Education

TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES

Course No. ED471v, ED571v

Vibrant societies need people who can think for themselves, but too many Americans don’t, and our democracy, as well as societal health, suffers as a result. In this course for teachers in grades 4-12, we will cover a wide variety of teaching strategies that provide incentives and opportunities for young minds to develop the courage, skills, and intellectual acumen for robust thinking. Curiosity, choice, standing up for one’s beliefs and values, pondering over rich questions, structured dialogue with others, being independent-minded, and learning through projects and problem solution provide a varied menu of teaching strategies, some of which most teachers employ at least some of the time. It is the premise of this course that an instructional approach that incorporates most of these strategies most of the time will, with continued use, generate an authentic intellectual culture in and among students. All reading will be online. 


NOTE: Mike Seymour, Heritage Institute Director, developed this course.

We advise you to review and download the course syllabus before registering. Syllabus
  • Reinforced their belief in the power of student curiosity and choice as a means of engagement and stimulus for thinking.
  • Have experimented with the Socratic seminar or other dialogue formats that promote thinking through research, discussion, and debate.
  • Revisited the use of project and problem-based learning as strategies to promote student engagement and thinking.

Tell a Friend