- Students think that learning consists of memorizing what books or professors say and repeating it. They haven't considered that there may be differing points of view on issues. They are deferential to authority.
- Students realize that there are differences of opinion even among authorities. They conclude that everyone is entitled to an opinion, including students, and that all opinions are equally valid.
- Students discover that there is a thing called critical thinking, but they assume that it's a game played by professors and other authorities. So they try to play the game to get approval and good grades.
- Students realize that critical thinking is the only means of sorting out differing opinions, and come to believe that sorting out opinions is worthwhile. So they buy into the process.
Those are the stages. Here is the story. SWNID was yesterday explaining to the young sophomores (Motto: "Etymology tells you all that you need to know about us") in BEX 200 01 Hermeneutics (note to gentle readers: the term refers to the art and science of interpretation) the broad outlines of their upcoming midterm exam. Having just informed them that half of the exam would be applied hermeneutics, requiring them to write about the interpretation of specific texts of the Bible, a student said with some consternation, "So you're going to grade us on our opinions?"
Our gentle reply was, "Yes."
We did make some effort to point out to the student that figuring out which opinions about the biblical text are warranted and which are unwarranted is what this class is all about. But we did so gently, at least for SWNID, knowing that this fine young person has not yet passed from stage two to stage three. But we suspect that the midterm will prompt this very move.
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