Seniors Say
We are charging towards assessment, with plenty going on in the Senior Sector. Our assessment calendars are available from our College Website at Our Lady of the Southern Cross College (dalby.catholic.edu.au).
On Monday we hosted our Senior Years Student-Led conferences. Thank you to all the parents who attended to support our staff in knowing how your child learns best in our classes. The approach of being proactive in our conferences rather than reactive and result driven provides our community with opportunities to collaborate with our staff before we are locked into assessment. We encourage all those who were unable to attend to engage with the teachers early so we can adjust the rudder early and celebrate your child’s success
Our students are performing very well engaging with classes in all the modes we are availing to our students, face-to-face, hybrid, flexible learning agreements, school-based traineeships and apprenticeships and work experience opportunities.
All of these modes support our students to be critical learners, supporting their development as critical thinkers with the ability to adapt their knowledge to unknown problems growing them as learners.
Students can do a range of things to develop their critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, reflecting and developing thoughts.
Here are some things you can do to enhance critical thinking.
- CLARIFY YOUR THOUGHTS
The best way to clarify your thoughts is to try and explain your thinking to someone else. Even if you are talking to an imaginary person, you will find that explaining your thinking out loud helps you to see the flaws in your argument.
- QUESTION ASSUMPTIONS
Don’t take your thoughts for granted, every now and then think about why you believe a certain thought or how you know things to be true. Get in the habit of pausing, looking at what you are thinking, and questioning what thoughts underlie your assumptions. Don’t just conform and accept a view because it is the popular one, instead pause and reflect on the arguments for and against that viewpoint and the strengths of each argument.
- LOOK FOR OTHER PERSPECTIVES
When you are presenting an argument, imagine yourself in a debate and think about what the opposing side might say. What would someone with a completely opposite view to you believe? Can you understand why they might think that way? Can you see some validity in their viewpoint?
- KEEP AN OPEN MIND
In order to look for other perspectives keep an open mind. If you immediately dismiss any thought that does not fit into the way you see the world, you will never be able to expand and develop your viewpoints, you will have a very fixed and limited view of the world.
- BE CURIOUS
Start to look outside the things you normally read and watch and think about. Learn more about things you know nothing about and were not previously interested in. Listen more to what people say, we learn so much more when we really listen rather than spend time planning what we will say next.
- MAKE INFORMED JUDGEMENTS
It is ok to not have an opinion about something because you don’t have enough information yet. Avoid rushing to judgements, take your time to gather information and evidence and assess it before making a decision. Try not to let yourself be swayed by emotion as this can affect your ability to assess information intellectually.
On Friday we have our swimming carnival, and parents are very welcome to attend to support their children. We look forward to all the students participating and offering support to their fellow classmates.
Rodney Spain
Assistant Principal Senior Years