Introduction 

Higher-order thinking is often related to teachers, examinations and curriculum developers encouraging students to go beyond rote learning towards analysis, evaluation and creation. Still, many of us spend much of our time remembering and reciting facts, understanding concepts and following instructions. Advanced studies and real-world situations demand more than recall. Higher-order thinking asks us to build arguments, make connections, experiment, ask questions, compare and contrast, among others. What if it was adapted as a lifelong habit of thinking in addition to a teaching strategy?Analysis, Evaluation

Information Overload

In this era of abundant knowledge sources- social media, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), websites, podcasts and books- how should a learner think?  Reading one hundred self-help books within twelve months, watching lecture videos at triple speed, speedrunning through educative social media posts and videos may not be genuine learning. This is because higher-order thinking involves active engagement with ideas.

Becoming your Own Teacher

Developing higher-order thinking begins with creating a learner’s environment. A conducive environment is one where you encourage yourself to express ideas, build a resilient mindset that welcomes active thinking and cultivate enthusiasm and motivation to learn. This is facilitated through having clear, realistic and challenging goals for oneself, patience and grace; understanding that you will learn with time, celebrating small wins, avoiding distractions and doing regular reflections. Acknowledge that you are both the learner and the teacher. More importantly, become the kind of teacher that questions conclusions and is okay being wrong.

After the framework and foundations have been laid down, participate in the learning. This literally means practising the top three cognitive levels of Bloom’s revised Taxonomy. For example:

Analyse: Instead of accepting that the job market is unfavourable at face value, break down the situation into your skills and in-demand jobs, and solutions you can have.

Evaluate: Pick a belief that you’ve held for a long time. Ask questions: Why do I believe it? Is it true? And audit them

Create: Do not stop at understanding the idea; use it to produce something new. After reading articles or a book, create a product of your own. It could be an essay, directing a film based on the book or a workshop/course.

Conclusion 

Life today insists on higher-order thinking skills to thrive. When we refine our thinking in this way, we can become better decision-makers and problem solvers.