Pr izes , Canada ' s p o p u l a t i o n of 30 m i l l i o n p r o d u c e d seven 19 N o b e l P r izes a n d yet Japan's p o p u l a t i o n of 125 m i l l i o n has p r o d u c e d o n l y five N o b e l P r izes (Ueda , 1997, p . 11,109). A more recent example is the Japanese government ' s i nab i l i t y to dea l w i t h the economic recession of the 1990s. F inanc i a l experts i n other G - 7 countr ies repeatedly t r ied to advise the Japanese government of dangers i n their f iscal management pol ic ies bu t to no ava i l . A t least the M o n b u s h o recognizes the deficiencies i n Japanese h ighe r educa t ion and , as a result , is aggress ive ly p u r s u i n g reforms, i n c l u d i n g i m p o r t i n g A m e r i c a n ins t i tu t ions of h ighe r educa t ion . Severa l A m e r i c a n colleges a n d un ivers i t i es i n c l u d i n g M I T , H a r v a r d a n d U C L A have opened branches i n Japan. T h r o u g h such attempts of in te rna t iona l iza t ion , m a n y Japanese see this as a means b y w h i c h they w i l l be able to compete i n the g loba l economy a n d be fu l ly accepted b y the rest of the w o r l d . In terna t ional iza t ion of educa t ion has been recogn ized b y the M o n b u s h o as an impor tan t area of reform. T r a d i t i o n a l l y , h igher educa t ion i n Japan has func t ioned as a select ion process used to m a i n t a i n an eli t ist h ie ra rch ica l structure. T h r o u g h strict entrance quotas a n d use of compet i t ive entrance examinat ions , a d m i s s i o n to the top univers i t ies w a s l i m i t e d . N a t i o n w i d e , i n 1980 about 40 percent of a l l graduates were a d v a n c i n g to h igher educat ion , but f rom the p u b l i c academic h i g h schools the rate w a s app rox ima te ly 70 percent (Rohlen , 1983, p . 85). U n i v e r s i t y enrol lments increased d rama t i ca l ly d u r i n g the 1960s a n d 1970s a n d con t inued i n the 1980s a n d ear ly 1990s w i t h increased compe t i t i on for entrance to the most pres t ig ious ins t i tu t ions . A c c o r d i n g to the M o n b u s h o (1996), h igher educa t ion enro l lment for h i g h schoo l graduates increased f rom a mere 10.2 percent of the age cohort i n 1960, and 18.7 percent i n 1970, to a substant ial 33.5 percent i n 1980. A l t h o u g h over 80 percent of h i g h schoo l f reshmen a i m e d at h ighe r educa t ion there was insufficient space for a l l appl icants (Rohlen , 1983, p . 82). H o w e v e r , 20 pr iva te univers i t ies a n d specia l t r a in ing schools have absorbed increased numbers of u p p e r secondary school graduates w i s h i n g to cont inue their s tudies and since the p o p u l a t i o n \" b u l g e \" of the 1992 cohort of graduates, there has been no need for further quant i ta t ive expansions i n univers i t ies (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 33). Fo r i n d i v i d u a l s not g o i n g to college it has meant b e g i n n i n g w o r k w i t h a major d isadvantage because they l acked the necessary credentials . U n t i l v e r y recently, g o i n g back to school was not an o p t i o n a n d rare ly have the most talented h i g h schoo l graduates ga ined p r o m o t i o n above u n i v e r s i t y educated employees . H o w e v e r , i n d i v i d u a l s fortunate e n o u g h to be admi t t ed into the best na t iona l un ivers i t ies such as T o k y o U n i v e r s i t y or the excep t iona l p r iva te univers i t ies such as W a s e d a , were assured a p r o m i s i n g career i n government or business . In recent years the M o n b u s h o has at tempted to change the eli t ist structure of h igher educa t ion , to re form the exam-based admiss ions to univers i t ies , a n d to e l imina te gove rnmen t a n d business l i n k s to the mos t p res t ig ious ins t i tu t ions (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 30). H o w e v e r , the cr i t ica l d e t e r m i n i n g factor for Japanese post -secondary students is s t i l l the un ive r s i t y entrance examina t ions rather than w h a t is s tud ied d u r i n g the undergraduate degree. Japanese people fond ly reminisce about the f reedom f rom s tudy , w o r k a n d adu l t responsibi l i t ies they exper ienced as carefree un ive r s i t y students. W h i l e N o r t h A m e r i c a n h igher educa t ion demands h a r d w o r k a n d intense s tudy , Japanese h igher educa t ion is w i d e l y recognized a n d accepted as a place of rest and re laxat ion before facing the r igours of the w o r k p l a c e . W h i l e Japan's undergraduate p rog rams are less than satisfactory, they are re la t ive ly competent i n c o m p a r i s o n to graduate p r o g r a m s w h i c h have been u n d e r d e v e l o p e d a n d w i d e l y recogn ized as an area where drast ic improvemen t s 21 must be made . O n M a y 1995, o n l y 68 percent of Japan's univers i t ies h a d a graduate school and o n l y 49 percent offered doc tora l courses ( M o n b u s h o , 1996, p . 29). W h i l e the n u m b e r of univers i t ies h a v i n g a graduate schoo l i n educa t ion increased f r o m o n l y three i n 1985 to more than 43 i n 1995, acco rd ing to the M o n b u s h o , d e m a n d s s t i l l exist for b o t h qual i ta t ive a n d quant i ta t ive improvemen t s at graduate schools ( M o n b u s h o , 1996, p . 31; Sh imahara , 1995b, p . 180). C u r r e n t re form proposa ls seek to make graduate s tudy i n m a n y fields more accessible, bu t systematic strategies for ach iev ing this goa l have not been deve loped ( H a w l e y , 1990, p . 47). Th i s remains a p r o b l e m for Japan's univers i t ies , h o w e v e r there is some evidence of univers i t ies b e c o m i n g m o r e f lexible i n admiss ions a n d a c c o m m o d a t i n g l i f e long l ea rn ing . Despi te these deficiencies i n h igher educa t ion , the needs of Japanese society are for more voca t iona l t r a in ing and less un ive r s i t y graduates. The bachelor 's degree is d e v a l u e d as more a n d more receive it, yet the d e m a n d g rows for more technical sk i l l s . B u t Japan has entered an age of mass h ighe r educat ion , and the t rend is d i f f icul t to reverse. Japan's pr iva te sector has r e sponded to the d e m a n d for m o r e h igher educa t ion . The result is an abundance of ins t i tu t ions but a l o w e r qua l i ty of ins t ruct ion . M a n y Japanese post secondary ins t i tu t ions func t ion outs ide the mains t ream. A case i n po in t is the funct ion of colleges i n Japan a n d the imbalance of ma le to female students i n univers i t ies a n d colleges (Fuj imura-Fanse low, 1993, p p . 163-165). O n l y recently has progress t o w a r d fu l l equal i ty of pa r t i c ipa t ion for w o m e n i n h igher educa t ion been rea l i zed (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 34). H o w e v e r , m a n y females at tend a jun io r college. M o s t college students w i l l not go o n to un ivers i ty . Jun io r colleges i n Japan do not serve the same role as colleges i n C a n a d a or the U . S . . U n i v e r s i t y transfer is not an o p t i o n 22 nor is it a goa l for college graduates w h o enter the w o r k force d i rec t ly as secretaries a n d j un io r employees . \" T w o out of every three females are headed for jun io r colleges, whereas n ine of every ten males are a i m i n g at four-year universi t ies . . . A p p r o x i m a t e l y 30 percent of those students g o i n g o n past h i g h school at tend jun io r colleges, yet 90 percent of them are female... The percentage of w o m e n i n four-year univers i t ies increased f rom 8 percent i n 1960 to 18 percent i n 1980\" (Rohlen , 1983, p . 85). C u r r e n t l y , 91.8 percent of s tudents en ro l l ed i n Japan's j un io r colleges are female w h i l e o n l y 31.2 percent of un ive r s i t y students are females (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 32). A l t h o u g h the rat io of females enro l led i n un ive r s i t y has increased, c lear ly , as r ecogn ized b y the M o n b u s h o , there is a need for further reforms to Japan's h igher educa t ion . Teacher Education Japanese teacher educa t ion is regulated b y na t iona l l aws establ ished b y the central government . The most impor tan t statute r egu la t ing the Japanese na t iona l sys tem of teacher educa t ion is the L a w for Cer t i f i ca t ion of E d u c a t i o n a l Personnel , passed i n 1849 and most recently rev i sed i n 1988. Th i s , i n conjunct ion w i t h other l aws , set for th the basic characteristics of Japanese teacher educat ion. These m a y be b r ie f ly s u m m a r i z e d as fo l lows : 1. C e r t i f i c a t i o n a n d teacher t r a i n i n g is the p r i m a r y r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the M o n b u s h o . 2. The M i n i s t e r of E d u c a t i o n is a d v i s e d b y the C o u n c i l of Teacher E d u c a t i o n , w h i c h is c o m p o s e d of experts i n teacher educa t ion . F o r major p o l i c y issues p u b l i c hear ings are he ld . 3. E a c h of the 47 prefectures have boa rds of e d u c a t i o n w h i c h i ssue t each ing certificates v a l i d for teaching i n a l l prefectures. 23 4. N e w teachers are r ec ru i t ed b y the prefec tura l boa rds of e d u c a t i o n a n n u a l l y f r o m q u a l i f i e d teachers a n d teachers i n t r a i n i n g t h r o u g h c o m p e t i t i v e screening tests. 5. F i r s t year teachers have a one year p r o b a t i o n a r y p e r i o d before b e c o m i n g p e r m a n e n t e m p l o y e e s . D u r i n g th is t i m e they m u s t r ece ive s ign i f i can t i n -service t r a i n i n g . 6. The p l a n n i n g of a l l i n i t i a l a n d in-serv ice t r a i n i n g is the pre fec tura l b o a r d of educat ion ' s r espons ib i l i ty . 7. U n i v e r s i t i e s a n d co l l eges w h e r e teacher t r a i n i n g o c c u r s m u s t f i rs t be au thor i zed b y the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n as ins t i tu t ions of h ighe r l ea rn ing . (Kobayash i , 1993, p p . 5-6) Teacher educa t ion i n Japan takes the f o r m of a u n i t e d pat tern. The c u r r i c u l u m for pre-service educa t ion at each un ive r s i ty a n d col lege is deve loped w i t h i n the f r amework of the L a w for Cer t i f i ca t ion of E d u c a t i o n a l Personne l . Since educa t ion is u n i v e r s a l l y v a l u e d b y Japanese society, teachers are h i g h l y regarded, a n d w e l l p a i d . H a l f the salary of educat ional pe rsonne l is p a i d b y the central government . Th i s makes it poss ib le for l oca l governments to ass ign the necessary n u m b e r of teachers w i t h o u t b e i n g inf luenced b y the loca l f inanc ia l s i tuat ion. In this w a y , Japan has achieved its mandate for equa l educa t iona l o p p o r t u n i t y . In order to become a teacher, one mus t obta in a teacher's certificate b y c o m p l e t i n g the subjects i n a un ive r s i t y p r o g r a m for teacher educa t ion . The most c o m m o n w a y to become a certif ied teacher is to complete the teacher t r a in ing cu r r i cu l a at a M o n b u s h o au thor i zed jun io r college or un ive r s i t y . A t present there are over 800 ins t i tu t ions offer ing teacher t r a in ing th roughou t Japan (Shimahara & Sakai , 1995). A d v a n c e d , 1st class, a n d 2 n d class certificates are a w a r d e d for comple t i on of Master ' s degrees, four year Bachelor ' s degrees and 2-3 year Associa te degrees respect ively. In order to teach e lementary or l o w e r secondary school a 2 n d class certificate is requi red . There is no 2 n d class certificate 24 for uppe r secondary school teachers. To teach i n uppe r secondary schools a 1st class certificate is requ i red . A s a result of recent reforms to teacher educat ion , teachers h o l d i n g a 2 n d class mus t make an effort to obta in a 1st class certificate b y t ak ing 45 u n i v e r s i t y credits u p o n comple t i on of f ive years of teaching. The n u m b e r of credits can be reduced accord ing to the n u m b e r of years of teaching experience. C u r r e n t l y , due to the increas ing compe t i t i on for teaching pos i t ions , most n e w teachers obta in a four year Bachelor ' s degree and 1st class certificate, yet o n l y one-four th of a l l graduates receive teaching appo in tments (Sh imahara & Sakai , 1995). Consequen t ly , there is a t rend for teachers to at tain h ighe r degrees. A c c o r d i n g to T a k a k u r a and M u r a t a (1998) more than 90 percent of teachers f rom p r i m a r y schoo l to u p p e r secondary school have gradua ted f r o m ins t i tu t ions of h igher educa t ion (un ivers i ty or j un io r college). H o w e v e r , Japanese pre-service teachers take cons iderab ly fewer courses for cert if ication c o m p a r e d to B . C . ' s teachers. U n t i l the recent reforms i n teacher educa t ion , most p rospec t ive h i g h school teachers i n Japan took approx ima te ly 32-40 credits i n their subject area, and mere ly 11-13 credits i n pedagogica l studies ( H a w l e y , 1990, p . 38). Sh imahara and Saka i add : The f l aw of pos twar teacher p repara t ion was ev ident especia l ly i n the cer t i f icat ion requirements at the secondary l eve l that were i n force u n t i l 1990: mere ly 14 credits of profess ional s tudies, i n c l u d i n g t w o credits i n s tudent teaching, equiva lent to t w o weeks of c l i n i ca l experience. Students seeking teacher cer t i f icat ion at ins t i tu t ions w h o s e p r i m a r y m i s s i o n was not teacher educa t ion tended to meet o n l y the m i n i m u m requirements . These were the s tudents w h o , of late, f i l l ed two- th i rds of the l o w e r secondary pos i t ions a n d n ine-tenths of the uppe r secondary pos i t ions i n the p u b l i c schoo l sys tem (1995, p . 234). H o w e v e r , s ince 1990 modes t improvemen t s have been m a d e i n the n u m b e r of profess ional credits necessary for cert if icat ion. Fo r example , an u p p e r secondary teacher mus t n o w obta in 40 credits i n their subject area a n d nineteen credits i n 25 profess ional subjects i n c l u d i n g : essence and goals of educa t ion ; teaching methods; educa t iona l gu idance a n d counse l ing ; a n d a teaching p r a c t i c u m (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 86-89). Th i s pre-service t r a in ing is s t i l l m u c h less than the 60 credits of a four year Bachelor ' s degree and the equiva len t of t w o fu l l academic years (30 credits) of methods courses and pedagogica l s tudies requi red of educa t ion students at B . C . ' s univers i t ies . A l s o , the p r a c t i c u m for b o t h Japanese a n d B . C . s tudents cont inues to be an area where improvemen t s are necessary. Comparisons Between B.C. and Japanese Teachers W h i l e Japanese teachers are expected to address a l l aspects of s tudents ' life at school , B . C . teachers tend to be p r i m a r i l y concerned w i t h the deve lopmen t of cogni t ive competence. The role of teachers is different i n each educa t iona l sys tem a n d cul ture . In N o r t h A m e r i c a , teaching is cons idered to be an id iosyncra t ic profess ion and the c o m m o n lore is that teachers can' t be taught h o w to teach because they are b o r n not made (Rohlen & LeTendre , 1996; cf. Stevenson & Stigler , 1992). A c c o r d i n g to T a k a k u r a and M u r a t a (1998), the v i e w of ' teaching as a profess ion ' is a re la t ive ly n e w concept i n Japan. Rather , teaching is a craft that can be perfected t h rough practice and learned t h r o u g h the shared w i s d o m of exper ienced teachers. Stigler , Fe rnandez a n d Y o s h i d a p r o v i d e an excel lent metaphor : If m u s i c were used as an analogy, the Japanese concept ion of the idea l teacher w o u l d be l ike that of the concert pianis t : the great p ianis t is not expected to wr i t e the concerto bu t o n l y to pe r fo rm it w e l l . The A m e r i c a n teacher, b y analogy, is expected not o n l y to teach bu t also to wr i t e the score. A n innova t ive teacher i n the U n i t e d States is one w h o organizes her o w n c u r r i c u l u m , makes her o w n mater ia ls , a n d imp lemen t s her lessons w i t h independen t in i t i a t ive . In Japan, the i nnova t ive teacher is one w h o s k i l l f u l l y teaches the lesson that is prescr ibed b y the text (1996, p . 216). 26 In Japanese schools , beginners learn a great dea l f rom exper ienced teachers t h r o u g h i n f o r m a l contact or zatsudan as w e l l as p rog rams of in-service t ra in ing . Th i s is often a one -way pedagog ica l exchange however , w i t h l i t t le to be offered f rom the neophy te to the seasoned veteran mentor teacher. Therefore, it is d i f f icul t for n e w teaching strategies to be d i s semina ted f rom univers i t ies t h rough student teachers a n d eventua l ly to become accepted b y the mains t ream, since it is assumed the m o r e exper ienced teachers mus t pass d o w n a l l the lessons to be learned. In B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , f requently just the opposi te is true. Expe r i enced teachers lea rn a great dea l f rom their s tudent teachers—it is w i d e l y recognized as one of the best forms of profess ional deve lopment , since teachers do not have m a n y oppor tun i t i e s for co l labora t ion a n d peer consul ta t ion . M a n y recent deve lopments such as c r i te r ion referenced assessment have o n l y become a par t of the repertoire of exper ienced teachers t h r o u g h interact ions w i t h students. Teachers i n b o t h B . C . a n d Japan tend to v i e w lea rn ing to teach as an apprent iceship where prac t ica l k n o w l e d g e learned w h i l e teaching takes precedent over theory learned i n un ive r s i ty . The Japanese in-service t r a in ing of teachers serves as a m o d e l for the encul tura t ion of b e g i n n i n g teachers a n d has been recogn ized as a lesson to be learned f r o m the Japanese educa t iona l sys tem (Rohlen & L e T e n d r e , 1996; Sh imahara & Saka i , 1995; Stevenson & Stigler , 1992). In Japan, a l l n e w l y appo in ted teachers unde rgo 20 days of in tensive t r a in ing at their prefectural-l eve l in-service center p r i o r to t a k i n g their pos i t ions . N e w teachers are p r o v i d e d w i t h the equ iva len t of 125 days of profess ional deve lopmen t d u r i n g their first year unde r the tutelage of one or more senior teachers. Fi rs t year teachers i n Japan n o w receive one year of m e n t o r i n g f rom a spec ia l ly t ra ined master teacher ( H a w l e y , 1990, p . 42; T a k a k u r a & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 91). \"It consists of superv i sed 27 teaching b y senior teachers i n schools two days per week for 30 weeks , s tudy i n loca l educa t ion centres one day per week for 30 weeks , a n d res ident ia l t r a in ing for 4 n igh t s \" (Kobayash i , 1993, p.10). Profess ional deve lopmen t i n teaching is further enhanced b y loca l educa t ion centres p r o v i d i n g o n g o i n g in-service t r a in ing a n d \"hands o n \" experiences for secondary specialists a n d e lementary generalists a l ike . M u c h l ike the rest of Japanese professions, most of the t r a in ing occurs i n the w o r k p l a c e . Pre-service t r a in ing of teachers inc ludes a general educa t ion w i t h profess ional courses i n pedagog ica l theory, educa t iona l p sycho logy , teaching methods as w e l l as spec ia l ized subjects. H o w e v e r , the teacher educa t ion p rograms are character ized b y courses that have l i t t le relevance to the c lass room and a p r a c t i c u m that consists of a v e r y short stay of o n l y a few weeks i n a school . M a n y p rev ious graduates of B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s teacher educa t ion p rog rams lament s imi l a r weaknesses, bu t there is an impor tan t d i s t inc t ion ; w h i l e pre-service teacher educa t ion p r o g r a m s i n B . C . m a y be super io r to the Japanese p rograms , Japanese profess ional deve lopmen t and i n -service t r a in ing for the b e g i n n i n g teacher far surpass B . C . ' s \" s ink or s w i m \" first year teaching experiences. D u r i n g a t w o year stay i n Japan (1990-1992), the wr i t e r was an assistant E n g l i s h teacher i n l o w e r secondary schools i n the T o k y o area a n d observed i n -service a n d pre-service teachers of E n g l i s h classes. O n one occasion, i n the wr i te r ' s grade 9 E n g l i s h class, a student teacher was observed at the same t ime he was b e i n g eva lua ted b y his faculty advisor . The student teacher taught the same lesson, i n exact ly the same w a y , u s i n g the same style as h is sponsor teacher. In fact, the entire lesson h a d been rehearsed p r e v i o u s l y for the benefit of the student teacher a n d the faculty advisor . The \"per formance\" howeve r , was abysmal . The s tudent teacher appeared to be ve ry anxious a n d uncomfor table i n 28 his role as a teacher. H e refused to face the students. Instead he ta lked to the boa rd w h i l e m o v i n g a r o u n d ne rvous ly . Despi te the fact that the mate r ia l was not n e w to the students and the entire lesson was a repet i t ion, this was the first (and last) t ime this s tudent teacher taught this class. The wr i t e r later learned that most sponsor teachers w o u l d rather not have a s tudent teacher at a l l , a n d that this one class was done mere ly as a s h o w to appease the faculty advisor . Japan's teachers recognize that the un ive r s i ty does l i t t le to prepare student teachers for the profess ion of teaching a n d teachers do l i t t le to change the status quo . T h i s is further i l lus t ra ted i n Stevenson a n d St igler ' s The Learning Gap: The real t r a in ing of A s i a n teachers occurs i n their on-the-job experience after g radua t ion f rom college... graduates of teacher t r a in ing p rog rams are s t i l l cons idered novices w h o need the gu idance a n d suppor t of their exper ienced colleagues.. . the sys tem of teacher t r a in ing is m u c h l i ke an apprent iceship (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992, p . 159). Th i s is i n contrast to the experience of B . C . ' s teachers, w h o c o m p l a i n that most of w h a t they k n o w h a d to be learned b y themselves, alone, i n i so la t ion , w h i l e o n the job. There is a serious def ic iency i n B . C . ' s p u b l i c educa t ion since there is l i t t le p r o v i s i o n for men to r sh ip a n d insuff icient t ime to reflect o n teaching practices. Teacher educa t ion is l i m i t e d to pre-service t r a in ing w i t h a lack of emphas is o n in-service t r a in ing . Th i s s i tua t ion is less than idea l . E d u c a t i o n a l Re fo rms i n B . C . a n d Japan W h i l e W e s t e r n countr ies are a t t empt ing educa t iona l reforms to p romote na t iona l s tandards and a cent ra l ized u n i f o r m system, Japan is a t tempt ing to decentral ize their educa t ion a n d to m a k e it more comprehens ive rather than more focused. \" C o m p a r a t i v e l y speak ing , Japanese a n d A m e r i c a n schoo l reforms are n o w e v o l v i n g i n opposi te direct ions. Japan is s l o w l y d i v e r s i f y i n g its schools 29 w h i l e the U n i t e d States is t r y i n g to p romote n e w na t iona l academic s tandards\" (Shimahara , 1995a; T a k a k u r a , 1993). In Japan, where the centra l government p lays a decis ive role i n de t e rmin ing p o l i c y , t w o d iverse trends i n teacher educa t ion have emerged . O n the one h a n d , the p rofess iona l i za t ion of teachers has i m p r o v e d due to the increas ing requirements for profess ional t r a in ing , a n d o n the other h a n d , l i be ra l i za t ion has taken place t h r o u g h the a d d i t i o n of p rog rams i n n o n teaching areas. B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s reforms to teacher educa t ion have been p r e d o m i n a t e l y inf luenced b y the facul ty of educa t ion at each of the univers i t ies . Desp i te m u c h progress i n profess ional teacher t r a in ing , c r i t i c i sm of faculties of educa t ion has r ema ined qui te s t rong (Goodson , 1995). U n i v e r s i t y schools of educa t ion have tended to distance themselves f rom the concerns of c l ass room teachers, and the research agenda has not often p r o d u c e d k n o w l e d g e useful to the pract i t ioner . A l s o , there are no permanent , durab le mode l s of teacher t r a i n i n g (Barman , Su ther land , & W i l s o n , 1995, p . 313). The Carneg ie Repor t , A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century (1986), the report of the H o l m e s G r o u p , Tomorrow's Teachers (1986), a n d J o h n G o o d l a d ' s , Teachers of Our Nation's Schools (1990), a l l conc lude that schoo l s / co l l eges / f acu l t i e s of educa t ion need re form. P e r k i n s (1992) makes c o n v i n c i n g arguments for reforms to pre-service and in-service teacher educat ion . H e suggests Japan's educa t iona l sys tem offers a m o d e l for the profess ional deve lopmen t of teachers a n d the p r o m o t i o n of potent teaching practices. The key elements of Japan's m o d e l inc lude : t ime to th ink , a shared cul ture of the craft of teaching, and an apprent iceship m o d e l of teacher deve lopment . Japanese teachers spend less hours per d a y actual ly teaching classes than their B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a n counterparts . M o r e t ime is devo ted to t h i n k i n g 30 a n d reflecting about their teaching. \" T h e y p l a n lessons, share p lans w i t h one another, get cr i t iques , at tend w o r k s h o p s , observe other teachers teaching, w a t c h videotapes of teaching practices.. . T h r o u g h o rgan ized t ime a n d commi tmen t , teachers can lea rn to teach m u c h better than nat ive i ngenu i ty alone c o u l d a l l o w \" (Perkins , 1992, p . 225). Rather than w o r k i n g i n i so la t ion , Japan's teachers recognize the p o w e r of co l labora t ion . Th i s is even ev ident i n the v e r y p h y s i c a l structure of the schools . Fo r example , the staff r o o m is a r ranged w i t h teachers of each grade l eve l seated at desks g r o u p e d together, i n order to p romote d a i l y exchanges. Th i s is whe re a l l the teachers p l a n their lessons d u r i n g several hours of the w o r k i n g day w h e n they are not i n front of the c lass room. Th i s is i n direct contrast to teachers i n B . C . , w h o do most of their lesson p l a n n i n g at h o m e or i n the i so la t ion of their o w n c lass room. Teacher E d u c a t i o n Re fo rms i n B . C . a n d Japan Severa l educa t iona l reforms i n v o l v i n g cos t -saving a n d eff iciency measures are b e i n g contempla ted b y the B . C . M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n . These inc lude : year r o u n d schoo l ing , efficiency s chedu l ing (for example , the extended school day) , a n d different t imetables (Semester Sys tem, C o p e r n i c a n , Quar te r System). N o n e of these \" re forms\" i n their current v e i n address the u n d e r l y i n g p rob lems of the educa t ion sys tem nor do they i m p r o v e s tudent l e a rn ing or teacher t ra in ing . M o n e y saved is not l i k e l y to go back into the educa t ion of y o u n g people . 31 Summary M a n y of Japan's practices are complemen ta ry or s i m i l a r to current suggested reforms to B . C . ' s educa t ion system. Yet , the B . C . a n d Japanese mode ls are far f r o m perfect. Improvements mus t be m a d e to the teacher educa t ion p rograms of Japan's univers i t ies and to the pedagog ica l t r a in ing of pre-service teachers. Th i s fact is w i d e l y recognized b y educators i n Japan. \" W e mus t p a y more at tention to s tudent teaching t h r o u g h w h i c h a sense of m i s s i o n as a teacher m i g h t arise. If the t rans i t ion f rom pre-service p repara t ion is not a t tended to, the effects of teacher i m p r o v e m e n t s i n educa t ion m a y have l i t t le inf luence o n the qua l i ty of teaching i n Japan ( M i z o u e & Inoue, 1993, p . 28). T h r o u g h further in terna t ional compara t ive s tudies, the Japanese teacher educa t ion p r o g r a m s can be i m p r o v e d . M u c h can be learned f rom B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s teacher educa t ion programs . L i k e w i s e , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s t r a in ing of teachers can be i m p r o v e d b y s t u d y i n g Japan's apprent iceship m o d e l of in-service t r a in ing a n d profess ional deve lopment . Teachers mus t be g i v e n oppor tun i t i es to l ea rn f r o m one another and to benefit f r o m the accumula ted w i s d o m of generations of s k i l l e d pract i t ioners . I n add i t i on , teachers mus t be g i v e n adequate t ime for col labora t ion , p l a n n i n g a n d reflect ion. The reforms of educa t ion i n b o t h B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a and Japan require a r e t h i n k i n g of the profess ion of teaching. C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is an essential e lement of these reforms, for any effort to r e fo rm the structure or o rgan iza t ion of educa t ion u l t ima te ly depends o n the effectiveness of the teacher. C H A P T E R 3 C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N G 32 The teaching of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g at a l l levels of educa t ion has s t rong suppor t i n N o r t h A m e r i c a , the U K a n d elsewhere (Daniels , 1998, p . l ) . \"The f ie ld of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g is more v ib ran t than ever. There is m u c h research i n progress o n the m e a n i n g of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , o n the t ransferabi l i ty of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g sk i l l s to a w i d e range of subject areas, and o n methods of teaching cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" (Nor r i s , 1985, p . 40). The Components of Critical Thinking There is debate about wha t is meant b y the t e rm \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . \" In the past, attempts to define cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g encompassed its f o r m a n d funct ion , i n c l u d i n g sk i l l s a n d strategies as w e l l as levels of c o m p l e x i t y i n v o l v e d . Of ten cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is l i n k e d to creative t h i n k i n g , p r o b l e m s o l v i n g and dec i s ion m a k i n g as w e l l as i nduc t i ve a n d deduc t ive reasoning. H o w e v e r , terms such as creative t h i n k i n g , p r o b l e m s o l v i n g a n d d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g refer to the c i rcumstances i n w h i c h cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g m a y occur (Daniels , 1998, p . l ) . Conve r se ly , some educa t iona l ph i losophers argue that c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is i nduc t ive , encompass ing d ivergen t a n d creative t h i n k i n g sk i l l s . Others contend it is p r i m a r i l y deduc t ive , convergent a n d log ica l i n nature. There are cer tain elements that m a y or m a y not be i n c l u d e d i n a def in i t ion . O n e element is concerned w i t h whe ther c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is convergent or d ivergent . A n o t h e r describes w h a t the c r i t i ca l th inker does. A t h i r d element focuses o n the att i tude or d i s p o s i t i o n of the th inker . Y o u don ' t u s u a l l y f i n d a l l three elements i n every de f in i t i on (French & Rhode r , 1992, p . 184). Danie l s (1998) characterizes cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g as a normat ive concept. A cr i t ica l th inker is someone w h o is t h i n k i n g w e l l . To th ink w e l l i n any area of h u m a n 33 practice one mus t m a k e judgments u s i n g relevant cr i ter ia a n d s tandards . M c P e c k (1990), N o r r i s , S iegel a n d P a u l have t rouble agreeing o n a c o m m o n cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g p a r a d i g m . P a u l characterizes cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g as... a u n i q u e k i n d of pu rpose fu l t h i n k i n g i n w h i c h the th inker sys temat ica l ly a n d hab i tua l ly imposes cr i ter ia a n d in te l lec tua l s tandards u p o n the t h i n k i n g ; t ak ing charge of the cons t ruc t ion of t h i n k i n g ; g u i d i n g the cons t ruc t ion of t h i n k i n g acco rd ing to the s tandards w h i l e assessing the effectiveness of the t h i n k i n g acco rd ing to the purpose , the cr i ter ia , and the s tandards (1993, p . 21). Never theless , N o r r i s argues that m a n y quest ions associated w i t h c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , w h i c h ph i lo sophe r s have a t tempted to answer , i n v o l v e e m p i r i c a l issues. Since these concern the nature of h u m a n men ta l abi l i t ies , hypotheses s h o u l d be tested e m p i r i c a l l y b y researchers i f there are no ph i losophers i n c l i n e d to tackle the p r o b l e m . W h a t then is c r i t i ca l t h ink ing? H o w is c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g different f rom creative t h i n k i n g , p r o b l e m s o l v i n g a n d other forms of t h ink ing? Blodget t -M c D e a v i t t ' s (1995) su rvey of adul t educators f ound that c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is pe rce ived as a process a n d a b r o a d concept, w i t h t w o general components : reflective and analyt ica l . Respondents d iscussed the reflective nature of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g as \" l o o k i n g at the b igger scheme of th ings ,\" \" t h i n k i n g about other al ternat ives,\" and \"it 's the idea that it's not i n i so la t ion . \" Respondents d iscussed the ana ly t i ca l component i n terms of the \"ab i l i t y to do v e r y complex reasoning (and) to th ink about th ings f rom different perspect ives .\" A c o m m o n element f requent ly i n c l u d e d i n most c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g l i terature is reasoning. Reason ing i n v o l v e s \"the p r o d u c t i o n and eva lua t ion of arguments , the m a k i n g of inferences a n d the d r a w i n g of conclus ions , the generat ion and test ing of hypotheses. It requires b o t h deduc t ion and i nduc t i on , b o t h analysis and synthesis, a n d b o t h cr i t ica l i ty a n d c rea t iv i ty\" (Nickerson , 1986, p p . 1-2). C rea t i v i t y requires cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g since... \"bo th cr i t ica l f i l ter ing a n d cr i t i ca l characterizat ions contr ibute to the creat iv i ty of a creative product . A c c o r d i n g l y , it is somewhat m i s l e a d i n g to posi t t w o comple te ly separate styles of thought c r i t i ca l a n d creative—because the former is necessar i ly a par t of the latter\" (N icke r son , Pe rk ins & Smi th , 1985, p . 89). In add i t i on , P a u l (1993) suggests cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g differs f rom p r o b l e m s o l v i n g . It does not i n v o l v e sequent ia l steps but a g roup of sk i l l s and strategies chosen and used as needed. A w o r k i n g def in i t ion of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g used i n this thesis is essential ly deeper t h i n k i n g or h igher order t h i n k i n g . Learning Critical Thinking A n analysis of teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g mus t be p l aced w i t h i n the larger f r amework of cogni t ive a n d educa t iona l p sycho logy . Piaget , K h o l b e r g , Se lmen, B l o o m , V y g o t s k y a n d G u i l f o r d each p r o p o s e d different d e v e l o p m e n t a l mode ls desc r ib ing the stages of l ea rn ing . A l l theories of cogni t ive deve lopmen t are g rounded i n the p r inc ip l e s that people deve lop at different rates, deve lopmen t is re la t ively o rde r ly a n d deve lopment takes place g radua l ly . Piaget 's cogni t ive deve lopment theory contains four stages: (1) sensor imotor ; (2) pre-opera t ional ; (3) concrete opera t iona l a n d (4) fo rmal opera t ional . The four th a n d f ina l stage i n Piaget 's theory is character ized b y the use of p ropos i t i ona l t h i n k i n g , combina to r i a l analysis , and abstract reasoning. A c c o r d i n g to Piaget, most c h i l d r e n be tween the ages of e leven a n d fifteen are capable of reaching the fo rmal opera t iona l stage (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958). H o w e v e r , K u h n (1979) contends that m a n y adul ts w i l l never reach the fo rmal opera t iona l stage. If this is true, then cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g m a y not be attained b y everyone, as Piaget 's f inal stage reflects h igher order cogni t ive processes. K h o l b e r g ' s stages of m o r a l judgement and Selman 's stages of soc ia l perspective t ak ing b o t h pa ra l l e l Piaget 's cogni t ive stages ( M u u s s , 1988). The concrete 35 operat ions i n Piaget ' s m o d e l co r respond to K o h l b e r g ' s p r econven t iona l l eve l of m o r a l deve lopment . S i m i l a r l y , the shift f r o m c h i l d h o o d to adolescence i n v o l v e s a dramat ic shift f r o m concrete to abstract thought processes a n d i n m o r a l judgements . The re la t ionship be tween these theories is such that the at ta inment of Piaget 's cogni t ive stages is a necessary p r e c o n d i t i o n for the at tainment of the co r r e spond ing leve l of K h o l b e r g ' s m o r a l judgement and Selmen 's societal perspec t ive- tak ing . Thus , the mastery of h igher order t h i n k i n g sk i l l s does not guarantee the i n d i v i d u a l has at tained the same l eve l of m o r a l reasoning ( M u u s s , 1988). B l o o m ' s (1956) t a x o n o m y of educa t iona l objectives f rom the cogni t ive d o m a i n consists of s ix levels (listed i n order of complex i ty ) : (1) k n o w l e d g e ; (2) comprehens ion ; (3) app l ica t ion ; (4) analysis ; (5) synthesis; a n d (6) eva lua t ion . The h igher order t h i n k i n g sk i l l s of analysis , synthesis and eva lua t ion are not attainable u n t i l the other l o w e r order sk i l l s have been w e l l deve loped . Therefore, c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g m a y not be a realist ic l ea rn ing ou tcome u n t i l s tudents have demons t ra ted the l ower order sk i l l s of k n o w l e d g e , comprehens ion a n d app l i ca t ion . M o r e o v e r , younger students a n d men ta l ly cha l lenged i n d i v i d u a l s m a y not be capable of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . Whereas Piaget character ized a ch i ld ' s l ea rn ing as a l i t t le scientist cons t ruc t ing an under s t and ing of the w o r l d largely alone, V y g o t s k y (1978) p r o p o s e d a zone of p r o x i m a l deve lopmen t d e p e n d i n g p r i m a r i l y o n a ch i l d ' s interact ions w i t h other people w i t h i n their env i ronmen t . The zone of p r o x i m a l d e v e l o p m e n t is a phase i n w h i c h a c h i l d can master a task g i v e n appropr ia te suppor t . Thus , c h i l d r e n can reach their f u l l l ea rn ing po ten t ia l a n d most can demonstrate c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g p r o v i d e d they are g i v e n the necessary scaffolding. G u i l f o r d ' s (1966) Structure of Intellect (SI) theory suggests inte l l igence is compr i sed of operat ions, contents, a n d products . There are f ive k i n d s of operat ions (cogni t ion, m e m o r y , d ive rgen t p r o d u c t i o n , convergent p r o d u c t i o n a n d evaluat ion) , s ix k i n d s of p roduc t s (units, classes, relat ions, systems, t ransformations a n d impl ica t ions ) , a n d five k i n d s of contents (v isua l , aud i to ry , s y m b o l i c , semantic , and behavioura l ) . Thus , there are theoret ical ly 150 different components of inte l l igence. Reason ing a n d p r o b l e m s o l v i n g sk i l l s (convergent a n d d ivergent operat ions) can be s u b d i v i d e d in to 30 dis t inct abi l i t ies . A l t h o u g h cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g w a s not men t ioned b y G u i l f o r d d i rec t ly , it l i k e l y constitutes a synthesis of m a n y of these t h i n k i n g abi l i t ies . C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g cannot be learned i n i so la t ion . Perhaps it cannot be taught expl ic i t ly . H o w e v e r , it can be integrated i n a l l subject areas and related to the ideas students a l ready have. A b road , hol is t ic , a n d g loba l approach to teaching cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is necessary. \" C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g often requires i m a g i n i n g poss ib le consequences, genera t ing o r i g i n a l approaches, or i den t i fy ing al ternat ive perspect ives. T h u s v i r t u a l l y any f o r m of h u m a n practice can i n v o l v e c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" (Danie ls , 1998, p . 1). Fur the rmore , c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g m a y have different connotat ions w i t h i n the contexts of va r ious nat ions a n d yet there is l i k e l y c o m m o n elements to be shared. W h i l e different educa t ion systems tend to suppor t different epis temologies , a l l have the same ul t imate goal—to prepare students for life b e y o n d secondary school . A c o m m o n def in i t ion of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g m a y not be shared b y a l l . O n e mus t account for the cu l tu ra l and contextual aspects of t h i n k i n g as w e l l . H o w e v e r , a b roader de f in i t ion of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g s h o u l d be relevant a n d unders tood b y educators i n b o t h B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a and Japan. Distortions of Critical Thinking in the Media The te rm \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" is not w e l l unders tood . It m a y have become a \" b u z z w o r d \" i n educa t ion used w i t h o u t m u c h thought to its m e a n i n g b y m a n y 37 educators, po l i t i c ians a n d the general p u b l i c . D e v e l o p i n g \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g s k i l l s \" is seen b y some as a panacea to the i l l s of B . C . ' s educa t ion sys tem as i l lus t ra ted b y the f o l l o w i n g quotes f r o m the Vancouver Sun n e w s p a p e r : F r o m Di lbe r t b y Scott A d a m s : Character 1: \"I teach m y k ids that these things are r ight a n d these things are w r o n g . P e r i o d . E n d of Story. Character 2: \" W o u l d n ' t that teach them to bel ieve a n y t h i n g they ' re t o l d w i t h o u t a p p l y i n g any c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g ? \" Character 1: \"I don ' t t h ink about that.\" Character 2: \" D u h . \" (1997 U n i t e d Feature Syndicate , Inc.) F r o m January 25, 1999 Vancouver Sun, p . A 1 0 : The app l i ca t ion of c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g , p r o b l e m s o l v i n g , ana ly t ica l a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n sk i l l s is r equ i r ed for successful c o m p l e t i o n of courses... thereby fu l f i l l i ng an impor tan t tenet of a un ive r s i t y educa t ion—educa t ion for l i v i n g a n d educa t ion for m a k i n g a l i v i n g . (John Pierce, D e a n of A r t s , S i m o n Fraser U n i v e r s i t y ) F r o m June 22, 1999 Vancouver Sun, p . A l l : The wel l -educa ted person can ana lyze p r o b l e m s i n a c r i t i c a l manne r , conduct research, m a k e creative connect ions of data a n d w h e n necessary, communica t e and w o r k effectively w i t h others to f i n d solut ions. A t least that is wha t educators tel l us. (Gary B a u s l a u g h , former col lege educator and adminis t ra tor) F r o m September 4, 1998 Vancouver Sun:, p . E7 : K i d s today are l i k e l y to have three or four job changes i n the future, u n l i k e their parents, so they need sk i l l s a r o u n d p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g a n d c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g . (Doro thy F o w l e r , p r i n c i p a l , B u r n a b y C e n t r a l Secondary School) F r o m September 4, 1998 Vancouver Sun, p . E3 : The m i n i s t r y has been u p d a t i n g its courses since 1995. B y 2000 a l l cu r r i cu l a w i l l emphas ize p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g and c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g , l i teracy and c o m m u n i c a t i o n , team w o r k , a n d i n f o r m a t i o n technology . ( L o r i Culber t ) 38 C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g Research C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is a topic of great impor tance to b o t h Japan's a n d B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s educa t ion systems. A l t h o u g h there is m u c h interest, l i t t le data is avai lable , since few compara t ive studies have been done. Th i s is perhaps due to a recogni t ion a n d apprec ia t ion of the diff icul t ies associated w i t h in te rna t iona l compara t ive research i n educa t ion . In A l t b a c h ' s w o r d s , \" C o m p a r a t i v e a n d in ternat ional educa t ion is a f ie ld w i t h o u t a clear research agenda, w i t h o u t w i d e l y accepted pa r ad igms for research, w i t h o u t agreed methodologies , a n d w i t h o u t a clear hierarchy. . . (Nevertheless) , . . .comparative educators are i n a p o s i t i o n to benefit f rom a g r o w i n g in te rna t iona l consciousness i n educa t ion i n m a n y count r ies\" (Al tbach & T a n , 1995, p . x v i i i ) . Fur ther research is necessary o n compara t ive educa t ion research methodolog ies a n d o n such topics for c o m p a r i s o n as current teaching strategies, independen t or s tudent centred l ea rn ing , c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g and the role of the teacher. Th i s w i l l he lp to i m p r o v e student l ea rn ing . In a d d i t i o n , it w i l l p r o v i d e a c ross-cul tura l a n d in te rna t iona l unde r s t and ing a n d apprec ia t ion of l e a r n i n g . Educa tors cannot cont inue to funct ion as na t iona l pract i t ioners . F e w can st ick to the o l d style of t h i n k i n g a n d b e h a v i n g as they once d id . . . A s it is i r re levant for any society to i m p o r t a ready-made m o d e l of m o d e r n i z a t i o n , so it is for any to i m p o r t or to export a n educa t ion system. Innova t i on i n teacher educa t ion can be mos t d i f f icul t . G l o b a l i s m as a p a r a d i g m is s t i l l vague i n shape and characteristic. H o w e v e r , the recent d i scuss ion about sys tem theories s h o w that the w o r l d is m o v i n g v e r y s l o w l y bu t s teadi ly t o w a r d a n e w system. In a g loba l age, the teaching profess ion s h o u l d be reformed, a n d the w a y s of educa t ing a n d t r a in ing teachers also need to be t ransformed. C o m p a r a t i v e g l o b a l i s m m a y w o r k as a strategy for i n n o v a t i o n i n teacher educa t ion (Ochoa & S u z u k i , 1993, p . 74). C l e a r l y , c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is a fundamenta l concept i n educa t ion that requires further research. These ideas are essential elements to the conceptua l f r amework for this s tudy. 39 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH M E T H O D O L O G Y This study was designed to compare and contrast British Columbia and Japanese high school teachers' conceptions of critical thinking across the dimensions of culture, subject area, experience, age and gender. To facilitate this comparison, a two part survey instrument was designed (see Appendix A for the English version and Appendix B for the Japanese version). Here is a description of the schools and teachers selected; the instrument development; the procedures used and the data preparation. Sample The sample consisted of 159 teachers from ten high schools in B.C. and Japan. Six schools were selected from the Lower Mainland of B.C. and four schools were chosen from the Kanto region of Japan. Of the 71 B.C. teachers surveyed there were 38 men and 33 women. Of the 88 Japanese teachers surveyed there were 75 men and 13 women. Table 1 summarizes the nature of the schools. Table 1 Descriptions of B.C. and Japanese Schools Selected School Category Average annual Student Number of Teachers household income* Enrollment 2 Teachers2 Surveyed 1. Queen Elizabeth comprehensive $ 42,600 1610 89 10 2. Enver Creek comprehensive $ 55,700 1320 72 27 3. Princess Margaret comprehensive $ 40,200 1464 80 12 4. Fleetwood Park comprehensive $ 60,500 1241 72 12 5. North Surrey comprehensive $ 55,400 1128 69 8 6. Elgin Park comp rehensi ve $ 87,300 1113 61 2 7. Komaba elite academic ¥ 5,940,000 491 46 18 8. Otsuka general academic ¥ 7,060,000 724 44 28 9. Tsukuba vocational ¥ 7,340,000 565 60 17 10. Sakado comprehensive ¥ 7,700,000 478 42 25 Notes: 1 Based on 1996 Canada Census and 1999 Japanese Ward Offices data for each school's catchment area. As Komaba's students come from all over Tokyo, the number is an average for Greater Tokyo. Enrollments and staffing as of September 2000. 40 A l t h o u g h the t w o na t iona l samples are w e l l ba lanced i n terms of schools chosen a n d teachers su rveyed , it is necessary to acknowledge the differences i n e thnici ty , r e l i g i o n a n d SES. Japan is a far greater homogeneous society than B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . There are few ethnic minor i t i e s a n d a s s imi l a t i on is the n o r m for the m a r g i n a l g roups such as Japanese b o r n Koreans . B . C . ' s e thnic p l u r a l i s m a n d m u l t i c u l t u r a l i s m is i n stark contrast to Japan's rac ia l homogene i t y a n d intolerance for others. W h i l e there are some Chr i s t i ans , Jews a n d other re l ig ions i n Japan, Japanese are p r e d o m i n a n t l y B u d d h i s t a n d Shin to . H o w e v e r , they read i ly accept other re l ig ions i n h a r m o n y w i t h B u d d h i s t beliefs. In fact B u d d h i s m a n d Shin to are not prac t iced w i t h re l ig ious fanat ic i sm but rather are incorpora ted in to eve ryday life as cu l tu ra l t radi t ions . A n o v e r w h e l m i n g majori ty of Japanese do not be long to any chu rch no r do they practice any re l ig ious ceremonies other that those that are a par t of their cu l ture re la t ing to b i r th , death a n d seasonal festivals. B . C . is p r e d o m i n a n t l y C h r i s t i a n , h o w e v e r there is greater re l ig ious d ive r s i ty than i n Japan. In par t icu lar , The L o w e r M a i n l a n d has s ignif icant i m m i g r a n t popu l a t i ons of S ikhs , M u s l i m s , B u d d h i s t s , and other re l ig ious groups . M o s t people w i t h i n Japanese society cons ider themselves m i d d l e class. The par t ic ipants i n this s tudy were no different. The teachers s u r v e y e d i n B . C . a n d Japan were p r e d o m i n a n t l y m i d d l e class as were most of the parents a n d students f rom the schools su rveyed (see Table 1). W h i l e there were some differences i n SES a m o n g the schools , this w a s not a major factor i n d e t e r m i n i n g the representativeness of the s tudy . Schools The h i g h schools a n d teachers i n v o l v e d i n this s t udy were selected o n the basis of geographic , academic a n d other compara t ive considerat ions . H i g h schools of s i m i l a r c o m p o s i t i o n (size, s tudent / teacher p o p u l a t i o n , grade levels, soc ioeconomic status, age of teachers, and subjects offered) were chosen. Special schools appea l ing specif ica l ly to academica l ly or voca t iona l ly i n c l i n e d students were o n l y i n c l u d e d f rom Japan since these are an impor tan t part of the Japanese school sys tem, w h i l e they are re la t ive ly ins ignif icant i n B . C . ' s school sys tem. A serious attempt wa s m a d e to choose schools that were comparable a n d representative of each system. The col lect ive data f rom a l l the teachers i n each reg ion represents an \"average s c h o o l \" i n near ly a l l respects. A l l the schools chosen were located i n communi t i e s close to major u r b a n centres. Ye t they were nei ther \" inne r - c i t y\" no r \" c o u n t r y \" schools . G e o g r a p h i c a l l y a n d sys temica l ly , i n c o m p a r i n g schools , one cons idera t ion taken into account was the loca t ion of each school w i t h i n their school distr ict and reg ion (see Figures 1-4). Figure 1. Map of Japan 1 Figure 2. Map of British Columbia 2 ! Tokyo-A Bilingual Atlas (p. 148), 1991, New York: Kodansha. Copyright 1991 by Kodansha. 2Canada Map, 1997, Victoria: Davenport Maps Ltd.. Copyright 1997 by Davenport Maps Ltd.. Adapted with permission. 4 2 F i g u r e 3. M a p of T h e L o w e r M a i n l a n d (Greater V a n c o u v e r ) 3 Japan Secondary Schools 1. K o m a b a 2. O t s u k a I 3. T s u k u b a %iM^ A 4. Sakado J F igu re 4. M a p of K a n t o R e g i o n (Greater T o k y o ) 4 3 B .C. Map, 1997, Victoria: Davenport Maps Ltd. Copyright 1997 by Davenport Maps Ltd. 4 Tokyo-A Bilingual Atlas (pp. 6-7), 1991, New York: Kodansha. Copyright 1991 by Kodansha. Adapted with permission. 43 T w o of the Japanese schools selected were located w i t h i n T o k y o ( K o m a b a and Otsuka) . The Ibarak i (Tsukuba H i g h School of Technology) a n d Sai tama (Sakado) schools were located w i t h i n the prefectures of Ibarak i a n d Sai tama. A l l four schools were w i t h i n the K a n t o r eg ion of Japan. The s ix B . C . schools chosen (Queen E l i zabe th , E n v e r Creek , Pr incess Margare t , F l e e t w o o d Park , N o r t h Surrey a n d E l g i n Park) were located w i t h i n the school dis tr ict of Surrey , a m u n i c i p a l i t y w i t h i n the L o w e r M a i n l a n d of B . C . In this respect, Sur rey ' s p u b l i c h i g h schools are comparable to Ibaraki-ken 's and Sai tama-ken 's p u b l i c h i g h schools . H o w e v e r , the c o m p a r i s o n is compl i ca t ed since Ibaraki a n d Sai tama are prefectures (much l ike a p r o v i n c e i n Canada) w i t h m a n y pr iva te h i g h schools a n d na t iona l h i g h schools i n a d d i t i o n to the prefectural p u b l i c h i g h schools . T w o schools ( K o m a b a and Otsuka) chosen were f r o m mun ic ipa l i t i e s ( M e g u r o - K u a n d B u n k y o - K u respectively) w i t h i n the c i ty of Greater T o k y o itself. Japan's h i g h schools offer students m a n y choices; f rom schools w i t h a specia l focus s u c h as voca t iona l t r a in ing or academics to comprehens ive h i g h schools that appea l to a w i d e range of students w i t h va r ious backgrounds and goals after g radua t ion . Fo r this reason, the four Japanese p u b l i c h i g h schools selected were (1) academic (Komaba) ; (2) academic / g e n e r a l (Otsuka); (3) voca t iona l (Tsukuba H i g h Schoo l of Technology) ; a n d (4) comprehens ive (Sakado), respect ively i n order to facilitate a c o m p a r i s o n w i t h B . C . ' s comprehens ive p u b l i c h i g h schools w h i c h are the n o r m . In Japan, approx ima te ly 70 percent of students at tend p u b l i c h i g h schools of w h i c h over 70 percent are academic /gene ra l . The p r o p o r t i o n of voca t iona l h i g h schools has been s teadi ly decreas ing to the present l eve l of app rox ima te ly 25 percent (Takakura & M u r a t a , 1998, p . 29). In 1994, as a result of the educa t iona l reforms to the the h i g h schoo l c u r r i c u l u m , Sakado H i g h Schoo l changed f r o m a voca t iona l school s p e c i a l i z i n g i n agr icu l ture to a comprehens ive school , offer ing other 44 courses l e a d i n g to different paths u p o n gradua t ion . A l t h o u g h the t rend i n Japan is for h i g h schools to become comprehens ive i n nature, these are few i n n u m b e r since it was o n l y i n 1994 that the change to comprehens ive schools began to be i m p l e m e n t e d . In a d d i t i o n , the nature of ins t i tu t ions w i t h i n each educa t ion sys tem requ i red careful select ion of sui table schools a n d par t ic ipants . M o s t h i g h schools i n B . C . en ro l l ed loca l students f rom grades 8 t h rough 12 a n d d i d not require entrance exams. Hence , they were o p e n to a l l s tudents w h o res ided w i t h i n the catchment area of the school . O n the other h a n d , a l l Japanese h i g h schools en ro l l students f rom grades 10 t h r o u g h 12 and require entrance exams and , as such, m a y choose the mos t appropr ia te students. Therefore, it was not u n c o m m o n for h i g h school students to t rave l a great distance to attend the best schools . For this reason, aga in academic , voca t iona l and comprehens ive Japanese h i g h schools , e n r o l l i n g loca l s tudents were chosen i n order to facilitate the compar i son . In the selection of h i g h schools i n B . C . , an attempt w as made to choose h i g h schools that were c lose ly ma tched i n terms of grade levels offered. Fo r example , Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h Secondary Schoo l i n Surrey has t r ad i t iona l ly been a senior secondary school (grades 11-12) bu t at the t ime of the s tudy w as i n t rans i t ion to a fu l l secondary schoo l (grades 8-12). The teachers at this school h a d been teaching students be tween the ages of 15 to 18 years. Th i s was comparable to the age of Japanese h i g h schoo l students w h i c h were f rom \" k o u k o - n o i ch i -nen se i \" to \"san-nen se i \" (grades 10-12 and ages 15 to 18 years). A l l schools chosen h a d an average p o p u l a t i o n of staff and students representative of their respect ive schoo l systems. 45 Teachers Teachers were del iberately chosen f rom a var ie ty of subject backgrounds , ages and experience. D u e to the re la t ive ly s m a l l sample sizes for each g r o u p (Japanese n=88 a n d B . C . n=71), it was necessary to select sufficient number s of language arts teachers, science teachers and other subject specialists as w e l l as a range of ages a n d experience of teachers. Thus , poss ible re la t ionships be tween the variables of subject area, age, teaching experience a n d the teachers' conceptions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g c o u l d be invest igated a n d ana lyzed across the t w o cul tures . Teachers were approached i n pe r son i n the staff r o o m or i n their c lass room once the P r i n c i p a l a n d school dis tr ict gave a p p r o v a l to do so. E a c h teacher's subject area a n d their approx imate age and experience was k n o w n . It w a s easier to obta in data f rom Japanese par t ic ipants since their p r inc ipa l s exercise m u c h m o r e p o w e r than Wes te rn counterparts . Consequen t ly , w h e n Japanese teachers were asked to part icipate b y their p r i n c i p a l most were \" w i l l i n g \" to do so. In contrast, the B . C . teachers' pa r t i c ipa t ion rates were l ower since they d i d not feel o b l i g e d to complete the su rvey . Since data co l lec t ion f rom the Japanese schools was more efficient, o n l y four schools were v i s i t ed , whereas s ix schools were s u r v e y e d i n B . C . i n order to obta in a comparab ly s i zed sample . I ronica l ly , it was more diff icul t to obta in data f r o m teachers i n the researcher's o w n schoo l dis t r ic t than f rom the Japanese school teachers! Nonetheless , of the 159 teachers chosen, o n l y one teacher d i d not agree to complete the survey . F i n a l l y , it s h o u l d be no ted that the researcher is not one of the teachers i n the sample . 46 Instrument Development Critical Thinking Cards A list of descriptors of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g (words /phrases ) was d e r i v e d p r i m a r i l y f r o m the l i terature r e v i e w (see i n par t icu lar , M c P e c k , 1990; N i c k e r s o n , 1986; N i c k e r s o n , Pe rk ins a n d S m i t h , 1985; N o r r i s , 1985; P a u l , 1993) bu t also f rom B . C . a n d Japanese teachers. These descriptors were then p r i n t e d o n index cards (see F igu re 5) i n a large bold-faced font (first i n E n g l i s h and later i n Japanese o n the other side). Analysis Figure 5. Example of a Critical Thinking Card A ca rd sort p rocedure was chosen since it was v i s u a l and tactile. Th i s me thod of ob ta in ing data a l l o w e d par t ic ipants to man ipu la t e the descr iptors of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g — h e l p i n g to facilitate c lass i f icat ion i n a manne r mos t appropr ia te to each par t ic ipant . O n e language arts teacher ac tua l ly spread a l l the cards out o n a table a n d preceded to ana lyze them s t ruc tura l ly a n d l inguis t i ca l ly ! Others preferred to cycle t h rough the index cards l ike a deck of p l a y i n g cards, e l i m i n a t i n g definers as they shuff led the deck. Translation of Critical Thinking Definers E a c h cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g definer was double- t ranslated for a check of accuracy and re l iab i l i ty . Th i s was accompl i shed b y consu l t i ng t w o Japanese i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h backg rounds i n educa t ion . The first i n d i v i d u a l (a graduate s tudent i n educa t ion at T s u k u b a U n i v e r s i t y , Japan) translated the E n g l i s h w o r d s into 47 Japanese. Then , the second i n d i v i d u a l (a cert if ied teacher i n Japan a n d a Japanese teacher cur ren t ly i n B.C. ) t ranslated these Japanese w o r d s back in to E n g l i s h . A l l the definers f rom this n e w list were exact ly the same as the o r i g i n a l definers or were close e n o u g h that a nat ive speaker c o u l d eas i ly unde r s t and their mean ing . Procedures The research repor ted here i n v o l v e d four phases spread over a p e r i o d of two years. Phase 1—Pilot Study Firs t , a p i l o t su rvey was conduc ted i n order to determine the su i tab i l i ty of the research ques t ion to educa t ion i n B . C . a n d Japan. D u r i n g the s u m m e r of 1997, several Japanese h i g h schools i n the K a n t o r eg ion ( in the v i c i n i t y of T o k y o ) were v i s i t ed . Teachers f rom a var ie ty of backgrounds , i n c l u d i n g E n g l i s h language specialists, graduate students i n educa t ion , a n d un ive r s i ty professors i n educa t iona l s tudies, were contacted t h r o u g h persona l references. Teachers were i n t e r v i e w e d w i t h the a i d of an interpreter, about their concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . T h e y were asked, \" W h a t is ' c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g ' ? \" In a d d i t i o n , lessons were observed. T h e n i n the fal l of 1997, several h i g h schools i n B . C . ' s L o w e r M a i n l a n d ( in the v i c i n i t y of V a n c o u v e r ) were v i s i t ed . D u r i n g these v is i t s to h i g h schools i n B . C . a n d Japan, approx imate ly twenty teachers were each asked to p r o v i d e w o r d s or phrases desc r ib ing \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . \" A list of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g descr iptors w a s thus generated f rom the relevant l i terature (Br i t i sh C o l u m b i a M i n i s t r y of Educ a t i on , 1993; F rench and Pdioder, 1992; H a l a d y n a , 1997; M c P e c k , 1990; N i c k e r s o n , 1986; N i c k e r s o n , Pe rk ins and S m i t h 1985; N o r r i s , 1985, 1988; P a u l , 1993; V e r u i n , 1996) and f rom the i npu t of teachers. 48 Phase 2—Instrument Design N e x t , a l ist of 50 definers desc r ib ing the most c o m m o n teachers ' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g was d e r i v e d f rom the p i l o t su rvey . These definers were then translated into Japanese a n d E n g l i s h w i t h a doub le t ranslat ion for a check of re l iab i l i ty . E a c h definer was then w r i t t e n o n an index card (Eng l i sh o n one side a n d Japanese o n the other; see A p p e n d i x C for a complete list) . I n add i t i on , a quest ionnaire was des igned i n c l u d i n g basic demograph ic in fo rma t ion (gender, age, subject area, a n d years of teaching experience) as w e l l as open-ended questions concern ing teachers ' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g (see A p p e n d i x A for the E n g l i s h ve r s ion a n d A p p e n d i x B for the Japanese t rans la t ion of the teacher quest ionnaire) . Phase 3—Survey of B.C. Teachers F r o m late June 1998 t h r o u g h December 1998, 71 teachers f rom six Surrey schools i n B . C . were selected o n a vo lun t a ry basis to par t ic ipate i n the s tudy . They were approached i n d i v i d u a l l y and were asked to (1) classify the cards as relevant to c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g or not relevant to cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g a n d then (2) to choose the ten most s ignif icant cards a n d rank them 1-10. The researcher was present d u r i n g the ca rd sort p rocedure a n d the quest ionnaire bu t o n l y to clar i fy the procedures . H o w e v e r , genera l ly , no a d d i t i o n a l in te rven t ion or exp lana t ion was requi red . A n y quest ions about the cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g definers were not answered w i t h any explana t ion . Rather , the response was inva r i ab ly , \"If y o u are unsure about the m e a n i n g of a w o r d , place it i n the 'other ' p i le . O n l y place w o r d s that y o u are sure relate to cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , i n the cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g p i l e . \" E a c h par t ic ipant ' s c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g definers chosen were ta l l i ed i n a spreadsheet of a l l 50 cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g cards a n d then the r a n k i n g was no ted (see A p p e n d i x C ) . 49 Phase 4—Survey of Japanese Teachers In M a r c h 1999, the ques t ionna i r e / ca rd sort was admin i s t e red to 88 secondary teachers at the four h i g h schools i n the K a n t o r eg ion of Japan. Japanese par t ic ipants were chosen i n m u c h the same w a y as their B . C . counterparts , w i t h the assistance of D r . Tanaka f rom T s u k u b a U n i v e r s i t y i n Japan. The wr i t e r ' s b i l i n g u a l and b i c u l t u r a l sk i l l s p r o v e d he lp fu l as w e l l as the persona l contacts m a d e d u r i n g p r ev ious v is i t s to Japan. Data Preparation and Analysis Once the data was col lected, the Japanese quest ionnaires were pho tocop ied and translated in to E n g l i s h . The answers to the open-ended quest ions were read, s u m m a r i z e d a n d then coded as to their relevance to c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . T h e n the quant i ta t ive data f rom the ca rd sort a n d the demograph ic i n fo rma t ion was entered into SPSS. E a c h par t ic ipant was coded b y school , n u m b e r a n d count ry of o r ig in . If a respondent chose a cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g definer it was recorded as a \" 1 \" and i f they d i d not choose a definer it was recorded as a \"0\" . In add i t i on , the top ten definers chosen a n d r a n k e d were coded as s h o w n i n Table 2. Table 2 Coding of Critical Thinking (CT) Definers Card Sort Ranking Code CT definer not chosen 0 CT definer chosen but not ranked 1 #10 2 #9 3 #8 4 #7 5 #6 6 #5 7 #4 8 #3 9 #2 10 #1 11 Note: In order to facilitate the data analysis, the ranking of the top ten definers were coded such that a definer ranked #1 was entered into SPSS as an '11'. Thus, definers that were considered less important were given sequentially smaller numerical values. Separate fields were used for gender, age, teaching subject, n u m b e r of years teaching and the responses to \"Is c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g part of the c u r r i c u l u m for y o u r subject area?\" a n d \"Is c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g taught i n y o u r c lass room?\" N e x t , the cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g data was t ransformed and n e w var iables were i n t roduced so that there was a c o p y of the data that s h o w e d a l l definers chosen as relevant to cr i t ical t h i n k i n g as \" 1 \" a n d those not chosen as \"0 . \" In other w o r d s , i f a non-zero number w a s i n a ce l l for c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g definers it was t ransformed in to a \" 1 \" m e a n i n g \"chosen .\" F i n a l l y , u s i n g the SPSS data file the var iables age and teaching experience were g r o u p e d in to decades and five year in tervals respect ively i n order to facilitate the analysis . The rat ionale for this is that novice teachers l i k e l y have different ideas than veteran teachers. F r o m the wr i t e r ' s perspect ive and i n d iscuss ions w i t h those su rveyed , teachers go t h r o u g h a series of phases: (1) accul tura t ion (1-4 years); (2) g r o w t h as a n e w profess ional (5-9 years); (3) es tabl i sh ing rout ines and f i r m teaching p h i l o s o p h y (10-14 years); a n d (4) either m a i n t a i n i n g the status quo or embrac ing n e w teaching strategies (15+ years). Thus , it seemed na tura l to investigate age a n d teaching experience w i t h these g roup ings i n a d d i t i o n to the characteristics of gender a n d subject areas. S u m m a r y The sample consis ted of 159 teachers f rom six B . C . h i g h schools a n d four Japanese h i g h schools . Teachers were chosen f rom a var ie ty of subject backgrounds , ages and experience. The research i n v o l v e d four phases spread over a p e r i o d of t w o years. First , a p i lo t su rvey was conduc ted i n order to determine the su i tab i l i ty of the research ques t ion to educa t ion i n B . C . a n d Japan. Nex t , a l ist of 50 definers desc r ib ing the most c o m m o n teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g was d e r i v e d f rom the p i l o t su rvey a n d l i terature r ev i ew . E a c h 51 cr i t ical t h i n k i n g definer was then double- t ransla ted for a check of accuracy and re l iabi l i ty . F r o m late June 1998 th rough December 1998, 71 teachers f rom six Surrey schools i n B . C . were selected o n a vo lun t a ry basis to par t ic ipate i n the s tudy. In M a r c h 1999, the ques t ionna i r e / ca rd sort was admin i s t e red to 88 secondary teachers at the four h i g h schools i n the K a n t o r eg ion of Japan. The nature of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g was examined as teachers interpreted it. The data obta ined f rom the ca rd so r t /ques t ionna i re was used to invest igate the ove ra l l sense of w h a t secondary school teachers be l i eved cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g to en ta i l and to compare B . C . a n d Japanese teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . F i n a l l y , the questions p o s e d were—do teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g v a r y as a funct ion of subject area, gender, age a n d teaching experience? 52 CHAPTER 5 R E S U L T S - C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S OF R E S P O N D E N T S B . C . a n d Japan were chosen for this compara t ive s tudy for several reasons: (1) bo th have reached the stages of un ive r sa l secondary educa t ion a n d mass h igher educa t ion ; (2) educators i n each reg ion have b e g u n to ana lyze the nature of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g ; (3) there is considerable interest i n reforms to teacher educa t ion i n b o t h regions; and (4) as they are bo th o n the Pacif ic R i m a n d share commona l i t i e s (var ied cl imates a n d geography a n d economies r e l y i n g o n exports t h rough sh ipp ing) , they are idea l for a compara t ive s tudy . B . C . w a s chosen instead of C a n a d a since p rov inces have different educa t ion systems w h i l e Japan has a h i g h l y u n i f o r m educa t ion sys tem. In a d d i t i o n to teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , the data col lected i n c l u d e d gender, age, years of teaching experience and teaching subject, as w e l l as other i n fo rma t ion r ega rd ing teachers' va lues . Some of the data (see A p p e n d i x A Survey quest ions 5-7) m a y be used i n further s tudies a n d is not d iscussed at l ength i n this thesis. Table 3 summar i zes the characteristics of the B . C . and Japanese teachers su rveyed . G e n d e r A s s h o w n i n Table 3, of the 159 teachers su rveyed , the n u m b e r of m e n (n=113) was greater than the n u m b e r of w o m e n (n=46). W h i l e the n u m b e r of B . C . m e n (n=38) a n d w o m e n (n=33) teachers su rveyed were near ly equal , 85 percent of Japanese teachers su rveyed were men . H o w e v e r , these demograph ics are characteristic of h i g h schools—especia l ly i n Japan. A t the t ime of the s tudy , o n l y 24 percent of secondary school teachers i n Japan were female w h i l e i n B . C . the n u m b e r was 41.4 percent ( M o n b u s h o , 1997; B C T F , 1998). Table 3 Characteristics of Selected Teachers in B.C. and Japanese High Schools n % n 0 / 10 n 0 / / o t value t-prob Gender Total B.C. 1 Japan 1 Women 46 28.9 33 46.0 13 15.0 Men 113 71.1 38 54.0 75 85.0 Total 159 100.0 71 44.7 2 88 55.3 2 4.65 0.000 Age 20-29 years old 22 13.8 15 21.1 7 8.0 30-39 years old 51 32.1 22 30.0 29 33.0 40-49 years old 49 30.8 18 25.4 31 35.2 50+ years old 37 23.3 16 22.5 21 23.9 Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Total 41.40 9.55 39.59 10.10 42.85 8.92 2.17 0.032 Teaching experience n % n % n % < 5 years 27 17.0 20 28.2 7 8.0 5-9 years 19 11.9 13 18.3 6 6.8 10-14 years 26 16.0 8 • 11.3 18 20.5 15-19 years 32 20.1 9 12.7 23 26.1 20-24 years 19 11.9 6 8.5 13 14.8 25-29 years 18 11.3 10 14.1 8 9.1 30-34 years 14 8.8 5 7.0 9 10.2 35 or more years 4 2.5 0 0.0 4 4.5 Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Total 15.93 9.90 13.11 10.30 18.20 9.01 3.33 0.001 Subject Areas n % n % n % Language Arts 24 15.1 13 18.3 11 12.5 Math 23 14.5 13 18.3 10 11.4 Science 3 32 20.1 19 26.8 13 14.8 Social Studies 19 11.9 9 12.7 10 11.4 Fine Art 8 5.0 3 4.2 5 5.7 Foreign Languages 15 9.4 5 7.0 10 11.4 Other 3 38 23.9 9 12.7 29 33.0 1 Percent by column. 2 Denotes a percent of the total sample. 3 Denotes pairs of groups significantly different in terms of the number of teachers in Science and Other subject areas using a Multiple Range Test at the .050 level. 54 A g e B o t h B . C . a n d Japan's teaching popu la t ions are ag ing . W i t h n e w , younger teachers r ep lac ing those re t i r ing , it is not su rp r i s i ng that 45.9 percent of the teachers s u r v e y e d were i n their twenties and thirt ies w h i l e 23.3 percent were i n their fifties a n d sixties (see Table 3). The m e a n age of secondary schoo l teachers i n this s tudy was 42.85 years o l d for Japan and 39.59 years o l d for B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . These statistics compare w e l l w i t h the latest data avai lable f r o m the M o n b u s h o and B . C . M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n g i v i n g the average ages as 41.6 and 43.0 ( i nc lud ing adminis t ra tors) respect ive ly (Br i t i sh C o l u m b i a Teachers ' Federa t ion , 1998; M o n b u s h o , 1997). Japanese teachers are p r o p o r t i o n a l l y o lde r than B . C . teachers—both i n this sample a n d i n the teaching p o p u l a t i o n as a w h o l e . T e a c h i n g Exper ience Japanese teachers h a d more career experience (x=18.2 years) than B . C . teachers (x=13.1 years). This five year difference was stat ist ically s ignif icant (t=3.33, p<.001). W h i l e teaching experience and age were related, some teachers started teaching d i rec t ly after un ive r s i ty (especial ly i n Japan), w h i l e m a n y others began teaching careers m u c h later i n life. Table 3 compares B . C . a n d Japanese teachers' career experience, their m e a n ages and respective age ranges. Irrespective of cul ture , over hal f the teachers su rveyed were i n their thirt ies, yet this age g roup m a y have a w i d e range of teaching experience. If someone were to enter teaching d i rec t ly after c o m p l e t i n g school , w i t h o u t any break i n their studies, they w o u l d have ten years of teaching experience b y the t ime they were i n their ear ly thirt ies. H o w e v e r , o n l y 24 percent of the B . C . teachers were veterans, h a v i n g 10-19 years of teaching experience c o m p a r e d to 41 percent of Japanese teachers. A t any g i v e n age, Japanese teachers were l i k e l y to have more 55 career experience than B . C . teachers. Th i s is because Japanese teachers tend to beg in un ive r s i t y at age 18 a n d then go straight into teaching u p o n gradua t ion . B y the t ime a teacher is i n their m id - th i r t i e s they have at least ten years of career exper ience. Subject Areas Teachers i n Language A r t s (24), M a t h (23), Science (32), Soc ia l Studies (19), F ine A r t s (8) a n d Fo re ign Language (15) represented app rox ima te ly 75 percent of the respondents . A n u m b e r of subject areas less frequently iden t i f i ed were p laced into the category \"Othe r \" i n Table 3. These i n c l u d e d seven B . C . subjects: Business E d u c a t i o n (3); C o m p u t e r Science (3); Indus t r i a l E d u c a t i o n (5); Spec ia l E d u c a t i o n (3); C o u n s e l i n g (1); Career E d u c a t i o n (1); L e a r n i n g Assis tance (1) and s ix Japanese subjects: A g r i c u l t u r e (6); H o m e E c o n o m i c s (4); Techno logy E d u c a t i o n (5); Arch i t ec tu re (2); M e t a l w o r k (1); N u r s i n g (2). The spec ia l i za t ion of Japanese subject areas is due to the selective nature of Japanese academic and voca t iona l h i g h schools , w h i l e the d ivers i ty of B . C . subject areas is the result of B . C . ' s comprehens ive h i g h schools . O v e r a l l , there were no major differences be tween the t w o cul tures i n the numbers of teachers represent ing the va r ious subject areas. H o w e v e r , there were p ropo r t i ona l l y more B . C . \"Science\" teachers (26.8 percent) than Japanese \"Science\" teachers (14.8 percent). A l s o , p r o p o r t i o n a l l y more Japanese teachers (33.0 percent) were i n the \"Othe r\" category than B . C . teachers (12.7 percent). 56 S u m m a r y Japan's h i g h schoo l teachers were p r e d o m i n a n t l y m e n , w h i l e i n B . C . there were o n l y s l i gh t ly more m e n than w o m e n teaching h i g h schoo l . In general , Japanese teachers are o lder a n d more exper ienced than their B . C . counterparts . The teachers i n this sample reflected these characteristics of gender , age and experience. The Japanese teachers su rveyed represented a somewha t greater d ivers i ty and spec ia l iza t ion of subject areas compared to the B . C . teachers, as ev idenced b y the greater n u m b e r of people teaching \" O t h e r \" subjects such as \" A g r i c u l t u r e , \" \" A r c h i t e c t u r e \" and \"Techno logy E d u c a t i o n . \" A l s o , there were p r o p o r t i o n a l l y more \"Sc ience\" teachers s u r v e y e d i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . C H A P T E R 6 RESULTS-CRITICAL THINKING 57 The purposes of this s tudy were (1) to obta in an ove ra l l sense of w h a t secondary schoo l teachers be l i eved cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g to entai l ; (2) to compare and contrast B . C . a n d Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g ; (3) to investigate the nature of B . C . and Japanese secondary teachers ' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g w i t h respect to gender, age, teaching experience a n d subject taught; a n d (4) to determine whether cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is a s ignif icant part of B . C . a n d Japanese teaching a n d the c u r r i c u l u m at the secondary leve l . In order to achieve these goals, 159 B . C . and Japanese teachers were s u r v e y e d u s i n g a quest ionnaire cons is t ing of demograph ic a n d open-ended quest ions as w e l l as a card sort p rocedure . Fi f ty definers of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , d e r i v e d f r o m the l i terature r e v i e w a n d f rom teachers i n the p i l o t s tudy were double- t rans la ted a n d then p r i n t ed o n index cards ( in E n g l i s h o n one s ide and Japanese o n the other). Teachers were asked to indicate w h i c h definers were relevant to c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . De f ine r s of C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g Table 4 shows the extent to w h i c h teachers i n B . C . and Japan endorsed each of the definers of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , sorted i n descending order . C h o s e n b y 75 percent of the teachers, \" A n a l y s i s \" was the most frequently men t ioned . The top five definers: \" A n a l y s i s , \" \"Reason ing , \" \" D r a w i n g inferences,\" \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g \" and \" A n a l y t i c a l s k i l l s \" were each selected b y over two- th i rds of the teachers. R o u n d i n g out the top ten were five definers chosen b y over 60 percent of the teachers: \" Induc t ive reasoning ,\" \"Crea t ive t h i n k i n g , \" \" C l a r i f y i n g ideas,\" \" L o g i c a l \" a n d \" T h o u g h t f u l judgements .\" It was not s u r p r i s i n g that these definers 58 Table 4 Differences in Fifty Definers of Critical Thinking between Teachers in B.C. and Japanese High Schools Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD t value P\" Definers of Critical Thinking Total B. C. Japan prob Analysis .75 .43 .83 .38 .69 .46 -2.02 .05 Reasoning .72 .45 .85 .36 .63 .49 -3.16 .00 Drawing inferences .71 .45 .79 .41 .65 .48 Problem solving Analytical skills .70 .46 .90 .30 .53 .50 -5.43 .00 .70 .46 .85 .36 .59 .49 -3.61 .00 Inductive reasoning .64 .48 .73 .45 .56 .50 -2.22 .03 Creative thinking .64 .48 .62 .49 .66 .48 Clarifying ideas .64 .48 .61 .49 .67 .47 Logical .62 .49 .59 .50 .66 .48 Thoughtful judgements .62 .49 .62 .49 .61 .49 Evaluating assumptions .62 .49 .75 .44 .52 .50 -2.95 .00 Objective .60 .49 .42 .50 .75 .44 4.42 .00 Intellectual challenges .60 .49 .56 .50 .63 .49 Independent thinking .60 .60 .65 .48 .57 .50 Hypothesize .59 .49 .70 .46 .50 .50 -2.64 .01 Higher order thinking .59 .49 .77 .42 .44 .50 -4.46 .00 Rational thinking .58 .50 .64 .49 .53 .50 Drawing conclusions .58 .49 .75 .44 .45 .50 -3.86 .00 Deductive reasoning Constructive skepticism .58 .50 .76 .43 .43 .50 -4.39 .00 .58 .50 .66 .48 .51 .50 Investigate .55 .50 .68 .47 .45 .50 -2.85 .01 Open-minded .53 .50 .55 .50 .51 .50 Synthesis .50 .50 .68 .47 .36 .48 -4.09 .00 Identifying/removing bias .47 .50 .65 .48 .32 .47 -4.29 .00 Decision making .45 .50 .70 .46 .25 .44 -6.38 .00 Discovery learning .44 .50 .39 .49 .47 .50 Divergent thinking .42 .50 .63 .49 .25 .44 -5.25 .00 Convergent thinking .41 .49 .46 .50 .36 .48 Evaluation .40 .49 .46 .50 .34 .48 Taking ownership .38 .49 .30 .46 .45 .50 2.06 .04 Self-directed .35 .48 .27 .45 .41 .49 Depth .35 .48 .38 .49 .33 .47 Consistency .35 .48 .18 .39 .48 .50 4.05 .00 Metacognitive skills .34 .48 .52 .50 .20 .40 -4.54 .00 Active participation .34 .48 .34 .48 .34 .48 Socratic questioning .33 .47 .41 .50 .26 .44 -1.98 .05 Relevance .32 .47 .45 .50 .22 .41 -3.24 .00 Specificity .31 .46 .21 .41 .39 .49 2:41 .02 Significance Clarity .31 .46 .41 .50 .23 .42 -2.49 .01 .31 .47 .37 .49 .27 .45 Student-centred .28 .45 .31 .47 .25 .44 Fairness .28 .45 .07 .26 .45 .50 5.86 .01 Accuracy .28 .45 .21 .41 .33 .47 Responsible .26 .44 .17 .38 .33 .47 2.32 .02 Subjective .25 .44 .21 .41 .28 .45 Precision .24 .43 .18 .39 .28 .45 Adequacy .18 .39 .01 .12 .32 .47 5.33 .00 Cooperative learning .16 .37 .21 .41 .13 .33 Disciplined .13 .33 .18 .39 .08 .27 Completeness .13 .34 .04 .20 .20 .41 3.07 .00 Total Words Endorsed 22.72 1.02 24.69 8.74 21.14 1.73 -2.25 .03 Note: Data is derived from critical thinking definers chosen from a deck of 50 critical thinking cards. (n=158) 59 were chosen more frequently since they describe the the sorts of h igher order cogni t ive sk i l l s a n d processes teachers associate w i t h t h i n k i n g c r i t i ca l ly . \" A n a l y s i s \" was chosen most often because perhaps it best encompasses the nature of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n the c lass room. A n a l y s i s means to examine some th ing careful ly , to break it into its const i tuent elements a n d to m a k e thought fu l judgements i n order to come to some c o n c l u s i o n ( B l o o m , Englehar t , Furst , H i l l , & K r a t h w o h l , 1956). A n a l y s i s is used i n near ly a l l subject areas. M a t h teachers encourage their students to ana lyze a geometry p r o b l e m for poss ible paths to a so lu t ion . Science teachers have students ana lyze data i n search for a pat tern or re la t ionship . Language teachers ask students to ana lyze a piece of l i terature a n d to s u m m a r i z e wha t they 've read i n a precis . E v e n fine arts teachers use a fo rm of analysis w h e n they ask students to cr i t ique a major piece of a r twork or performance. A n o t h e r reason that \" A n a l y s i s \" m a y have been so p o p u l a r is that it is m e n t i o n e d as an impor tan t componen t of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n most books o n teaching pedagogy . In add i t i on , teachers are w e l l ve r sed i n B l o o m ' s t axonomy w h i c h inc ludes analysis as a h igher order cogni t ive s k i l l . \" R e a s o n i n g \" is another w o r d frequent ly m e n t i o n e d i n the l i terature o n cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . Teachers chose this w o r d because it is f ami l i a r a n d encompasses m u c h of the same aspects of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g that analysis does. \" Induc t ive reason ing\" was more p o p u l a r than \" D e d u c t i v e reasoning .\" O the r w o r d s i n the top ten also reflected this t rend t o w a r d cons t ruc t iv i sm. \" D r a w i n g inferences\" and \"Crea t ive t h i n k i n g \" b o t h suppor t a more induc t ive , se l f -discovery app roach to learn ing . Thus , it w o u l d appear most teachers i n this s tudy embraced the m o d e r n concept of the \"teacher as faci l i tator\" as opposed to the \"teacher as t ransmit ter of k n o w l e d g e . \" M a n y of the definers most frequently selected b y teachers were l i n k e d . 60 \"Though t fu l judgements\" c o u l d be deemed a par t of \" A n a l y s i s \" a n d \" L o g i c a l \" is a par t of \"Reason ing . \" \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g \" encompasses a w i d e range of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g sk i l l s i n c l u d i n g \" C l a r i f y i n g ideas.\" A l l these concepts m a y be a part of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g i n some context of l ea rn ing . Four teen definers were chosen b y fewer than one- th i rd of the teachers su rveyed : \"Comple teness , \" \" D i s c i p l i n e d , \" \"Coopera t ive l ea rn ing , \" \" A d e q u a c y , \" \"P rec i s i on , \" \"Subject ive,\" \"Respons ib le , \" \" A c c u r a c y , \" \"Fa i rness , \" \"Student-centred,\" \" C l a r i t y , \" \"Signi f icance ,\" \"Spec i f i c i ty\" a n d \"Re levance . \" A l t h o u g h most of these concepts appear i n the cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g l i terature, they were not p o p u l a r choices a m o n g the teachers su rveyed . Perhaps they do not describe wha t c lass room teachers be l ieve are the essential components of t h i n k i n g c r i t i ca l ly . W h i l e they a l l describe pos i t ive s tudent attributes or favourable c i rcumstances unde r w h i c h l ea rn ing can occur , their m e a n i n g is l a rge ly e m b e d d e d i n b e h a v i o u r a l objectives rather than cogni t ive processes or l e a rn ing outcomes. \"Coope ra t i ve l ea rn ing , \" was found to be of l i t t le relevance to c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g — a l t h o u g h a p o p u l a r teaching style i n b o t h B . C . a n d Japan i t was o n l y endorsed b y sixteen percent of teachers. Th i s served as a re l i ab i l i ty check. It suggests that teachers d i d not s i m p l y choose p o p u l a r \" b u z z w o r d s \" or vocabu la ry that were mos t fami l ia r to them. \"Coopera t ive l e a r n i n g \" was i n c l u d e d as a distracter a n d is not t y p i c a l l y referred to i n cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g l i terature. Some w o r d s c o m m o n l y referred to i n the l i terature are not par t of most teachers' vocabu la ry . Th i s is especia l ly true of the o lder more exper ienced teachers a n d i n par t icu la r of Japan's teachers. Fo r example , \" M e t a c o g n i t i v e s k i l l s \" and \"Socratic ques t ion ing\" were o n l y selected b y approx ima te ly one- th i rd of the teachers, h o w e v e r these strategies are often used i n b o t h the human i t i e s a n d sciences w i t h o u t teachers be ing aware of the fo rmal w o r d s used to describe them. 61 In the open-ended sect ion of the quest ionnaire , severa l teachers c o m m e n t e d o n the use of ques t ion ing a n d concep t -mapp ing as tools to foster c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , yet they d i d not select \"Socratic ques t ion ing\" or \"Me tacogn i t i ve s k i l l s \" w h i c h describe each of these teaching strategies respectfully. Dif ferences B e t w e e n B . C . a n d Japanese Teachers W h i l e m a n y s imi la r i t i es exis ted be tween the c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g definers selected b y Japanese a n d B . C . teachers, there were stat ist ically s ignif icant differences for 27 of the 50 definers (see Table 5 unde r Cu l tu re ) . Four teen definers were s ign i f ican t ly different at the p<.001 level : \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g , \" \" A n a l y t i c a l s k i l l s , \" \"Objec t ive ,\" \" H i g h e r order t h i n k i n g , \" \" D r a w i n g conc lus ions , \" \" D e d u c t i v e reasoning ,\" \"Synthes is ,\" \" I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g b ias ,\" \" D e c i s i o n m a k i n g , \" \" D i v e r g e n t t h i n k i n g , \" \"Cons i s t ency , \" \" M e t a c o g n i t i v e s k i l l s , \" \"Fai rness\" a n d \" A d e q u a c y . \" A n u m b e r of these definers s h o w e d a m a r k e d contrast: \" D e c i s i o n m a k i n g \" was chosen b y 70 percent of the B . C . teachers bu t o n l y 25 percent of the Japanese teachers; \"Dive rgen t t h i n k i n g \" w a s chosen b y 63 percent and 25 percent respect ively. M o r e o v e r , B . C . teachers were more l i k e l y to have chosen \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g , \" \" A n a l y t i c a l s k i l l s , \" \" H i g h e r order t h i n k i n g , \" \" D r a w i n g conc lus ions , \" \" D e d u c t i v e reasoning ,\" \"Synthes is ,\" \" I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g b ias ,\" a n d \"Me tacogn i t i ve s k i l l s . \" Japanese teachers o n the other hand , were more l i k e l y to have selected \"Object ive ,\" \"Cons i s t ency , \" \"Fa i rness\" a n d \" A d e q u a c y . \" W h i l e \"Fai rness\" was selected b y 45 percent of the Japanese teachers, o n l y seven percent of the B . C . teachers endorsed it. These definers describe behav iour a n d mora l i ty—concep ts that are e m p h a s i z e d i n Japan's schools . Thus , w h i l e B . C . teachers m a y have related cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g more to the cogni t ive d o m a i n , Japanese teachers tended to favour the affective d o m a i n . 62 Table 5 Correlations Between Fifty Definers of Critical Thinking and Seven Characteristics of Teacher Demographics Correlations: Culture Gender Age Teaching CTin CT CT Definers of Critical Thinking Experience Curriculum Taught Total Accuracy -.13 Active participation .00 Adequacy -.39** Analysis .16 Analytical skills .28** Clarifying ideas -.07 Clarity .10 Completeness -.24* Consistency -.31** Constructive skepticism .15 Convergent thinking . 10 Cooperative learning .12 Creative thinking -.04 Decision making .45** Deductive reasoning .33** Depth .05 Disciplined .16 Discovery learning -.08 Divergent thinking .39 Drawing conclusions .29 Drawing inferences .15 Evaluating assumptions .23 Evaluation .13* Fairness -.42** Higher order thinking .34** Hypothesize .21* Identifying/removing bias .33** Independent thinking .08 Inductive reasoning .18 Intellectual challenges -.07 Investigate .22* Logical -.07 Metacognitive skills .34** Objective -.33** Open-minded .04 Precision -.12 Problem solving .40** Rational thinking .10 Reasoning .24* Relevance .25* Responsible -.18 Self-directed -.15 Significance .20 Socratic questioning .16 Specificity -.19 Student-centred .07 Subjective -.08 Synthesis .31** Taking ownership -.16 Thoughtful judgements .01 .08 .12 .12 -.22* -.14 -.16 .01 .00 -.02 -.11 -.10 -.15 -.05 -.08 -.15 -.01 .00 -.05 -.02 .01 -.07 .04 .05 .05 .06 .04 .07 -.04 -.17 -.22* -.01 .05 .04 -.06 -.16 -.16 -.10 .05 .01 -.20 -.20 -.26* -.01 -.05 -.12 -.11 -.09 -.13 -.09 -.07 -.09 -.02 -.09 -.10 -.07 -.09 -.13 -.14 .00 -.05 -.16 .06 .03 -.12 -.18 -.23* -.19 -.16 -.19 .09 -.07 -.04 -.22* -.23* -.30* -.05 -.08 -.15 -.21* -.16 -.22* -.15 -.04 -.04 .07 .02 .01 -.01 -.04 -.05 -.21* -.15 -.22* .02 .03 -.01 -.18 -.20 -.27* .11 .07 .09 -.10 -.03 -.07 .13 .14 .08 -.09 -.16 -.22* -.10 -.03 -.09 -.12 -.06 -.08 -.16 -.11 -.15 .06 .03 .01 .06 -.12 -.13 -.08 -.14 -.20 .06 .00 -.05 .07 -.13 -.14 -.04 -.19 -.22* .05 -.1 -.06 .00 .00 -.04 -.07 -.13 -.14 -.08 -.02 -.06 -.06 .02 .35** .03 .05 .37** -.13 -.71 .39** -.02 .07 .45** .11 .13 .46** .08 .13 .51** .05 .10 .47** -.09 -.02 .33** -.11 -.15 .30** .05 .13 .44** -.02 .09 .45** -.01 .06 .42** .05 -.05 .41** .14 .16 .44** .06 .26* .44** -.08 .04 .51** .10 .09 .27** .08 -.02 .44** .11 .18 38** .15 .07 .54** .03 .00 .52** .10 .19 .47** .00 .00 .38** -.08 -.21* .26** .10 .17 .43** .05 .17 .63** .09 .11 .53** .14 .10 .42** .06 .12 .48** -.02 -.07 .42** .11 .15 .50** -.16 -.06 .39** .18 .27** .43** -.13 -.20 .26* .00 .00 .39** -.09 .00 .46** .16 .15 .42** -.02 .07 .52** .04 .24* .49** .16 .15 .47** .03 -.04 .34** .02 -.01 .30** .07 .22* .47** .04 .15 .50** -.08 -.08 .49** .13 -.02 .37** -.02 -.02 .37** .10 .34** .50** .03 .01 .31** .10 .06 .46** *p<.01 **<.001 63 These sorts of contrasts be tween Eas tern a n d Wes te rn t h i n k i n g are w e l l documented ( C u m m i n g s & A l t b a c h , 1997; L e w i s , 1995; Ga rdne r , 1989; R e i d , 1999; R o h l e n & LeTendre , 1996; Shie lds , 1993; Sh imahara & Saka i , 1995; Stern, 1995; Stevenson & Lee , 1995; Stevenson & Stigler , 1992). The data i n this s tudy reflected this to some degree (see Chap te r 7 for a fu l l d iscuss ion) . S ix definers s igni f icant ly differentiated the t w o cul tures at the p<.01 leve l . B . C . teachers were more l i k e l y to chose \"Reason ing , \" \" E v a l u a t i n g assumpt ions , \" \" H y p o t h e s i z e , \" \"Investigate,\" and \"Re levance\" w h i l e Japanese teachers were more l i k e l y to have selected \"Comple teness . \" It w o u l d appear that B . C . teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g correlated w i t h cogni t ive processes w h i l e Japanese teachers concept ions of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g correlated w i t h more concrete l ea rn ing ou tcomes associated w i t h b e h a v i o u r a l objectives. In a d d i t i o n , seven other definers s h o w e d signif icant differences based o n a t-test: \" A n a l y s i s , \" \" Induc t ive reasoning ,\" \" T a k i n g o w n e r s h i p , \" \"Socrat ic ques t ion ing ,\" \"Spec i f ic i ty , \" \"S igni f icance\" and \"Respons ib le . \" B . C . teachers were more l i k e l y to have chosen \" A n a l y s i s , \" \" Induc t ive reasoning ,\" a n d \"Socrat ic ques t ion ing .\" Japanese teachers were more l i k e l y to have selected \" T a k i n g o w n e r s h i p , \" \"Spec i f i c i ty\" a n d \"Respons ib le . \" These results further i l lustrate differences i n the nature of Eas tern a n d Wes te rn thought w i t h i n the context of Japanese a n d B . C . h i g h school teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . Differences Based on the Total Number of Definers Chosen A s s h o w n i n Table 4, the difference i n the n u m b e r of definers chosen b y B . C . and Japanese teachers is s m a l l bu t stat ist ically signif icant , as the m e a n n u m b e r of definers chosen was approx ima te ly 25 for the B . C . teachers and 21 for the Japanese teachers (t=-2.25, p<.03). M o r e than a few teachers chose o n l y ten 64 w o r d s w h i l e one chose a l l 50. It is qui te l i k e l y that these i n d i v i d u a l s either m i s u n d e r s t o o d the ins t ruct ions (confusing the r a n k i n g of the top ten w o r d s w i t h the sor t ing p rocedure such that o n l y 10 cards were chosen) or del iberate ly chose an easier w a y to comple te the task. Some teachers took o n l y 10 minutes to complete the su rvey w h i l e others l aboured for as l o n g as half-an-hour . Therefore, the qua l i ty of answers f rom teachers' responses to the open-ended questions was taken in to account i n a d d i t i o n to the quant i ta t ive results f rom the card-sort p rocedure . Differences Based on Gender A s s h o w n i n Table 5, o n l y four definers of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g were s igni f icant ly related to gender. \" H i g h e r order t h i n k i n g , \" \"Investigate,\" \" I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g b ias\" and \" A c t i v e pa r t i c ipa t i on\" were s ign i f ican t ly different (p<.01) f r o m the other definers. W o m e n were more l i k e l y to choose each of these. Differences Based on Age \" H i g h e r o rder t h i n k i n g \" was the o n l y definer s ign i f ican t ly related (p<.01) to age (see Table 5). Y o u n g e r teachers tended to choose this w o r d more frequently than their o lder colleagues. Th i s is l i k e l y due to the recent i n t r o d u c t i o n of \" H i g h e r order t h i n k i n g \" to teacher educa t ion . Th i s t e rm was not u sed c o m m o n l y u n t i l the 1980s. Differences Based on Career Experience A s s h o w n i n Table 5, n ine definers were s igni f icant ly related to career experience. Three were s igni f icant ly different at the p<.001 leve l : \" D e c i s i o n 65 m a k i n g , \" \" H i g h e r o rder t h i n k i n g \" a n d \"Me tacogn i t i ve s k i l l s . \" S ix definers were s igni f icant ly different at the p<.01 leve l : \"Cons t ruc t ive skep t i c i sm,\" \" E v a l u a t i n g assumpt ions , \" \" I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g bias ,\" \"Invest igate,\" \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g \" and \"Student-centred.\" A l l of these definers were more l i k e l y to be chosen b y teachers w i t h less career experience. Th i s is p robab ly due to less exper ienced teachers b e i n g recent graduates of teacher educa t ion p rog rams w h e r e teaching strategies e m p l o y i n g these concepts are emphas i zed . R e l a t i o n s h i p s B a s e d o n C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g i n the C u r r i c u l u m In a d d i t i o n to p r o v i d i n g soc io-demographic in fo rma t ion , teachers were asked to comple te several quest ions i n the quest ionnaire r e q u i r i n g t hem to reflect o n whe ther c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g was part of their s c h o o l s c u r r i c u l u m or part of their c lassroom's agenda (see A p p e n d i x A , Ques t ions 9-11). There was no signif icant re la t ionship be tween the definers chosen b y teachers a n d their response to the quest ion, \"Is c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g part of the c u r r i c u l u m i n y o u r subject area?\" R e l a t i o n s h i p s B a s e d o n C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g i n T e a c h i n g A s s h o w n i n Table 5, s ix definers were s igni f icant ly related to teachers' response to the ques t ion , \" D o y o u teach cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g ? \" Teachers w h o chose \" D e d u c t i v e R e a s o n i n g , \" \" M e t a c o g n i t i v e S k i l l s , \" \"Reason ing , \" \"S ign i f i cance\" a n d \"Synthes is\" were more l i k e l y to answer \"yes\" to the quest ion, w h i l e teachers w h o chose \"Fa i rness\" tended to answer \"no . \" W h i l e \" M e t a c o g n i t i v e s k i l l s \" a n d \"Synthes is\" were stat is t ical ly most s ignif icant (p<.001), \" D e d u c t i v e reasoning ,\" \"Fairness ,\" \" R e a s o n i n g \" and \"Signi f icance\" were s ign i f ican t ly different at the p<.01 l eve l . 66 Distinguishing B.C. from Japanese Teachers Table 6 shows the 27 stat ist ically signif icant (p<.001) definers of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g that d i s t i n g u i s h be tween B . C . a n d Japanese teachers, l i s ted i n order of their d i s c r i m i n a t i n g p o w e r . The first definer to enter the equa t ion w a s \" D e c i s i o n m a k i n g \" f o l l o w e d b y \"Fairness .\" Table 6 Critical Thinking Definers that Significantly Distinguished Between B.C. and Japanese Teachers Critical Thinking Definer Wilks' La Decision making .79 Fairness .61 Higher order thinking .54 Adequacy .48 Synthesis .44 Reasoning .42 Clarifying ideas .39 Identifying/removing bias .38 Objective .36 Intellectual challenges .34 Analytical skills .33 Completeness .32 Disciplined .30 Consistency .28 Accuracy .28 Active participation .27 Discovery learning .26 Problem solving .25 Convergent thinking .24 Student-centred .24 Specificity .24 Cooperative learning .24 Socratic questioning .23 Metacognitive skills .23 Deductive reasoning .23 Analysis .22 Evaluation .22 67 These 27 definers of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g correct ly classif ied 96.9 percent of the teachers s u r v e y e d as B . C . or Japanese. Table 7 shows the extent to w h i c h the s ingle canon ica l d i s c r im inan t func t ion successful ly de t e rmined w h i c h respondents were f rom B . C . a n d w h i c h were f rom Japan. The d i s t r i bu t i on of respondents is s h o w n i n F igu re 6. There is a clear pat tern differentiated. W h i l e B . C . teachers t ended to choose \" D e c i s i o n m a k i n g / ' \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g , \" \" D i v e r g e n t t h i n k i n g , \" \" M e t a c o g n i t i v e s k i l l s , \" \" H i g h e r order t h i n k i n g , \" \" D e d u c t i v e reasoning ,\" a n d \" I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g bias ,\" Japanese teachers tended to chose \"Fairness ,\" \" A d e q u a c y , \" \"Object ive ,\" \"Cons i s t ency , \" \"Comple teness , \" P r e c i s i o n , \" a n d \"Spec i f ic i ty . \" The canonica l d i s c r i m i n a n t funct ion is a var iab le l ike an unrota ted factor. F igu re 6 shows the d i s t r i bu t i on of B . C . a n d Japanese teachers a long this u n i - d i m e n s i o n a l var iab le , ca l l ed the index of cu l tu ra l d i f ferent ia t ion about c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . The number s a long the x-axis are essent ial ly z-scores a long this d i m e n s i o n of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n w h i c h the centre of a l l the teachers is zero a n d each un i t is one s tandard d e v i a t i o n a w a y f rom zero. O n average B . C . teachers h a d an index of cu l tu ra l different ia t ion Cb = 2.07 w h i l e Japanese teachers h a d Cj = -1.67. Thus , B . C . and Japanese teachers were 3.74 s t andard devia t ions apart o n this d i m e n s i o n of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . Table 7 Accuracy of Discriminant Function Distinguishing B.C. and Japanese Teachers Pred ic ted G r o u p M e m b e r s h i p A c t u a l G r o u p M e m b e r s h i p B . C . J a p a n T o t a l B . C . Coun t 70.0 1.0 71.0 % of Teachers f r om : 98.6 1.4 100.0 J a p a n Coun t 4.0 84.0 88.0 % of Teachers f r om : 4.5 95.5 100.0 T o t a l Coun t 71.0 88.0 159.0 % of Teachers f r om : 100.0 100.0 100.0 68 1 2 Frequency Legend: j=Japanese teachers b=B.C. teachers Class centroids: Cj = 1.67 Cb= 2.07 J J J j j j j J J j j j j j j j j j j j J J JJJJJJJJJJJ b b b b b b b b bbbb b b b bb bbbbbb b jbb bb bbbbbb b j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j bjbb bbbbbbbbbbbbb b j jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjbbjbjbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb b -4.0 Fairness Adequacy Objective Consistency Completeness Precision Specificity - 2 . 0 Q 0 2.0Cb 4.0 Decision making Problem solving Divergent thinking Metacognitive skills Higher order thinking Deductive reasoning Identifying/removing bias Figure 6. Distribution of Respondents on the Single Canonical Discriminant Function of Significant Critical Thinking Definers Ranking Selected Definers of Critical Thinking In a d d i t i o n to select ing or not select ing definers, teachers were asked to choose the ten that were most s ignif icant to cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . A broader scope to their v i e w s can be obta ined b y inves t iga t ing the r a n k i n g of the top ten definers (see F igu re 7). W h i l e \"Fai rness\" was r anked i n the top ten b y 22.7 percent of Japanese teachers, it was r anked b y o n l y 1.4 percent of B . C . teachers. Other definers were chosen m u c h more frequently b y Japan's teachers. Fo r example , \"Objec t ive\" was chosen b y 75 percent and r anked i n the top ten b y 59.1 percent of Japanese teachers whereas o n l y 42 percent of the B . C . teachers chose it and 9.9 6 9 Percentage of Definers Endorsed Japan] Reasoning' Drawing inferences Analytical skills Problem solving Clarifying ideas Creative thinking' Inductive reasoning' Logical Evaluating assumptions Thoughtful judgements Independent thinking Intellectual challenges Objective Higher order thinking Hypothesize' Constructive skepticism Deductive reasoning Drawing conclusions Rational thinking Investigate' Open-minded Synthesis Identifying/removing bias Decision making Discovery learning Divergent thinking Convergent thinking Evaluation Taking ownership Consistency Depth Self-directed Active participation Metacognitive skills Socratic questioning Relevance Clarity Significance Specificity Accuracy Fairness Student-centred Responsible Subjective Precision Adequacy Cooperative learning Completeness Disciplined Percentage of Definers Ranked in the Top Ten 1(75/40) 1(72/37) 1(71/38) 1(70/48) 1(70/44) 1(64/30) 1(64/40) 1(64/22) 1(62/24) 1(62/30) 1(62/30) 1(60/30) 1(60/29) • (60/37) (41/9) (40/14) (38/14) (59/30) 59/23) (58/30) (58/27) (58/21) (58/26) (55/21) (53/29) 1(50/24) (47/15) (45/16) ^ •1 ( 44 /22 ) (42/16) (35/9) (35/10) (34/14) (34/14) 1(33/8) (32/8) (31/6) (31/6) 31/7) (28/5) 1(28/13) 1(28/11) 1(26/8) 1(25/8) (24/5) J(1 8/4) 1(16/4) 1(13/3) 1(13/4 Figure 7. Percentage of C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g Def ine r s Endor sed , then Subsequen t l y R a n k e d i n the T o p T e n 70 percent r anked it i n the top ten. Japanese teachers (36 percent) p l aced more impor tance o n \"Independent t h i n k i n g \" than d i d B . C . teachers (21 percent). M o r e o v e r , 11 percent of the Japanese teachers r a n k e d it as their n u m b e r one selection, i n contrast to the B . C . teachers where o n l y three percent gave it the top rank. Th i s is counter to the stereotypicaT not ions of Japanese v a l u i n g the g roup over the i n d i v i d u a l a n d W e s t e r n v i e w s of creat ing independence at the expense of a l l else. O the r in teres t ing compar i sons can be f o u n d w i t h \"Crea t ive t h i n k i n g , \" \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g , \" \" R e a s o n i n g , \" a n d \" T h o u g h t f u l judgements . \" W h i l e near ly the same percentage of teachers f rom B . C . a n d Japan chose \" T h o u g h t f u l judgements ,\" 30 of the 88 Japanese teachers (34 percent) r a n k e d it a n d 4 chose it as the n u m b e r one most s ignif icant definer. In contrast, o n l y 18 of the 71 B . C . teachers (25 percent) r a n k e d it and it was not chosen as n u m b e r one. Th i s serves to i l lustrate an impor tan t characteristic of the data—Japan's teachers were more selective i n their choices. B . C . ' s teachers tended to chose more definers (see Table 4, 'To ta l W o r d s Endor sed ' ) . Thus , the r a n k i n g is h e l p f u l i n d e t e r m i n i n g w h i c h definers are mos t s ignif icant to teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . T h e Structure of C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g W h i l e p e r f o r m i n g the analysis , there appeared to be considerable over lap i n responses as ev idenced b y the large n u m b e r of definers chosen b y m a n y teachers (see Table 4). Hence , a teacher c l a i m i n g that \" A n a l y s i s \" is part of cr i t ical t h i n k i n g was also l i k e l y to endorse \" A n a l y t i c a l s k i l l s \" a n d twen ty or more other definers o n average. Therefore, it was dec ided to reduce the data into more manageable, a n d poss ib ly more mean ingfu l categories. Factor analys is , u s i n g SPSS was de t e rmined to be the most efficient means to achieve this. 71 Elements of Critical Thinking and the Factoring Procedure The cor re la t ion mat r ix of 50 cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g definers for the 158 respondents for w h o m data was avai lable , y i e l d e d 15 factors w i t h e igenvalues greater than one, account ing for 65.6 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance (see A p p e n d i x D ) . T h i s ma t r ix was subjected to a p r i n c i p a l componen t analysis w i t h equamax a n d v a r i m a x rotations w i t h four, five a n d s ix of the largest factors. A five factor so lu t i on w i t h equamax rota t ion y i e l d e d the most interpretable factor structure a n d accounted for 40.9 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance (see Table 8). Factors of Critical Thinking The f ive factors were labeled: (1) Scientific Reasoning, (2) Cognitive Strategizing, (3) Conscientious Judgements, (4) Relevance a n d (5) Intellectual Engagement. For c lar i ty , Table 8 shows o n l y load ings .40 a n d greater. Factor 1: Scientific Reasoning Factor 1, Scientific Reasoning, accounted for 10.2 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance . It consis ted of the f o l l o w i n g eight definers of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g : D r a w i n g inferences (.68), H y p o t h e s i z e (.65), Conve rgen t t h i n k i n g (.59), Induct ive reasoning (.59), Crea t ive t h i n k i n g (.50), P r o b l e m s o l v i n g (.46), D r a w i n g conclus ions (.46) a n d D e d u c t i v e reasoning (.41). These definers incorporate a scientific qua l i ty e x e m p l i f y i n g a ' s leu th- l ike ' search for deeper under s t and ing . 72 Table 8 C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g Factor L o a d i n g s Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 Scientific Cognitive Conscientious Relevance Intellectual Critical Thinking Definers Reasoning Strategizing Judgements Engagement Drawing inferences .68 Hypothesize .65 Convergent thinking .59 Inductive reasoning .59 Creative thinking .50 .47 Problem solving .46 Drawing conclusions .46 .44 Metacognitive skills .70 Constructive skepticism .64 Socratic questioning .61 Identifying/removing bias .59 Rational thinking .55 Higher order thinking .54 Evaluating assumptions .46 Open-minded .40 Deductive reasoning .41 .44 Accuracy .68 Consistency .61 Objective .60 Adequacy .58 Specificity .54 Precision .54 Fairness .51 Logical .49 Responsible .45 Clar i ty .61 Relevance .53 Decision making .52 Significance .51 Completeness .50 Synthesis .41 Active participation .62 Taking ownership .56 Discovery learning .56 Student-centred .54 Intellectual challenges .54 Self-directed .45 Subjective .44 Independent thinking .43 Cooperative learning .42 .43 percent of variance explained: 10.2 % 8.6 % 8.3 % 7.4 % 6.5 % percent cumulative variance: 10.2 % 18.8 % 27.1 % 34.5 % 41.0 % all percents after rotation 73 Factor 2: Cognitive Strategizing, Factor 2, Cognitive Strategizing, accounted for 8.6 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance . It consis ted of the f o l l o w i n g n ine definers of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g : Me tacogn i t i ve sk i l l s (.70), Cons t ruc t ive skep t i c i sm (.64), Socratic ques t ion ing (.61), I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g bias (.59), Ra t iona l t h i n k i n g (.55), H i g h e r order t h i n k i n g (.54), E v a l u a t i n g assumpt ions (.46), D e d u c t i v e reasoning (.44) a n d O p e n -m i n d e d (.40). These definers represent h igher order cogni t ive strategies that encourage p r o b i n g quest ions a n d cr i t ica l responses. Factor 3: Conscientious Judgements Factor 3, Conscientious Judgements, accounted for 8.3 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance . It consis ted of the f o l l o w i n g n ine definers of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g : A c c u r a c y (.68), Cons is tency (.61), Objective (.60), A d e q u a c y (.58), Specif ici ty (.54), P rec i s ion (.54), Fairness (.51), L o g i c a l (.49) and Respons ib le (.45). These definers e m b o d y ethical , m o r a l a n d conscient ious judgements m a d e i n a d i s c i p l i n e d a n d systematic manner . Factor 4: Relevance Factor 4, Relevance, accounted for 7.4 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance. It consis ted of the f o l l o w i n g eight definers of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g : C l a r i t y (.61), Relevance (.53), D e c i s i o n m a k i n g (.52), Signif icance (.51), Comple teness (.51), D r a w i n g conclus ions (.44), Coopera t ive l ea rn ing (.42) a n d Synthesis (.41). These definers reflect the clear, concise a n d u n a m b i g u o u s nature of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . A l s o , there is a l i n k be tween the cogni t ive a n d affective d o m a i n s i n the definers of Factor 4. Fo r example , D r a w i n g conclus ions a n d Synthesis m a y have concrete l ea rn ing outcomes manifes ted i n Comple teness a n d C l a r i t y . 74 Factor 5: Intellectual Engagement Factor 5, Intellectual Engagement, accounted for 6.5 percent of the c o m m o n factor var iance . It consis ted of the f o l l o w i n g ten definers of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g : A c t i v e pa r t i c ipa t ion (.62), D i s c o v e r y l ea rn ing (.56), Student-centred (.54), Intel lectual challenges (.54), Crea t ive t h i n k i n g (.48), Self-directed (.45), Subjective(.44), Independent t h i n k i n g (.43), T a k i n g o w n e r s h i p (.56) a n d Coopera t ive l ea rn ing (.43). These definers share a const ruct iv is t approach to cr i t i ca l t h ink ing—in te l l e c tua l engagement occurs w h e n an i n d i v i d u a l is ac t ive ly i n v o l v e d i n the l e a rn ing process and in t r i n s i ca l l y mo t iva t ed . Scale S c o r i n g Reca l l that respondents were asked to either endorse or reject cards p u r p o r t i n g to describe attributes of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . Thus , i f a definer was chosen it was coded \" 1 \" ; a rejected definer was coded \"0\" . In i t ia l ly , m e a n scale scores were d e r i v e d b y s u m m i n g over responses to the definers c o m p r i s i n g each factor and d i v i d i n g b y the n u m b e r of definers w i t h i n each equamax factor. H o w e v e r , the results also s h o w e d that the total n u m b e r of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g definers chosen b y each teacher was signif icant (p<.001) across a l l five factors. In order to correct for this artifact, n o r m a l i z e d scale scores were de r i ved b y t a k i n g the scale scores d i v i d e d b y the total n u m b e r of definers chosen. Thus , n o r m a l i z e d scale scores ranged f rom zero to one. Larger scores ind ica ted a greater cor re la t ion to cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . W h i l e means and s tandard devia t ions were r e a d i l y ava i lab le for a l l the data, a cor re la t ion ma t r ix p r o v i d e d the most concise w a y to s u m m a r i z e the results. Table 9 shows the re la t ionships be tween n o r m a l i z e d scale scores associated w i t h the five cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g factors and selected soc io-demographic characteristics of B . C . a n d Japanese teachers. 75 Table 9 Relationships Between Critical Thinking Scale Scores and Socio-demographic Characteristics of B.C. and Japanese Teachers S c i e n t i f i c C o g n i t i v e Consc ient ious R e l e v a n c e I n t e l l e c t u a l C o r r e l a t i o n ( r=Pearson) Reason ing S t r a t e g i z i n g Judgements Engagement C u l t u r e ( Japan=0, B.C.=1) .15 .28** - .51** .37** - .26* Gender (Woman=0 , M a n = l ) -.03 -.12 .18 -.05 .05 A g e .12 -.19 .15 -.03 -.03 T e a c h i n g exper i ence .13 - . 2 1 * .18 -.10 .01 C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g i n c u r r i c u l u m .04 -.05 -.08 -.02 .05 C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g i n c l a s s r o o m -.05 .02 -.14 -.07 .14 N u m b e r of C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g def iners chosen -.01 .02 -.06 .28** -.02 Subject A r e a ( r=E ta ) .26 .34* .18 .20 .19 L anguage A r t s M a t h Sc ience Soc i a l S t ud i e s F ine A r t Fo re ign Languages O t h e r M e a n .25 .18 .21 .24 .21 .20 .16 S D .10 .07 .08 .11 .15 .11 .09 N o t e : M i n i m u m p a i r w i s e N of cases = 158 2-tailed s ign i f i cance : * p < .01 * * p < .001 N o r m a l i z e d Scale Scores u s e d fo r a l l f i ve factors. Relationships Between Critical Thinking Scale Scores and Socio-demographic Characteristics of B.C. and Japanese Teachers O f the 159 teachers su rveyed , 158 p r o v i d e d data for the factor analysis a n d the n o r m a l i z e d scale scores repor ted i n Table 9. O n e Japanese teacher refused to complete the ca rd sort p rocedure as he felt it was ambiguous , yet h is comments a n d quest ionnaire p r o v i d e d va luab le qual i ta t ive ins ights so he w a s i n c l u d e d i n the rest of the analysis . Pearson coefficients were used to s h o w correlat ions 76 between C u l t u r e , Gende r , A g e , Teach ing experience, C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g i n the c u r r i c u l u m , C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g taught i n the c lass room, N u m b e r of C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g definers chosen a n d the n o r m a l i z e d scale scores f r o m the f ive factors. Larger absolute va lues i n Table 9 indicate stronger correlat ions. Since teachers f rom Japan a n d B . C . were coded w i t h \" 0 \" and \"1\" respect ively, pos i t ive coefficients i n the first r o w of Table 9 reflect factors that were endorsed more b y B . C . teachers w h i l e negat ive coefficients reflect factors that were endorsed more b y Japanese teachers. L i k e w i s e , since w o m e n and m e n were coded w i t h \" 0 \" and \" 1 \" respect ively, pos i t ive coefficients i n the second r o w of Table 9 reflect factors endorsed more b y m e n w h i l e negat ive coefficients reflect factors endorsed more b y w o m e n . The characteristics of Teach ing experience a n d A g e were entered d i rec t ly in to SPSS as w h o l e n u m b e r integers, therefore negat ive coefficients i n the Teach ing experience a n d A g e r o w s of Table 9 indicate negat ive correlat ions (less experience or younger) . The questions \"Is C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g par t of the c u r r i c u l u m i n y o u r subject area?\" a n d \" D o y o u teach C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g i n y o u r c lassroom?\" were coded \"0 , \" \" 1 , \" and \" 2 \" for the responses \" N o , \" \" M a y b e , \" and \" Y e s , \" respect ively. F i n a l l y , since the characteristic of Subject area does not enable a Pearson corre la t ion, an E ta coefficient was used instead. A s correlat ions were most succinct i n r epor t ing the results, means a n d s tandard dev ia t ions were o n l y i n c l u d e d i n the one case s h o w i n g a s ignif icant difference be tween subject areas. Culture There was a clear d i s t inc t ion a n d signif icant difference be tween B . C . and Japanese teachers o n four factors. W h i l e Cognitive Strategizing (r = .28, p<.001) and Relevance (r = .37, p<.001) were of greater signif icance to the B . C . teachers, Conscientious Judgements ( r = -.51, p<.001) was far more so for the Japanese 77 teachers. In a d d i t i o n , bu t to a lesser extent Intellectual Engagement (r = -.26, p<.01) was also f o u n d to be more signif icant to the Japanese teachers. Gender/Age/Teaching Experience There were no s ignif icant differences i n the teachers' concept ions of cr i t ical t h i n k i n g based o n their gender or age (see Table 9). H o w e v e r , teachers w i t h less experience suppor t ed Cognitive Strategizing (r = -.21, p<.01) s igni f icant ly m o r e than exper ienced teachers. O l d e r more exper ienced teachers m a y have different v i e w s than their younge r col leagues, ref lect ing s ignif icant changes i n teacher educa t ion over the past three decades. \" C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g \" is a re la t ive ly n e w concept, h o w e v e r the u n d e r l y i n g ideas of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g are not. Thus , w h i l e less exper ienced teachers were more l i k e l y to endorse Cognitive Strategizing a n d were more fami l ia r w i t h the newer t e r m i n o l o g y (for example : Metacogn i t ive sk i l l s ) , t ak ing a l l five factors into account there appears to be more so l ida r i ty a m o n g teachers as a col lect ive g roup than age or experience can dictate. Critical Thinking in the Curriculum and the Teaching of Critical Thinking The response to quest ions \"Is c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g par t of the c u r r i c u l u m i n y o u r subject area?\" and \"Is cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g taught i n y o u r c l a s s room?\" p r o v i d e data to de termine whe ther cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is a s ignif icant par t of B . C . and Japanese teaching a n d the c u r r i c u l u m at the secondary l eve l (see Tables 10-11). W h i l e 62 percent of the B . C . teachers ind ica ted cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g was part of the c u r r i c u l u m a n d over 70 percent c l a imed to teach it i n their c lass room, 24 percent of the respondents were unsure . There was even more i ndec i s i on o n the part of Japan's teachers. W h i l e 41 percent of the Japanese teachers ind ica ted that cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g was par t of the c u r r i c u l u m o n l y 34 percent c l a i m e d to teach it and 38 78 percent were unsure . There was no s t rong corre la t ion be tween teachers w h o ind ica ted that c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g was a part of the c u r r i c u l u m for their subject area a n d any of the n o r m a l i z e d scale scores for the five factors (see Table 9). M o r e o v e r , there was no s t rong cor re la t ion be tween teaching c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n the c lass room a n d any of the n o r m a l i z e d scale scores for the five factors. Table 10 Critical Thinking as Part of the Prescribed Curriculum B . C . J a p a n T o t a l C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g no Coun t 10.0 25.0 35.0 par t of the c u r r i c u l u m % of Teachers f r o m : 28.4 14.1 22.0 unsure Coun t 17.0 27.0 44.0 % of Teachers f r o m : 23.9 30.7 27.7 yes Count 44.0 36.0 80.0 % of Teachers f r o m : 62.0 40.9 50.3 T o t a l Count 71.0 88.0 159.0 % of Teachers f r o m : 100.0 100.0 100.0 Table 11 Critical Thinking Taught in the Classroom B .C . J a p a n T o t a l C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g no Count 4.0 25.0 29.0 taught i n the c l a s s r o o m % of Teachers f r o m : 5.7 28.5 18.3 unsure Count 17.0 33.0 50.0 % of Teachers f r o m : 24.0 37.6 31.5 yes Coun t 50.0 30.0 80.0 % of Teachers f r o m : 70.5 34.2 50.4 T o t a l Coun t 71.0 88.0 159.0 % of Teachers f r o m : 100.0 100.0 100.0 79 Total Number of Critical Thinking Definers Chosen E v e n after t a k i n g into account the total n u m b e r of definers selected b y each teacher u s i n g the n o r m a l i z e d scale scores, there s t i l l r ema ined one factor that correla ted s ign i f ican t ly w i t h the n u m b e r of definers chosen. Teachers w h o chose a greater n u m b e r of definers tended to score h igher o n Relevance (r = .28, p<0.001). O n e poss ib i l i t y is that this is mere ly an anomaly . A n o t h e r poss ible exp lana t ion is those teachers that v a l u e d Relevance h appened to spend more t ime o n the ca rd sort p rocedure and thus were more l i k e l y to chose a greater n u m b e r of definers. Subject Areas In c o m p a r i n g the data across subject areas taught, in teres t ing s imi lar i t ies a n d contrasts were f o u n d (see Table 9). Cognitive Strategizing w a s the o n l y scale score to s h o w any signif icant differences (r = .34, p<.01) be tween teachers of var ious subjects. Language A r t s teachers scored highest , f o l l o w e d c lose ly b y Socia l Studies teachers w h i l e Other teachers scored lowest . Perhaps this is due to the d iverse nature of the Othe r g roup a n d their p r e d o m i n a n t l y voca t iona l nature. M o r e o v e r , terms such as Socratic ques t ion ing w h i l e c o m m o n to humani t i e s teachers were l i k e l y un fami l i a r to m a n y of the O the r teachers. S u m m a r y B . C . a n d Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g were compared a n d contrasted. There were s ignif icant differences be tween B . C . and Japanese teachers for 27 of the 50 cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g definers. The d i sc r iminan t analysis successfully classif ied 96.9 percent of teachers as either B . C . or Japanese. B . C . teachers tended to v i e w cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g t h r o u g h definers such as \" D e c i s i o n 80 m a k i n g , \" \" P r o b l e m s o l v i n g , \" \" D i v e r g e n t t h i n k i n g , \" \" M e t a c o g n i t i v e s k i l l s , \" \" H i g h e r o rder t h i n k i n g , \" \" D e d u c t i v e reasoning ,\" a n d \" I d e n t i f y i n g / r e m o v i n g b ias\" w h i l e they f avoured the factors of Cognitive Strategizing a n d Relevance. O n the other h a n d , Japanese teachers character ized cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g t h r o u g h definers such as \"Fairness ,\" \" A d e q u a c y , \" \"Object ive ,\" \"Cons i s t ency , \" \"Comple teness , \" \"P rec i s i on , \" and \"Spec i f ic i ty\" w h i l e they f avoured Conscientious Judgements a n d Intellectual Engagement. There w e r e no signif icant differences i n the teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g based o n their gender or age. Yet , language arts teachers, socia l s tudies teachers, a n d teachers w i t h less experience, tended to suppor t Cognitive Strategizing more than their other colleagues. C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g w o u l d appear to be a s ignif icant part of B . C . a n d Japanese teaching a n d the c u r r i c u l u m at the secondary leve l . H o w e v e r , c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n its present context is m u c h more pe rvas ive i n the classrooms of the B . C . teachers s tudied. . . or perhaps it is just better unders tood . W h i l e the results of the data analysis have answered the o r i g i n a l purposes of the s tudy , some quest ions r ema in .Wha t are teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g i n their o w n w o r d s ? H o w can cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g best be taught? A r e there further qual i ta t ive differences be tween B . C . and Japan that need to be invest igated? W h a t are the imp l i ca t i ons of this s tudy? CHAPTER 7 D I S C U S S I O N 81 The results of this s tudy are relevant to B . C . and Japan since b o t h educa t ion systems were u n d e r g o i n g s ignif icant reforms to teacher educa t ion w i t h a focus o n cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . W h i l e over ha l f the teachers s u r v e y e d ind ica ted that they taught c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , m a n y h a d d i f f icu l ty express ing exact ly h o w to teach it effectively. Teachers admi t ted that they h a d to t h ink c r i t i ca l ly just to complete the survey! The most diff icul t part of the card sort p rocedure was r a n k i n g the top 10 w o r d s . This task requ i red teachers to reflect o n the m e a n i n g of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , teaching p h i l o s o p h y a n d practice. In a d d i t i o n , open-ended questions \" W h a t is c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g ? \" a n d \" H o w is c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g taught?\" posed a rea l chal lenge, because a l though teachers va lue cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , they have not h a d to th ink about it nor have they d iscussed it w i t h their colleagues. Instead, c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is a tacit concept and an i m p l i c i t par t of their teaching p h i l o s o p h y rare ly ar t iculated. A s a result , some teachers were unable to complete a l l the quest ions or gave u p because it r equ i red too m u c h t ime a n d thought . H o w e v e r , several teachers sa id they benefi ted f rom t ak ing par t i n the su rvey since it r equ i r ed t h e m to th ink c r i t i ca l ly and to reflect o n their teaching practice. Teachers ' C o n c e p t i o n s of C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g Whereas the p reced ing chapter focused o n quant i ta t ive data analysis , the qual i ta t ive aspects were mere ly w o v e n into the analysis . H e r e more at tention is g i v e n to teachers responses to the open-ended questions. Thus , w h a t fo l lows are salient examples of teacher's def in i t ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g : C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is the ab i l i ty to deduc t ive ly reason, break d o w n a p r o b l e m in to w o r k a b l e c o m p o n e n t s a n d fo rmu la t e a n answer . (B .C . , Q u e e n E l i zabe th , science teacher) C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is p r o b l e m s o l v i n g ; a n i n d e p t h t h i n k i n g that goes b e y o n d a face v a l u e response; i nves t iga t ing for specif ics to s u p p o r t one ' s though t s a n d o p i n i o n s / j u d g e m e n t s . ( B . C . , N o r t h Surrey , language arts teacher) C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is m a k i n g l i n k s to \" w h a t y o u k n o w a l r eady\" to \" n e w ideas\" presented. (B.C. , E l g i n Park , science teacher) C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is to get students to cons ider th ings f r o m va r ious angles a n d to let t h e m go t h r o u g h thei r o w n t h i n k i n g process . (Japan, K o m a b a , soc ia l s tudies teacher) C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is to t h i n k d e e p l y about s o m e t h i n g , t h e n to a n a l y z e i t a n d f i n a l l y to m a k e j u d g e m e n t s o r c o m e to a conc lus ion . (Japan, T s u k u b a , E n g l i s h teacher) W h i l e these teachers were able to adequately describe w h a t their concept ion of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g was , others were unsure of the m e a n i n g . Some Japanese teachers confused \"hihanteki shikou (cr i t ical t h i n k i n g ) \" w i t h \"dokuritsushita shikousei ( independen t t h i n k i n g ) \" or \"ikiru chikara ( l i f e - long learning) .\" M o r e than a few i n d i v i d u a l s s i m p l y wro te \"I don ' t k n o w \" i n response to the ques t ion , \" W h a t is c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g ? \" w h i l e some took it too l i tera l ly . In Japan, the w o r d \" c r i t i c a l \" has a negat ive connota t ion and i n the t rans la t ion can be mi sconce ived such that the m e a n i n g is qui te l i t e ra l ly \"to ques t ion au thor i ty\" or \"to not accept things as they appear\" as i n someone w h o cr i t ica l of the government . O n e E n g l i s h teacher f rom K o m a b a suggested that \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" is a p roblemat ic w o r d a n d therefore a n e w Japanese t e rm is needed to describe the concept. 83 H o w C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g is T a u g h t C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is v a l u e d b y B . C . and Japan's secondary teachers, howeve r it has va r ious meanings and h o w it is to be taught is not w e l l unders tood . C a n cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g be taught? Some teachers felt c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g can best be fostered outs ide the secondary school c lassroom. A c c o r d i n g to one teacher f rom B . C . , \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g can't be taught... it can (however) be demonst ra ted and deve loped a l l t h r o u g h life, w i t h ear ly lessons (home, e lementary school) b e i n g most impor tan t . \" Others felt c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g was of p r i m a r y impor tance to schoo l ing a n d mus t be taught. In the w o r d s of one Japanese teacher, \" i t is the basic founda t ion for h i g h school educa t ion . \" A s s u m i n g then, that c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g (at least as these teachers perceive it) is t ak ing place i n secondary school c l a s s rooms—how is it be ing incorpora ted in to the B . C . a n d Japanese course curr icula? W h a t fo l lows are responses to the quest ion, \" H o w do y o u teach cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g ? \" : S tudents need to u n d e r s t a n d w h a t c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is before they can engage i n the process. (B.C. , E n v e r Creek , socia l s tudies teacher) Pu r sue the \" w h y \" b e h i n d the ' rote ' answers . (B .C . , F l e e t w o o d Pa rk , business educa t ion teacher) S tuden ts m a k e u p the i r o w n labs. . . ( B . C . , N o r t h S u r r e y , science teacher) A s s i g n i n g open-ended case s t u d i e s / p r o b l e m s / i s s u e s for s tudents to d i s cus s , debate , a n d eva lua te . ( B . C . , P r i nce s s M a r g a r e t , sc ience teacher) H a v e s tudents w r i t e d o w n their o w n ideas a n d then present t h e m to the class. Express an o p i n i o n about the others ' ideas, discuss t hem together a n d then wr i t e a s u m m a r y . (Japan, O t s u k a , m a t h teacher) 84 I let the s tudents d i scover p rob l ems , let t h e m t h i n k about h o w to so lve the p r o b l e m s a n d then let t h e m go about d o i n g i t o n thei r o w n . (Japan, Sakado , h o m e economics teacher) Af t e r I he lp t h e m to unde r s t and the content of the text, I let t h e m state their o w n o p i n i o n . (Japan, O t s u k a , E n g l i s h teacher) F r o m h i s t o r i c a l references, f i n d v a r i o u s aspects to c o m p a r e a n d eva lua t e w i t h e x i s t i n g theor ies a n d d a i l y / m o d e r n p h e n o m e n a . (Japan, O t s u k a , socia l studies teacher) Just as there are m a n y different teaching styles there are m a n y different contexts i n w h i c h c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g m a y take place. N u m e r o u s books avai lable w i t h titles such as \"Teach ing C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g , \" \"Teach ing Students to T h i n k C r i t i c a l l y , \" a n d \" C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g A c r o s s the C u r r i c u l u m \" p u r p o r t to gu ide the w a y for nov i ce teachers. H o w e v e r , these mater ia ls r e m a i n i n the d o m a i n of mos t ly the academics w h o p u b l i s h a n d read Eng l i sh - speak ing journa ls f o u n d i n un ive r s i ty l i b r a ry col lect ions. W h i l e , m a n y teachers do not use w o r d s such as \"Me tacogn i t i ve s k i l l s \" or \"Socrat ic ques t ion ing\" to describe c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , they i m p l i c i t l y use these techniques i n their c lass room teaching as ev idenced b y their responses to the open-ended quest ions. C o m p a r a t i v e Perspec t ive A r e there s ignif icant differences be tween B . C . a n d Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of c r i t ica l t h ink ing? The s i m p l e answer to this ques t ion is \"yes\" bu t to leave it u n e x p l o r e d w o u l d be to miss impor tan t f ind ings . A s teachers unde r s t and c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g w i t h i n their o w n conceptua l f r ameworks and cu l tu ra l contexts, there are b o u n d to be differences be tween B . C . a n d Japanese teachers. H o w e v e r , there are far too m a n y s imi la r i t ies to be i gno red . W h i l e factor analysis is a p o w e r f u l too l i n data reduc t ion , it relies o n differences bu t not be tween cul tures . C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g definers that were chosen b y near ly a l l 85 teachers w o u l d l i k e l y not be loaded into any one factor. O f the fifty definers, five were doub le l o a d e d a n d ten l oaded b e l o w .40 a n d thus were not i n c l u d e d i n the scale scor ing (see A p p e n d i x D ) . Reca l l that 75 percent of the teachers chose \" A n a l y s i s \" a n d 72 percent chose \"Reason ing , \" yet these definers of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g were not i n c l u d e d i n any of the five factor so lu t ions as they d i d not l o a d above .40 i n any one factor. M o r e o v e r , some of the differences be tween B . C . a n d Japanese teachers can be at t r ibuted to p rob lems inherent i n the t rans la t ion of the w o r d \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" i n a d d i t i o n to cu l tu ra l considera t ions . Once these are taken in to account however , the results can be better unde r s tood . W h i l e B . C . teachers tended to relate cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g to the cogni t ive d o m a i n , Japanese teachers tended to favour the affective d o m a i n . Th i s contrast be tween Eas te rn a n d Wes te rn t h i n k i n g is w e l l d o c u m e n t e d ( C u m m i n g s & A l t b a c h , 1997; L e w i s , 1995; Gardne r , 1989; N a k a n e , 1970; R e i d , 1999; R o h l e n & LeTendre , 1996; Shie lds , 1993; Sh imaha ra & Sakai , 1995; Stern, 1995; Stevenson & Lee, 1995; Stevenson & Stigler, 1992). G a r d n e r (1989) describes a \" k e y i n the l o c k \" s tory that further i l lustrates contrasts i n Eas tern a n d W e s t e r n w a y s . W h e n t rave l ing i n Sou th East A s i a , G a r d n e r and h is wi fe were about to enter their hote l r o o m w h e n their t w o year o l d son ins is ted o n t a k i n g the k e y to o p e n the lock. Rather than gu ide the ch i l d ' s h a n d , s h o w i n g h i m h o w to o p e n the door , they let the c h i l d d i scover for h imse l f t h r o u g h the process of t r i a l a n d error h o w it is done. A Ch inese observer ques t ioned w h y they don ' t s i m p l y s h o w the c h i l d h o w to o p e n the door b y g u i d i n g h is h a n d a n d thus a v o i d i n g any \"mis takes .\" A s there is o n l y one \" r igh t \" w a y of d o i n g things, the Eas tern p h i l o s o p h y is to have an expert teach the \" r igh t \" w a y and thus a v o i d the c o m m o n mistakes made b y a neophyte . Once this is demonstra ted it mus t be prac t iced over and over m a n y t imes u n t i l it is learned. T rad i t i ona l l y , \"mis takes\" were not 86 encouraged i n Japanese c lassrooms. Students d i d n ' t ques t ion their teachers. There was k n o w l e d g e to be t ransmit ted f rom teacher to s tudent w i t h l i t t le r o o m for debate. Perhaps these stereotypes are be ing chal lenged as Japan begins to embrace a c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g approach to lea rn ing . W h i l e Japanese m a y be character ized as g roup or iented , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a n s are more independent . Japanese i n d i v i d u a l s do w h a t is best for the g roup i n order to keep h a r m o n y w i t h others w h i l e m a i n t a i n i n g a sense of honou r a n d mora l i t y . E q u a l i t y , patience, persistence, p r ide , h u m i l i t y , un i t y , a n d c o m m u n i t y sp i r i t m a y best describe Japan's teachers. The Japanese schoo l c u r r i c u l u m emphas izes i n a d d i t i o n to course content, soc ia l i za t ion , m o r a l i t y and behav iour , rather than cogni t ive abil i t ies. O n the other h a n d , B . C . teachers c o u l d best be descr ibed as diverse , self-reliant, i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c , o r i g i n a l a n d op in iona ted . The B . C . school c u r r i c u l u m emphas izes crea t iv i ty , i ndependen t t h i n k i n g a n d cogni t ive processes. Japanese students are taught lessons such as \"do not say th ings to upset others,\" \"don ' t vo ice y o u r o p i n i o n , \" \"the needs of the few do not o u t w e i g h the needs of the m a n y , \" \"the n a i l that st icks out gets h a m m e r e d d o w n \" and \"practice, practice, practice... pract ice makes y o u master.\" In contrast, B . C . s tudents are taught to state an o p i n i o n , be cr i t ica l , t h ink for oneself and be oneself. W h i l e o r ig ina l i ty is celebrated and encouraged b y B . C . ' s teachers, the same can' t be sa id for Japan's teachers. Thus , \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" w i l l have different connotat ions w i t h i n the cu l t u r a l context of the t w o regions. There w a s less agreement (or perhaps more confus ion associated w i t h the te rm \"c r i t i ca l t h ink ing\" ) a m o n g Japanese teachers. H o w e v e r , B . C . ' s teachers were not a l l of one m i n d either. W h i l e some m a y va lue Relevance m o r e than Cognitive Strategizing others m a y feel s t rong ly about some other d i m e n s i o n of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . Yet , these are not m u t u a l l y exc lus ive concepts a n d the relat ive 87 propor t ions of t h e m i n anyone 's de f in i t ion are l i k e l y to change d e p e n d i n g o n the context of the lea rn ing . Perhaps this can best be i l lus t ra ted w i t h a metaphor . E a c h i n d i v i d u a l ' s concep t ion of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g m a y be thought of as a f ive d i m e n s i o n a l c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \"amoeba\" free to m o v e about w i t h i n the d o m a i n of Scientific Reasoning, Conscientious Judgements, Cognitive Strategizing, Relevance a n d Intellectual Engagement. A l t h o u g h there were s ignif icant differences be tween B . C . a n d Japan's secondary schoo l teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , the s imi la r i t i es were meaningfu l . L o o k i n g b e y o n d the semantics of the w o r d s used to describe cr i t ical t h i n k i n g a n d researching deeper into the u n d e r l y i n g concept , the c o m m o n aspects have been uncove red . The results indicate that the general n o t i o n of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is suppor ted b y mos t of the teachers su rveyed . Th i s suppor t crossed the boundar ies of gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, and most i m p o r t a n t l y where the teachers were f rom. W h i l e the precise m e a n i n g of \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" is different for each i n d i v i d u a l , there were c o m m o n elements to each teacher's concep t ion a n d h o w it was suppor t ed i n their c lass room. For m a n y of the teachers su rveyed , t w o or m o r e of the f ive factors—Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance a n d Intellectual Engagement w e r e endorsed . A s the thesis progressed, m y o w n concep t ion of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g e v o l v e d f rom a vague n o t i o n of h igher order t h i n k i n g such as analys is , synthesis , a n d eva lua t ion to a c o m p l e x p h i l o s o p h y of thought . M y de f in i t ion of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g became a fus ion of expert op in ions f rom the l i terature, teacher concept ions f rom this s tudy a n d reflections f rom persona l teaching experience. C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g consists of m a n y d imens ions as w e l l as strategies to be used 88 d e p e n d i n g o n the context of the s i tua t ion. The F o u n d a t i o n for C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g (2000) w e b site lists no fewer than 35 affective and cogni t ive strategies descr ib ing the teaching of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g to h i g h school students: A . Affective Strategies • S- l thinking independently • S-2 developing insight into egocentricity or sociocentricity • S-3 exercising fairmindedness • S-4 exploring thoughts underlying feelings and feelings underlying thoughts • S-5 developing intellectual humility and suspending judgment • S-6 developing intellectual courage • S-7 developing intellectual good faith or integrity • S-8 developing intellectual perseverance • S-9 developing confidence in reason B. Cognitive Strategies - Macro-Abilities S-10 refining generalizations and avoiding oversimplifications S - l l comparing analogous situations: transferring insights to new contexts S-l2 developing one's perspective: creating or exploring beliefs, arguments, or theories S-13 clarifying issues, conclusions, or beliefs S-14 clarifying and analyzing the meanings of words or phrases S-15 developing one's perspective: creating or exploring beliefs, arguments, or theories S-16 evaluating the credibility of sources of information S-l7 questioning deeply: raising and pursuing root or significant questions S-l8 analyzing or evaluating arguments, interpretations, beliefs, or theories S-l9 generating or assessing solutions S-20 analyzing or evaluating actions or policies S-21 reading critically: clarifying or critiquing texts S-22 listening critically: the art of silent dialogue S-23 making interdisciplinary connections S-24 practicing Socratic discussion: clarifying /questioning beliefs, theories, or perspectives S-25 reasoning dialogically: comparing perspectives, interpretations, or theories S-26 reasoning dialectically: evaluating perspectives, interpretations, or theories C. Cognitive Strategies - Micro-Skills • S-27 comparing and contrasting ideals with actual practice • S-28 thinking precisely about thinking: using critical vocabulary • S-29 noting significant similarities and differences • S-30 examining or evaluating assumptions • S-31 distinguishing relevant from irrelevant facts • S-32 making plausible inferences, predictions, or interpretations • S-33 giving reasons and evaluating evidence and alleged facts • S-34 recognizing contradictions • S-35 exploring implications and consequences 89 The B . C . a n d Japanese teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g reflected m a n y of the experts ' suggested strategies. For example , Japanese teachers suppor t ed Fairness and Comple teness (see F igu re 6) r o u g h l y co r r e spond ing to the affective strategies S-3 exerc is ing fa i rmindedness a n d S-8 d e v e l o p i n g inte l lectual perseverance, respect ively. O n the other h a n d , B . C . teachers endorsed D e c i s i o n m a k i n g a n d D e d u c t i v e reasoning (see F igu re 6) r o u g h l y co r re spond ing to the cogni t ive strategies S-19 generat ing or assessing so lu t ions a n d S-25 reasoning d i a log ica l ly : c o m p a r i n g perspect ives , interpretat ions, or theories. M y o w n in terpre ta t ion of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is thus a synthesis of research f rom experts i n the f ie ld of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g and data f rom teachers su rveyed . I v i e w cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g as a process i n w h i c h an i n d i v i d u a l is ac t ive ly engaged i n a n a l y z i n g , reasoning , ques t ion ing , a n d crea t ively searching for al ternatives i n an effort to so lve a p r o b l e m or to make a dec i s ion or judgement . In s u m m a r y , cr i t ical t h i n k i n g m a y best be descr ibed as p o w e r f u l t h i n k i n g . I m p l i c a t i o n s of the S t u d y There is inc reas ing suppor t for d e v e l o p i n g cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g f r o m educators a n d the p u b l i c i n bo th B . C . a n d Japan. The teachers i n this s tudy ind ica ted c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is of great impor tance . A l t h o u g h there were m a n y op in ions o n h o w cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g can best be taught, most teachers suppor t ed the n o t i o n cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g can be fos te red—provided students are g i v e n oppor tuni t ies to ask questions, to ana lyze p rob lems , to use reasoning a n d to th ink crea t ive ly i n order to make judgements . These are not m e r e l y enr ichment activit ies but rather they s h o u l d be an in tegral part of a l l cu r r i cu l a as they are impor tan t \" l i f e - sk i l l s , \" necessary i n the work -p l ace a n d elsewhere. W h i l e a few teachers felt h i g h schoo l students were incapable of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g , most 90 ind ica ted that they expected students to graduate f rom h i g h schoo l w i t h the ab i l i ty to t h ink cr i t i ca l ly . W h i l e this s tudy ana lyzed teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , more research is necessary to explore some of the impl i ca t ions . If c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is to be i m p l e m e n t e d across the c u r r i c u l u m i n B . C or Japan's h i g h schools , h o w can it best be integrated in to the reforms cur ren t ly t ak ing place i n each educa t ion system? Speci f ica l ly , h o w can teachers incorporate c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g in to their lessons? A l s o , h o w can cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g become better unders tood—espec ia l ly b y Japan's teachers? C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is a Wes t e rn express ion, yet the concept is not conf ined to the West . Thus , it is necessary to f ind a comparable Japanese phrase to replace hihanteki shikou w i t h an express ion that w i l l be better unde r s tood , w i t h less emphas i s o n \" c r i t i c a l \" a n d more emphas i s o n \" t h i n k i n g . \" W h a t w o u l d be a more sui table Japanese t e rm for cr i t ica l t h ink ing? A sugges t ion w h i c h was w e l l received b y the Japanese educators i n the s tudy, is to adopt a n e w Japanese phrase for c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , kangaeru chikara—kangaeru, the verb \"to t h i n k \" and chikara m e a n i n g \" p o w e r or ab i l i t y . \" Perhaps kangaeru chikara better encompasses the nature of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g as it is conce ived b y B . C . a n d Japan's teachers. 91 C H A P T E R 8 SUMMARY A N D CONCLUSIONS B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a a n d Japan have been u n d e r g o i n g s ignif icant educa t iona l reforms i n efforts to i m p r o v e student l ea rn ing w i t h i n the context of the emerg ing g loba l v i l l age . C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g as an in tegra l par t of these reforms has rece ived m u c h at tent ion f rom educators , yet it remains l a rge ly u n d e v e l o p e d i n t r ad i t iona l teacher-centered c lassrooms. W h i l e \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" is h i g h l y v a l u e d b y educators i n B . C . and Japan, there mus t be further research in to the w a y it is unde r s tood and h o w it can best be taught w i t h i n these t w o educa t ion systems. C r i t i c a l A n a l y s i s of the M e t h o d o l o g y The purposes of this s tudy were (1) to obta in an ove ra l l sense of w h a t secondary school teachers be l i eved cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g to entai l ; (2) to compare a n d contrast B . C . a n d Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g ; (3) to invest igate the nature of B . C . and Japanese secondary teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g w i t h respect to gender, age, teaching experience a n d subject taught; a n d (4) to determine whe ther cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is a s ignif icant part of B . C . a n d Japanese teaching a n d the c u r r i c u l u m at the secondary leve l . In order to achieve these objectives, 159 teachers f rom ten h i g h schools were selected f rom a var ie ty of subject backgrounds , ages and experience to comple te a cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g ca rd sort a n d quest ionnaire . Re la t ionsh ips be tween the characteristics of gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, and the teachers' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g were invest igated a n d ana lyzed across the t w o cul tures . M e t h o d o l o g i c a l p rob lems i n c l u d e d (1) the l ayou t of the quest ionnaire; (2) the select ion of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g definers; (3) the a s sumpt ion that 50 definers 92 c o u l d adequately describe an i n d i v i d u a l ' s concept of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g ; a n d (4) the select ion of par t ic ipants a n d schools. In order to c r i t i ca l ly ana lyze the me thodo logy of this s tudy , each of these potent ia l l iabi l i t ies mus t be careful ly e x a m i n e d a n d suggest ions m a d e for improvemen t s . A l i m i t a t i o n a n d poten t ia l s h o r t c o m i n g of the ins t ruments used inc ludes the l ayou t of the quest ionnaire (see A p p e n d i x A , a n d note that the ins t ruct ions 1-3 for sor t ing a n d r a n k i n g were o r ig ina l l y o n page one of a lega l -s ized paper) . Poss ib ly , some respondents d i d n ' t read the inst ruct ions careful ly, s k i p p e d the sor t ing a n d chose o n l y ten definers w h i c h they r anked o n the first page of the quest ionnaire . Fu tu re studies e m p l o y i n g a sor t ing of cards a n d quest ionnaire s h o u l d c lear ly differentiate be tween the tasks of sor t ing and r a n k i n g . O n e suggest ion is to place the inst ruct ions for the sor t ing o n the first page and the r a n k i n g o n the f o l l o w i n g page (as s h o w n i n A p p e n d i x A ) . Thus , respondents w o u l d be more i n c l i n e d to do the sor t ing before t u r n i n g the page to b e g i n the r a n k i n g p rocedure . A n o t h e r cons ide ra t ion re la t ing to i m p r o v e m e n t s i n ins t rument des ign is the select ion of the definers to be wr i t t en o n the index cards. M o s t of the definers came f rom W e s t e r n l i terature o n cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . Th i s bias c o u l d affect the results. In the future, l i terature f rom bo th cul tures s h o u l d be consu l ted a n d careful ly e x a m i n e d before a p i lo t s tudy is done. In order to a v o i d cu l tu ra l bias, some definers s h o u l d be careful ly sc ru t in i zed for po ten t ia l mi sunde r s t and ings a n d r e m o v e d or rep laced i f necessary. A case i n poin t , u p o n c o m p l e t i o n of the factor analysis , the five factors h a d to be n a m e d . To reduce the 50 definers to o n l y five succinct a n d mean ingfu l factors was a diff icul t task. The choice of w o r d s was at t imes a c o m p r o m i s e . W h e n the five factors were doub le t ranslated for accuracy, Factor 4, Relevance was not w e l l under s tood b y the Japanese graduate 93 student asked to assist i n this matter (a different i n d i v i d u a l than the graduate student u sed i n the o r i g i n a l t ransla t ion of the 50 definers). H e ind ica t ed that this factor needed a different name i n Japanese. H e preferred to use \" C l a r i t y \" w h i c h was another definer that character ized Factor 4. F i n a l l y , i f there were t ransla t ion inaccuracies or ambiva len t t ranslat ions this c o u l d have affected the data to some extent. W h i l e care was taken to have the c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g definers doub le -translated b y f luent ly b i l i n g u a l educators, further procedures m us t to pu t into practice i n order to ensure v a l i d i t y a n d cu l tu ra l su i tab i l i ty . Perhaps consu l t i ng more than t w o i n d i v i d u a l s f rom each r eg ion w o u l d he lp so lve this p r o b l e m . Rela ted to this language issue is a c r i t i c i sm heard at a presenta t ion g i v e n at the C o m p a r a t i v e a n d Internat ional E d u c a t i o n Society Conference h e l d i n San A n t o n i o , Texas i n M a r c h 2000. A Japanese col league c o m m e n t e d that i n d i v i d u a l s w o u l d have different concept ions of each of the 50 definers as w e l l as \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , \" i r respect ive of their cul ture . Bu t i f this perspect ive is taken too l i t e ra l ly , h o w are compara t ive educators to cont inue in te rna t iona l cross-cu l tu ra l research? N a t u r a l l y , language and cul ture are e m b e d d e d i n any in ternat ional compara t ive s tudy. H o w else can a concept be inves t iga ted and compared across t w o or more cultures? F i n a l l y , an a d d i t i o n a l c r i t i c i sm is that external v a l i d i t y c o u l d have been c o m p r o m i s e d i n the select ion of schools . Schools were selected w i t h the he lp of persona l connect ions. E a c h of the B . C . schools were i n the schoo l dis t r ic t of the researcher. A l l the schools selected i n Japan h a d ties to a researcher at T s u k u b a U n i v e r s i t y . 94 Critical Analysis of the Results There were s ignif icant differences be tween B . C . a n d Japanese teachers for 27 of the 50 cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g definers. The d i sc r iminan t analys is successful ly classif ied 96.9 percent of teachers as either B . C . or Japanese. The results of scale scor ing the factor analysis s h o w e d that B . C . teachers v i e w e d cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g more as Cognitive Strategizing a n d Relevance w h i l e Japanese teachers f avou red Conscientious Judgements a n d Intellectual Engagement. There were no signif icant differences i n the teachers ' concept ions of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g based o n their gender or age. Yet , language arts teachers, socia l s tudies teachers and teachers w i t h less experience tended to suppor t Cognitive Strategizing more than their other colleagues. C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g w o u l d appear to be a s ignif icant part of B . C . a n d Japanese teaching and the c u r r i c u l u m at the secondary l eve l . H o w e v e r , c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g i n its present context seems more pervas ive i n B . C . ' s c lassrooms. \" C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g \" is more p o p u l a r i n B . C . but is m i sunde r s tood b y teachers o n bo th sides of the Pacif ic . Is \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g \" a s k i l l or is it an abstract concept? A c c o r d i n g to the teachers su rveyed , c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g is a process i n w h i c h an i n d i v i d u a l is ac t ive ly engaged i n a n a l y z i n g , reasoning, ques t ion ing , a n d creat ively searching for alternatives i n an effort to so lve a p r o b l e m or to make a dec i s ion or judgement . C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g can' t be learned i n i so la t ion . It can't be taught exp l i c i t l y bu t rather mus t be integrated i n a l l subject areas a n d related to the ideas students a l ready have. Levels of Critical Thinking C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is an abstract concept used i n at least three major contexts or levels of discourse: (1) the m e d i a and general p u b l i c , (2) teacher pedagogy , and 95 (3) academic discourse. It is essential that critical thinking be better understood by individuals within all three levels, for \"critical thinking\" is on the verge of becoming diluted in meaning much like \"internationalization\" or \"globalization.\" \"Critical thinking\" is not well understood. It may have become merely another \"buzzword\" in education and may have been used without much thought to its true meaning by many educators, politicians and the general public. Developing \"critical thinking skills\" is seen by some as a panacea to the ills of our education system. While some teachers were able to adequately describe their conception of critical thinking, others were unsure of the meaning. Finally, the word \"critical\" has a negative connotation and in the translation can be misconceived and therefore the new Japanese term kangaeru chikara should be used to describe the concept of critical thinking. Comparative Education Perspective During the pre-conference seminar of The Second Asia-Pacific International Symposium of Teacher Education held at Waseda University, Tokyo in March 2000, a debate ensued over \"critical\" comparative education. It was suggested that \"critical\" comparative education methodologies are necessary in order to apply the wealth of knowledge available through international comparative research. It was posited that \"critical\" comparative education had two dimensions: scientific and value-based judgements. Yet, to compare without judgements or without drawing any conclusions is not \"critical\" comparative education. Another individual characterized comparative education as necessarily prescriptive as well as descriptive. \"Critical pedagogy\" was used to describe the nature of \"critical\" comparative education. Phrases such as \"logical-abstract thinking,\" \"child-centred learning through problem solving,\" \"learning 96 b y d o i n g / ' \"the ab i l i ty to ident i fy p rob lems and to learn for oneself\" were used to describe \"c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . \" The Japanese educa t iona l t r ad i t i on of Hansei or the cr i t ica l ref lect ion o n m o r a l issues was c i ted as a no t ewor thy example . The idea l teacher was character ized as someone w h o fostered cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g i n students. A l s o , it was suggested cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g w o u l d have the effect of m a k i n g students more human i s t i c . The m e a n i n g of the w o r d \" c r i t i c a l \" was some th ing that occup ied over 20 minutes of d i scuss ion f rom some of the w o r l d ' s l e ad ing researchers i n compara t ive educa t ion a n d yet no consensus o n the m e a n i n g of \"c r i t i ca l \" was reached. M a n y p h e n o m e n a can't be descr ibed b y language alone. Languages have e v o l v e d different ly i n va r ious cul tures . E u r o p e a n languages a lways have the i n d i v i d u a l centred i n the d ia logue w h i l e Japanese language is based o n space rather than f o r m . F o r example , the sentence, \"I a m c o l d . \" is just samui (adjective, m e a n i n g \"co ld\" ) . \" I \" is rarely ar t iculated i n Japanese as it is under s tood w i t h i n the context of the s i tua t ion. In any l i te ra l t rans la t ion there are subtle nuances that are often not conveyed or the m e a n i n g can be al tered. A n impor tan t concept that was often confused w i t h c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , Ikiru chikara or \" l i f e - long l e a r n i n g \" is central to B . C . and Japan's educa t iona l reforms as kangaeru chikara or c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g is essential to s o l v i n g the p r o b l e m s facing ou r w o r l d . T o embrace these n e w pa rad igms i n l ea rn ing s ignif icant reforms mus t take place i n the f o r m and funct ion of schools as w e l l as the nature of the c u r r i c u l u m . Schoo l mus t be a place where students can explore opt ions a n d make choices. The teacher mus t act as a facili tator rather than a d i ssemina tor of factual k n o w l e d g e . 97 R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s a n d I m p l i c a t i o n s for Fu tu re S tud i e s B o t h B . C . a n d Japanese educa t ion systems s h o u l d foster c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g w h i l e s u p p o r t i n g men to r sh ip , co l l abora t ion a n d peer consu l t a t ion a m o n g teachers. Speci f ica l ly , wha t B . C . needs is a p roposa l that w i l l i m p r o v e student l ea rn ing as w e l l as the pre-service a n d in-service t r a in ing of teachers. Par t of the so lu t i on lies i n Japan's apprent iceship m o d e l of teacher educa t ion a n d the profess ional deve lopmen t school (PDS) as p roposed b y the H o l m e s G r o u p of research univers i t ies i n the U . S . , ded ica ted to the re form of teaching a n d teacher educat ion . The P D S embodies m u c h of the sp i r i t of co l labora t ion a n d mentorsh ip of the Japanese m o d e l w h i l e p r o v i d i n g a l i n k be tween the research of univers i t ies a n d the practice of teaching i n schools . The po ten t ia l of the P D S has recently emerged as one of the most exc i t ing poss ibi l i t ies for systematic educa t iona l re form (Petrie, 1995; L e v i n e , 1992). The goals of the P D S schoo l c o u l d be rea l ized , w i t h the f o l l o w i n g changes made to B . C . ' s present schoo l system: 1) Redef ine the role of the teacher as facili tator and co-learner. 2) C h a n g e the structure of the t imetable to incorporate t ime for reflect ion, sha r ing a n d c o n t i n u e d profess iona l deve lopmen t . 3) A d o p t 6 / 8 b locks as F . T . E . for Secondary and 4 / 5 days for Elementary . 4) H i r e more \" n e w \" teachers (student teachers) at 0.50 F . T . E . (3 or 4 blocks) as l ea rn ing pract i t ioners for 1 year terms. 5) P a y student teachers at 50 percent of Ca tegory 5 (Professional Certif icate, 0 years experience). 6) Offer a one year sabbatical for teachers every 5 years for profess ional d e v e l o p m e n t . 7) Suppor t educa t ion dec i s ion -mak ing b y a profess ional associat ion or college of teachers. The m o n e y saved f r o m h i r i n g b e g i n n i n g teachers as apprent ices w o u l d more than compensate for the reduced assignments and subsequent sa lary shortfalls of exper ienced teachers. A l s o , more t ime w o u l d be avai lable for ref lect ion a n d co l l abora t ion m u c h l i ke Japanese schools . 98 In contrast, Japan's educa t ion sys tem c o u l d be re formed i n the f o l l o w i n g ways: 1) Redef ine the role of the teacher as facil i tator and co-learner. 2) Decrease class sizes (see #4 be low) . 3) Imp lemen t a more comprehens ive ex tended teach ing p r a c t i c u m . 4) H i r e more \" n e w \" teachers to reduce the increas ing stress of teachers. 5) C o n t i n u e increas ing the electives offered i n h i g h schoo l . 6) C h a n g e the examina t ion sys tem to reduce the stress o n students. 7) Offer a sabbatical for teachers every 5 years for profess ional deve lopment . 8) Suppor t educa t ion dec i s ion -mak ing b y a profess ional associat ion or college of teachers. In order to facilitate these recommendat ions for changes to B . C a n d Japanese educa t ion systems, resources m a y need to be redirected to enhance teacher t r a in ing , p rofess iona l deve lopmen t a n d teaching cond i t ions . Teachers are i n the business of educa t ing students but there is a role for everyone to p l ay . Teachers, adminis t ra tors , parents, business people , governments a n d un ivers i t i es mus t w o r k together, c o m p r e h e n s i v e l y i n order to evoke educa t iona l change. F i rs t and foremost, teachers m us t l ea rn h o w to th ink cr i t i ca l ly for themselves. Th i s is a necessary founda t ion for c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g educa t iona l re form. A d m i n i s t r a t o r s can ensure that there is l ong - t e rm inservice for teachers i n l ea rn ing and teaching cr i t i ca l t h i n k i n g . Parents can p r o v i d e a h o m e e n v i r o n m e n t i n w h i c h the in te l lec tua l d i s c i p l i n e of their c h i l d r e n is fostered—where decis ions are ques t ioned a n d p rob lems are reflected o n together. Business peop le can he lp b y p u s h i n g governments for educa t iona l re form. Since cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g is essential to effective g r o u p p r o b l e m s o l v i n g , p rogress ive business people s h o u l d n e t w o r k w i t h educators and c iv ic leaders i n order to create a p u b l i c awareness of the impor tance of cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g . The M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n or M o n b u s h o s h o u l d fund further research in to h o w to foster c r i t ica l 99 t h i n k i n g espec ia l ly i n h i g h school students, univers i t ies a n d teachers i n t r a in ing . Professors s h o u l d emphas ize cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g i n their classes b y rou t ine ly fostering reason ing a n d ensu r ing that their students r egu la r ly assess their o w n w o r k u s i n g in te l lec tua l s tandards. C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is not l i k e l y to become v a l u e d i n educa t ion unless it is v a l u e d b y society at large. There is m u c h apathy to overcome. M o r e o v e r , some societies m a y not va lue cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g due to cu l tu ra l considera t ions . Japan has just b e g u n to embrace cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g yet other nat ions m a y not yet be ready. Fo r teachers to foster c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g they mus t first become c o m m i t t e d to t h i n k i n g c r i t i ca l ly a n d ref lect ively about their o w n l ives a n d the l ives of those a r o u n d them. Teachers mus t r egu la r ly m o d e l for students w h a t it is to ref lect ively examine , c r i t i ca l ly assess, and effectively i m p r o v e life. T h i n k i n g is p re -eminen t ly an art; k n o w l e d g e a n d p ropos i t ions w h i c h are the products of t h i n k i n g , are w o r k s of art, as m u c h so as s tatuary a n d symphon ies . E v e r y successive stage of t h i n k i n g is a c o n c l u s i o n i n w h i c h the m e a n i n g of w h a t has p r o d u c e d it is condensed; and it is no sooner stated than it is a l igh t r ad ia t ing to other t h ings - unless it be a fog w h i c h obscures t hem (Dewey , 1929/1958, p . 378). W h i l e over ha l f the teachers s u r v e y e d ind ica ted they taught c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , m a n y h a d some d i f f icu l ty express ing exact ly h o w to teach it effectively. In order to foster c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g b y students, teachers mus t first c r i t ique present educa t iona l practices and the beliefs u n d e r l y i n g them. T o unde r s t and the nature of c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g , educators mus t be asked fundamenta l quest ions about the nature of k n o w l e d g e , l ea rn ing a n d the process of t h i n k i n g . T h r o u g h further in te rna t iona l compara t ive s tudies, educa t ion systems can be i m p r o v e d . Teachers mus t be g i v e n oppor tun i t i es to l ea rn f rom one another a n d to benefit f rom the accumula ted w i s d o m of generations of s k i l l e d pract i t ioners . In a d d i t i o n , teachers 100 mus t be g i v e n adequate t ime for co l labora t ion , p l a n n i n g a n d reflect ion. The reforms of educa t ion i n b o t h B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a a n d Japan requi re a r e t h i n k i n g of the profess ion of teaching, for any effort to re form the structure or o rgan iza t ion of educa t ion u l t ima te ly depends o n the effectiveness of the teacher. W h i l e this s t udy a n a l y z e d teachers' concept ions of c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g , some questions r e m a i n to be answered . If c r i t ica l t h i n k i n g is to be i m p l e m e n t e d across the c u r r i c u l u m i n B . C and Japan's h i g h schools, h o w can it best be integrated into the reforms cur ren t ly t a k i n g place i n each educa t ion system? Speci f ica l ly , h o w can teachers incorpora te cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g into their lessons? A l s o , h o w can cr i t ica l t h i n k i n g become better unders tood—especia l ly b y Japan's teachers? C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g is a fundamenta l concept i n educa t ion that requires more s tudy. Fur ther compara t ive educa t ion research is necessary o n methodo log ies , teaching strategies, c r i t i ca l t h i n k i n g a n d the role of the teacher. Th i s w i l l he lp to i m p r o v e student l ea rn ing a n d w i l l p r o v i d e a cross-cul tura l a n d in te rna t iona l unde r s t and ing a n d apprec ia t ion of l ea rn ing necessary for \" l i f e - s k i l l s \" i n the 21st century m u c h l i ke l i teracy and n u m e r a c y for the 20th century . 101 REFERENCES A l b e r t a C h a m b e r Resources , A l b e r t a Dep t . of E d u c a t i o n . (1992). International comparisons in education: Curriculum, values, and lessons. E d m o n t o n : A l b e r t a C h a m b e r Resources. ( E R I C D o c u m e n t R e p r o d u c t i o n Service N o . E D 348278) A l t b a c h , P . G . & T a n , E . J. (Eds.) (1995). Programs and centers in comparative and international education: a global inventory. Buf fa lo , N . 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C a m b r i d g e M A : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y Press. W h i t e , M . (1987). The Japanese educational challenge: A commitment to children. N e w Y o r k : The Free Press. 109 3. Choose the ten most significant cards and rank them 1-10. Write them in the space below: 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. Part 2 Questionnaire 1. What is your gender? [ ] M a n I l W o m a n 2. What is your age? years 3. What is your main subject area (please check one box only): ] Language Arts [ ] Business Education ] Math [ ] Computer Science ] Science [ ] Foreign Languages ] Social Studies [ ] Industrial Education ] Fine Art (Art, Music & Drama) ] Other (please specify) 4. How many years teaching experience do you have? years 5. Identify the 5 most significant learning outcomes attained by your students: 6. Upon successful completion of high school students should be able to: 7. What 5 words best describe an outstanding student? 8. What is the meaning of \"critical thinking\"? 9. Is critical thinking part of the prescribed curriculum for your subject? [ 1 Yes I 1 N o [ ] Unsure 10. Is critical thinking taught in your classroom? [ 1 Yes [ 1 N o [ ] Unsure If you answered \"Yes\" to question 10, then please answer question 11. 11. How do you teach critical thinking? (use a separate page if necessary) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. / t - h 2 i n 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1 2 3 [ ] [ ] A 4 5 ] ] (i ] =l>rizL-^ ] Kmm& ] ] [ ] l i U [ ] IHN*. [ ] tofrb&U 10. fffit^JWJS^J * » f t t © ^ 7 7 T H t A T l \\ S t ^ [ ] l i ^ [ ] uux. [ ] to#e>ftu ( l O T m ^ ^ L / i ^ l i l 1 t)SA.TT$Uo ) 11. £0)£5 lCftfc2|9Jfl«lll#*Uix.TU*-r^. 112 A P P E N D I X C Critical Thinking Definers Spreadsheet English Word Japanese Word Accuracy I E * * Active participation Adequacy Analysis Analytical skills Clarifying ideas Clarity Completeness Consistency Constructive skepticism mmttotxmmm Convergent thinking Cooperative learning Creative thinking Decision making Deductive reasoning Depth as* Disciplined Discovery learning Divergent thinking Drawing conclusions Drawing inferences iist*5i#ai-i+* Evaluating assumptions Evaluation Fairness Higher order thinking Hypothesize Identifying/removing bias Independent thinking Inductive reasoning Intellectual challenges Investigate Logical Metacognitive skills Objective Open-minded Precision Problem solving Rational thinking Reasoning Relevance Responsible Self-directed Significance Socratic questioning Specificity Student-centred Subjective Synthesis Taking ownership (*) L T < t b * . - 5 Thoughtful judgements 113 A P P E N D I X D Rotated Component Matrix of 50 Critical Th ink ing Definers Critical Thinking Factor Loadings Critical Thinking Definers 1 2 3 4 5 drawing inferences .68 .16 .11 .05 .14 hypothesize .65 .29 .14 .15 .15 convergent thinking .59 .13 .05 .16 .03 inductive reasoning .59 .30 .02 .06 .02 creative thinking .50 .10 .01 -.19 .47 problem solving .46 .09 -.15 .37 .09 drawing conclusions .46 .19 .03 .44 .05 analysis .40 .24 .22 .11 .04 divergent thinking .39 .37 -.38 .18 .16 reasoning .38 .16 .12 .34 .08 analytical skills .36 .31 .04 .23 .05 clarifying ideas .34 .21 .24 .20 .18 metacognitive skills .03 .70 -.20 .18 .13 constructive skepticism .14 .64 .08 -.06 .12 socratic questioning .19 .61 -.02 .18 .08 identifying/removing bias .15 .59 .06 .29 .04 rational thinking .19 .55 .28 .05 .08 higher order thinking .23 .54 -.06 .02 .14 evaluating assumptions .27 .46 -.10 .26 .10 deductive reasoning .41 .44 .00 .23 -.20 open-minded .05 .40 .40 .00 .05 accuracy .06 -.08 .68 .31 -.08 consistency .02 .08 .61 -.01 .04 objective .13 -.03 .60 -.17 .12 adequacy .06 -.10 .57 .19 .27 specificity .20 -.03 .54 .31 .15 precision .12 .04 .54 .34 .08 fairness -.22 .00 .51 .07 .31 logical .31 .06 .49 .12 -.10 responsible -.23 .13 .45 .17 .33 depth .04 .35 .35 .19 .25 clarity .12 .08 .35 .61 -.06 relevance .22 .12 .09 .53 .07 decision making .19 .25 -.24 .52 .16 significance .16 .13 .17 .51 .11 completeness -.12 -.13 .26 .51 .30 synthesis .32 .30 .16 .41 -.11 investigate .30 .24 .05 .32 .19 disciplined -.02 .05 .12 .31 .15 evaluation .10 .15 .12 .29 .18 active participation .03 -.04 .04 .21 .62 taking ownership -.23 .12 .21 .08 .56 discovery learning .34 .07 .08 -.06 .56 student-centred .13 -.01 -.04 .21 .54 intellectual challenges .19 .22 .05 -.09 .54 self-directed -.11 .07 .23 .05 .45 subjective .08 .01 .08 .25 .44 independent thinking .18 .16 .00 .14 .43 cooperative learning -.02 .16 -.05 .42 .43 thoughtful judgements .18 .33 .24 -.09 .39 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Equamax with Kaiser Normalization. Rotation converged in 14 iterations. "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; vivo:dateIssued "2000-11"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0055484"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Educational Studies"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "Secondary school teachers’ conceptions of critical thinking in British Columbia and Japan : a comparative study"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/10626"@en .