Historical Perspective: The Development of Critical Thinking in Indonesian Elt

Abstract

Even though critical thinking has been included in education system in Indonesia, it is unlikely to be widely implemented in teaching-learning processes in all levels of education in this country. Indonesian ELT (English Language Teaching) can actually play a role in promoting critical thinking in education. However, the development of ELT in this country since colonial to present era does not seem to facilitate students' critical thinking skill. This article presents historical perspective with regard to ELT and critical thinking. The first part reviews the history of Indonesian education which did not promote critical thinking, followed by the historical development of Indonesian ELT. The third part discusses socio-political condition which could be partly solved by promoting critical thinking in education and society. The final part suggests incorporation of critical thinking into English textbooks as ELT can also be used as a vehicle for teaching critical thinking. Keywords: historical perspective, critical thinking, Indonesian education, ELT textbooksMeskipun berpikir kritis telah dimasukan ke dalam tujuan pendidikan di Indonesia, berpikir kritis sepertinya belum diterapkan secara luas dalam proses pembelajaran di seluruh tingkat pendidikan di negeri ini. Pendidikan bahasa Inggris (ELT) sebenarnya dapat memainkan peran penting dalam mempromosikan berpikir kritis. Namun perkembangan ELT di negeri ini sejak zaman penjajahan hingga saat ini belum mendorong siswa untuk berpikir kritis. Artikel ini menyajikan perspektif sejarah tentang ELT dan berpikir kritis. Bagian pertama membahas sejarah pendidikan di Indonesia yang tidak mempromosikan berpikir kritis, diikuti oleh sejarah perkembangan ELT di Indonesia. Bagian ketiga membahas kondisi sosial-politik yang kemungkinan dapat diselesaikan dengan mempromosikan berpikir kritis di pendidikan. Bagian

Critical Thinking Tasks Manifested in Indonesian Language Textbooks for Senior Secondary Students

“…Very few studies have investigated the infusion of critical thinking in school textbooks. To date, the literature has informed two studies (Birjandi & Alizadeh, 2013; Ilyas, 2015) that have examined critical thinking in school textbooks. Birjandi and Alizadeh (2013), for example, conducted a study to determine the manifestation of critical thinking in three Iranian English textbooks; they adopted Bloom’s taxonomy to provide analytic categories, combined with some other critical thinking elements, which in their view made the categories more comprehensive.…”

“…Another study that investigated the manifestation of critical thinking in EFL textbooks was conducted by Ilyas (2015). Unlike the previous study, this investigation—part of a doctoral thesis at the University of York—did not purely adopt Bloom’s taxonomy.…”

“…Instead, the study synthesized 21 critical thinking theories, which consisted of two critical thinking taxonomies (Freeman and Bloom), six empirical studies on critical thinking in English Language Teaching (Dantas-Whitney, 2002; Daud & Husin, 2004; Davidson & Dunham, 1997; Park, 2011; Shahini & Riazi, 2011; Yang & Gamble, 2013), nine critical thinking programs created by critical thinking authorities (Philosophy for Children, Taxonomy of Socratic Questions, Cognitive Acceleration, Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment, Top Ten Thinking Tactics, De Bono’s CoRT program, Swartz and Park’s Thinking Skills Taxonomy, Six Thinking Hats and Fisher’s Story-Based Activities), and four critical thinking tests (Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test, the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test). Table 1 lists the categories synthesized by Ilyas (2015) with examples of each category:…”

“…Based on these categories, Ilyas (2015) found that Indonesian English textbooks used by senior secondary school students contained less than 15% of critical thinking activities. Interestingly, in this study, he found that literary texts in the textbooks mostly provided critical thinking questions and activities, proving that critical thinking can be taught through literature (Lazar, 1993).…”

“…The studies mentioned previously, though showing that critical thinking could be successful in non-Western countries, do not explain to what extent critical thinking has been adopted in non-Western education, especially the adoption of critical thinking in school textbooks. Studies on this matter are still rare; to date, there have only been two studies (Birjandi & Alizadeh, 2013; Ilyas, 2015) investigating how critical thinking is represented in the textbooks. These two studies, however, investigated critical thinking in English textbooks in the context of EFL (English as a Foreign Language).…”