APPLY A RANGE OF

TEACHING
STRATEGIES TO
DEVELOP CRITICAL
AND CREATIVE
THINKING, AS
WELL AS HIGHER-
ORDER THINKING
SKILLS
• How’s the teacher in the illustration? Is he
really facilitating critical thinking among his
students?
•As Proficient teachers, we
come to class every day with
a hope that we will make
learning for every learner
meaningful.
•Equipped with sufficient
knowledge and skills, we
embrace the world of diverse
learners.
•One of the challenges we
face is how to engage them
into classroom activities that
foster critical, creative and
higher-order thinking skills.
•More than making our
learners remember what we
teach, we also want them to
use the knowledge they learn
to analyze problems,
evaluate options and create
solutions.
•This can only be possible
when learners are provided
with classroom environments
that develop and nurture
their thinking skills.
KEY CONCEPTS
 SELF-REFLECTION
Let us first reflect on current practice
regarding our application of teaching
strategies for developing critical, creative,
and other higher-order thinking skills.
Sample
 ACTIVITY
• Take time to read the current practices of
teachers in the classroom and compare
the strategies they used.

• What can you say about their

instructional practice?
• Please answer and reflect on the
following probing questions.
 PROBING QUESTIONS
1. In what way(s) do the teachers’ practice
differ?
2. Which teacher practice is more engaging
for the learners? Why?
3. Which teacher practice will create more
meaningful learning experience for the
learners? Why?
4. Which teacher practice demonstrates a
strategy to develop critical thinking?
 Suggestions for Improvement
•The teacher’s application of instructional
strategy is crucial in the development of
critical, creative and higher-order thinking
skills.
•In the presented sample teacher practice, both
teachers work on similar content but deliver it
differently.
•Teacher A’s traditional lecture method centers
on the role of teachers as transmitters and
sources of knowledge. Consequently, learners
are viewed as passive receivers of information.
 Suggestions for Improvement
•On the other hand, Teacher B demonstrates guided
inquiry in instruction. She engages the learners through
problem-based activities. She encourages them to
experiment, to test their hypotheses, and to communicate
their findings. As post-teaching activity, she asks them to
create as an extension and application of what the
learners learn in the class. These strategies stimulate them
to infer, make decisions, formulate ideas and solve
complex problems.
•We need to remember that our instruction should apply a
range of strategies to develop creative, critical and higher-
order thinking skills. Our learners are thinking and creative
individuals. Our role then is to unleash the creativity in each
of our learners.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF PRACTICE

Different illustrations of practice

that apply a range of teaching
strategies to develop critical and
creative thinking, as well as other
higher-order thinking skills.
1. Development through
Problem-Based Strategies
 Read the following practices of teachers using
problem-based learning.
 Read the following practices of teachers using
problem-based learning.
1. Development through
Problem-Based Strategies
 HOW TO DO IT?
Problem-based learning can be
implemented by considering these steps
(Duch, Groh, and Allen, 2001).
1. Choose a learning goal for the learners
to attain at the end of instruction.
2.Think of a real-world context for the
understanding of the content. Build
realistic applications of the concept
being taught.
 HOW TO DO IT?
3.Identify the teaching contexts where the problem may
be introduced. In doing such, be guided by these
questions:
a. What open-ended questions can be asked?
b. What learning issues will be identified?
c. How will the problem be structured?
d. What resources will the students need?
e. What end product will the students produce at the completion
of the
problem?
4. Evaluate the learners’ performance using appropriate
tool/s and provide feedback.
5.Make and deliver activities/exercises aligned with the
lesson objectives.
2. Development through Effective
Questioning Strategies
• From the practice, effective questioning can be used
as an important classroom tool to develop critical,
creative and higher-order thinking skills. It is also
important that teachers like you have deep
understanding of the learning objectives as
constructed.
• According to McComas and Rossier (2005), if you
want your students to recall and remember certain
knowledge, ask them low-level convergent
questions; however, if you want to see if students
understand and are able to transfer knowledge, ask
them divergent questions.
• Similarly, they indicated that low-level divergent
questions should be asked to see if students can
make inferences, find the causes and effects of an
issue, and make generalizations; on the other hand,
to make them speculate, make evaluations, and think
creatively, they should be asked high level divergent
questions.
• As teachers, we should have a profound
understanding of how learning goals are
structure so we can formulate questions
appropriate to the levels of thinking we
want to develop among our learners.
• To develop critical thinking among your
learners, your questioning should
encourage them to analyze, evaluate and
create with sample tasks as presented in the
table:
HOW TO DO IT?
HOW TO DO IT?
3. Development through
Visualization
 HOW TO DO IT?
• So how do you teach students to use visualization? Here are some
points to consider when using visualization strategy (Miller, 2004):
1. Teachers should directly model the thought processes involved
in visualizing. They should read familiar text and describe the
images they see in their mind.
2. Read a passage for students to visualize. Choose something that
is descriptive so they can easily create vivid images in their mind.
Explain to students that when they visualize, it is important to
use their background knowledge and words in the text to help
them imagine a picture in their mind. It is important students
understand that there is not one correct answer. For younger
students, start with an object and describe it by color, size, shape
and smell. Ask students to close their eyes and create an image.
 HOW TO DO IT?
3. Students should share their images with a partner. They can use
the “Think, Pair, Share.” technique. After forming an image,
they should pair up with a partner, and share what they have
visualized. Allow students to choose their own subjects to
describe to each other.
4. Teachers should use a different selection from the same text
and ask students to illustrate while they listen to the teacher
read a passage. Students should share and discuss their images.
5. Students should practice the strategy frequently. They should
use visualization during read-alouds and silent reading. Teachers
should incorporate both drawings and mental imagery to meet
the needs of all students.
4. Development through Plus, Minus,
Interesting (PMI) Strategy
 HOW TO DO IT?
The following might help you in using PMIs:
• Step 1. Consider the Plus Points
• In this step, simply enumerate all of the positive things
you can think of. Don’t critique yourself along the way;
simply spill out all the positive points that you can
think of.
• Step 2. Consider the Minus Points
• In this step, enumerate all of the negative things you
can think of. Again, don’t critique yourself. Simply spill
out all the negative points you can think of.
 HOW TO DO IT?
• Step 3. Consider the Interesting Points of the
Situation
• In this step, enumerate all the interesting points that
you can think of. Rather than positive or negative,
they are simply points of interest that you should
direct your attention to.
• Step 4. Make your conclusion
• In this step, you make your judgement because you’ve
scanned and organized three important aspects: the
positives, the negatives, and the interesting.
5.Development through Role, Audience,
Format and Topic (RAFT) Strategy
OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF PRACTICE

•Theteacher challenges learners cognitively to

advance high-level thinking and discourse.
 CRITICAL THINKING
•The teacher asks directive and purposeful
questions to exercise learners’ problem-solving
and decision-making skills.
• The teacher encourages learners to ask questions
not just to provide answers but to nurture their
problem-solving skills.
•The teacher allows time for learners to ponder on
questions, issues or problems.
 CRITICAL THINKING
•Theteacher gives learners a variety of experiences that
prompt learners to formulate, infer, make decisions,
consider possibilities, make judgements and solve
complex problems, e.g.,
•writing reflective journals to state their stand, to reason
out, and to present both sides of an issue or argument,
•participating in peer group activities where members
analyze arguments, judge the credibility of every
statement, interpret the statements, and generalize ideas,
•reflecting on what they know, what they will learn and
what they have learned. categorizing things in many
possible ways.
 CREATIVE THINKING
•The teacher employs divergent thinking strategies which
encourages learners to think “out of the box” by asking
them to define a problem, provide solutions and explain
implications of the solution. Learners think of many
different and unusual ideas and points of view, then adds
details to improve those ideas.
•The teacher uses instruction that is designed to aid
learners in finding meaning in an academic material and
keep it by connecting it to their daily lives, e.g.,
•providing opportunities for open-ended questions and
questions with multiple responses,
•finding relationships between two seemingly unrelated ideas.
 CREATIVE THINKING
•The teacher uses visualization strategies where
learners are tasked to create mental images of
something that cannot be seen or that does not exist.
•The teacher employs Creative Dramatics where
learners explore ideas through physical activities
(e.g., pantomime, mirrors, debriefing).
•The teacher uses analogy where learners compare
similar objects or abstract processes (direct) or
write about something in another’s perspective
(personal).
 OTHER HIGHER-ORDER THINKING
•The teacher gives learners opportunities to assess
their own work based on the learning goals and make
necessary adjustments.
•The teacher teaches learners how to think aloud
through modelling (e.g., Thinking Hats).
•The teacher engages learners to think aloud about
engaging themselves on a problem. Pupils are paired
where one is the problem solver and the other is the
listener. The pair shares experience with the group
(i.e. thinking aloud through collaborative inquiry).
•Learnersextend the discussion by inviting
comments from their classmates and challenging
one another’s thinking.
 CRITICAL THINKING

•Theteacher creates an environment where

teacher and learners can freely communicate with
each other, express ideas and exchange views that
others may not necessarily agree with.
 CREATIVE THINKING

•The teacher asks learners to offer multiple varied

solutions to complex problems through
brainstorming.
 OTHER HIGHER-ORDER THINKING

•The teacher adopts activities that allow learners

to monitor their learning (i.e. learning logs, wrap-
up, reflective narratives).
•Learners themselves ensure that all voices are
heard in the discussion.
 CRITICAL THINKING

•The teacher ensures that questions are within the

learners’ level of ability or within the context of
their experiences.
 CREATIVE THINKING

•The teacher generates creative ideas from

learners by providing a “big picture” of what they
are learning for them to have something to think
flexibly about.
 OTHER HIGHER-ORDER THINKING

•The teacher uses cooperative group work where

learners are tasked to discuss understanding,
evaluate their own work and other’s work, and
reflect on learning.
 OTHER HIGHER-ORDER THINKING

•The teacher uses cooperative group work where

learners are tasked to discuss understanding,
evaluate their own work and other’s work, and
reflect on learning.
 ACTIVITY
•By subject area, choose a competency and design
an activity using a certain strategy discussed. Use
the template
Strategy
below. Competency Activity
PROBLEM-BASED    
STRATEGIES
Science Group
EFFECTIVE    
QUESTIONING
STRATEGIES Eng. & Fil. Group
VISUALIZATION
PLUS, MINUS,
 
 
AP Group
 
 
INTERESTING (PMI)
STRATEGY TLE & MAPEH Group
R.A.F.T. STRATEGY  
Math Group
 
After the participants have explored the different key concepts
on applying a range of teaching strategies to develop critical
and creative thinking, as well as other higher-order thinking
skills, they now have a better appreciation of the indicator.
Based on their learning, think of what they can do to enhance
their professional development. Fill in the personal action plan
below.