The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse the effectiveness and necessity of managing the teaching of critical thinking skills in English Home Language to second language speakers in the Further Education and Training phase, by focusing on critical thinking skills; classroom management; management skills of professional teachers; the relationship between teaching and management; guidelines for effective classroom management; the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12; the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 English Home Language; critical thinking skills as indicated in the language curriculum; and factors that influence the teaching and learning of critical thinking skills. The literature study reveals that the managing of teaching critical thinking skills is paramount to the effectiveness of the teaching of English Home Language to second language speakers in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. However, due to several factors, namely: curriculum change; the acceptance and implementation of the new curriculum; professionally qualified and trained educators; background of learners; English Home Language being the language of learning and teaching of many second language speakers, the deliberate managing of teaching critical thinking skills has been overlooked and is totally non-existent. The lack of managing the teaching of critical thinking skills in the English classroom ultimately generates learners who lack the ability to present and understand arguments, think logically and rationally and who fail to apply the skills and knowledge they have acquired in becoming well-adjusted citizens in a competitive society. Research evidence has shown that cognition and language development are closely related. It is through language that children come to know the world. Higher-order thinking skills promote higher-order learning skills which in turn enable learners to reach higher levels of language proficiency. A major finding emanating from the research is that educators should become familiar with and embrace the National Curriculum Statement grades 10-12 English Home Language. The learning environment should also be designed to support and challenge the learner’s thinking. English language educators should integrate the promotion of thinking skills into the language curricula. The critical goal is to support the learner in becoming an effective critical thinker. Educators should be professionally trained and qualified to teach English Home Language, especially to second language speakers. Educators must also have good classroom and professional management skills. Educators must exude, disseminate and nurture critical thinking skills in their learners. Educators must be more thorough in the planning and execution of lessons and deliberately incorporate critical thinking skills into lessons. This study recommends on the basis of the literature review, guidelines to assist educators in managing the teaching of critical thinking skills in English Home Language to second language speakers in the Further Education and Training phase. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse the effectiveness and necessity of managing the teaching of critical thinking skills in English Home Language to second language speakers in the Further Education and Training phase, by focusing on critical thinking skills; classroom management; management skills of professional teachers; the relationship between teaching and management; guidelines for effective classroom management; the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12; the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 English Home Language; critical thinking skills as indicated in the language curriculum; and factors that influence the teaching and learning of critical thinking skills. The literature study reveals that the managing of teaching critical thinking skills is paramount to the effectiveness of the teaching of English Home Language to second language speakers in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. However, due to several factors, namely: curriculum change; the acceptance and implementation of the new curriculum; professionally qualified and trained educators; background of learners; English Home Language being the language of learning and teaching of many second language speakers, the deliberate managing of teaching critical thinking skills has been overlooked and is totally non-existent. The lack of managing the teaching of critical thinking skills in the English classroom ultimately generates learners who lack the ability to present and understand arguments, think logically and rationally and who fail to apply the skills and knowledge they have acquired in becoming well-adjusted citizens in a competitive society. Research evidence has shown that cognition and language development are closely related. It is through language that children come to know the world. Higher-order thinking skills promote higher-order learning skills which in turn enable learners to reach higher levels of language proficiency. A major finding emanating from the research is that educators should become familiar with and embrace the National Curriculum Statement grades 10-12 English Home Language. The learning environment should also be designed to support and challenge the learner’s thinking. English language educators should integrate the promotion of thinking skills into the language curricula. The critical goal is to support the learner in becoming an effective critical thinker. Educators should be professionally trained and qualified to teach English Home Language, especially to second language speakers. Educators must also have good classroom and professional management skills. Educators must exude, disseminate and nurture critical thinking skills in their learners. Educators must be more thorough in the planning and execution of lessons and deliberately incorporate critical thinking skills into lessons. This study recommends on the basis of the literature review, guidelines to assist educators in managing the teaching of critical thinking skills in English Home Language to second language speakers in the Further Education and Training phase. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

Critical thinking skills have become an important part of current educational practices. However, there is little empirical evidence comparing the effectiveness of the programs teaching these skills. In addition, there are questions as to whether the skills should be taught within the class content or separate from the class content. This study assigned students attending labs as part of an educational psychology class to two experimental conditions (content-based and content-free) and a control condition. Measures were scores on lab papers and test scores for the class. In addition, an attitude survey was used to assess student attitudes to each condition, and the overall quality of the labs was assessed. An analysis of variance was performed on the data. Results indicated little difference between experimental and control conditions.

No description available.

The quality of education in especially the Further Education and Training phase (FET) is recognised as one of the most significant challenges facing the South African government. Low teacher morale, lack of parental involvement, learners' ignorance in taking responsibility for their own learning and other educational problems are all identified as contributing factors. This study was undertaken to investigate how critical thinking skills can contribute to promoting quality teaching and learning in secondary schools with specific reference to the FET phase. The study also sought to make recommendations that will assist teachers to integrate critical thinking skills into the teaching and learning experiences in the FET phase. The nature of quality teaching and learning, the nature of critical thinking skills and the correlation between the concepts to improve the quality of education were researched by means of a literature study. A quantitative research design followed, using questionnaires as research instrument. From the research conducted it was found that learners in the FET phase do not take responsibility for their learning and therefore many of these learners still do not perceive learning as important. However, effective learning could take place if learners are confident, independent, active participants and explore a variety of learning strategies. Teachers, on the other hand, should adopt particular forms of behaviour to foster certain types of learning. The ability to teach critical thinking skills to learners poses a great challenge as many teachers are not trained to do so. This has a great influence on the exposure of an integrated constructivist method of teaching and learning and therefore inflicts on the delivery of quality teaching and learning in the FET phase of secondary schools in South Africa. / MEd, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of advertised reports by computer software companies claiming to improve critical thinking skills.

A global concern exists regarding the lack of critical thinking skills in young adults and college graduates. Fortune 500 companies have reported the need for better development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills to prepare employees to be successful in the workplace. This study focused on teacher perceptions of the Socratic method (SM) in developing critical thinking skills in high school students. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative case study was to describe high school teachers' perceptions regarding the development of critical thinkers via the Socratic method. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development was used in this qualitative study to explore perceptions of 7 teachers. The central research question and subquestions that guided this study were focused on teachers' perceptions of the SM and its effectiveness in developing critical thinking skills in high school students. Data were collected with face-to-face interviews with 7 teachers and classroom observations. Data were recorded via a systematic approach with chart and diagrams. Themes, patterns, and any identified relationships were categorized and coded to comprise data tracking. Results indicated that a lack of professional development, teacher comfort level, and student participation all played a role in low SM execution. The resulting project was designed to provide teachers with materials and learning opportunities to increase their SM skill level and stimulate teachers to use their new knowledge to increase critical thinking skills in high school students. The online professional development course evaluation provided both summative and formative assessments. The project contributes to social change by helping improve the way teachers teach and students learn the SM, which may result in improved critical thinking skills in students.

This study was undertaken in the Johannesburg South district (D11). Primary school language teachers in this district (D11) were invited to participate in this study by means of a questionnaire. This study investigated which kind of teaching methods teachers are currently using to develop and enhance critical thinking skills of ESL learners in language classrooms. Teachers' knowledge of Blooms' Taxonomy of cognitive objectives and how to use this taxonomy to develop ESL learners' critical thinking skills were also scrutinized. Since many ESL learners' language proficiency in English is also limited the responses of the teachers indicated that this could have a negative influence on their critical thinking development. This study accentuates the need for the use of a variety of teaching methods to enhance ESL learners' critical thinking skills in language in the Johannesburg South District (D11). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The quality of education in especially the Further Education and Training phase (FET) is recognised as one of the most significant challenges facing the South African government. Low teacher morale, lack of parental involvement, learners' ignorance in taking responsibility for their own learning and other educational problems are all identified as contributing factors. This study was undertaken to investigate how critical thinking skills can contribute to promoting quality teaching and learning in secondary schools with specific reference to the FET phase. The study also sought to make recommendations that will assist teachers to integrate critical thinking skills into the teaching and learning experiences in the FET phase. The nature of quality teaching and learning, the nature of critical thinking skills and the correlation between the concepts to improve the quality of education were researched by means of a literature study. A quantitative research design followed, using questionnaires as research instrument. From the research conducted it was found that learners in the FET phase do not take responsibility for their learning and therefore many of these learners still do not perceive learning as important. However, effective learning could take place if learners are confident, independent, active participants and explore a variety of learning strategies. Teachers, on the other hand, should adopt particular forms of behaviour to foster certain types of learning. The ability to teach critical thinking skills to learners poses a great challenge as many teachers are not trained to do so. This has a great influence on the exposure of an integrated constructivist method of teaching and learning and therefore inflicts on the delivery of quality teaching and learning in the FET phase of secondary schools in South Africa. / MEd, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

This study was undertaken in the Johannesburg South district (D11). Primary school language teachers in this district (D11) were invited to participate in this study by means of a questionnaire. This study investigated which kind of teaching methods teachers are currently using to develop and enhance critical thinking skills of ESL learners in language classrooms. Teachers' knowledge of Blooms' Taxonomy of cognitive objectives and how to use this taxonomy to develop ESL learners' critical thinking skills were also scrutinized. Since many ESL learners' language proficiency in English is also limited the responses of the teachers indicated that this could have a negative influence on their critical thinking development. This study accentuates the need for the use of a variety of teaching methods to enhance ESL learners' critical thinking skills in language in the Johannesburg South District (D11). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.