Reasoning is not a word or idea that can be summed up with a dictionary definition or a synonym. Reasoning is the most basic act of humanity. It is a careful, thoughtful, logical process that allows us to take in all the appropriate data available to us and to come up with an answer. It is that black box that is the human brain. Reasoning is problem solving at a conscious level. Many animals integrate data and make decisions based on that data, but few non-apes seem to be able to remove instinct and nature from the equation. Does this mean that human beings make better decisions than animals? Not remotely. Because even with the ability to reason and the ability to choose a certain path, we are still potential befuddled by our emotions. In addition reasoning has that potential "Eureka Factor" when the human mind makes a leap, sythesizing an idea from a completely inadequate supply of data. This happy accident cannot be planned, but the patterns of thought that may lead to it can.

Active reasoning presupposes the one has the background knowledge and skills to be able to process the information that is received. David Perkins in an article on Teaching for Understanding states: "Knowledge and skill have traditionally been the mainstays of American education. . . . Knowledge and skill in themselves do not guarantee understanding. People can acquire knowledge and routine skills without understanding their basis or when to use them." (Perkins, 1993).

Bloom suggests that we are teaching the basic underlying information. "Bloom found that over 95 % of the test questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level... the recall of information." (Soto, 2004) The next step is to increase understanding and reasoning skills. It is interesting that the two most common aspects of improving teaching/education today are related to Reasoning and Understanding. These two concepts are actually two sides of the same coin. This is also the soundbite we hear from politicians, school boards and CEOs: We need citizens who can access higher order thinking skills.

What would it mean for my students to use their knowledge and understanding to reason in the classroom? I would expect my students to be able to utilize the concepts and guidelines we have used in the past to work with a new experience whether that experience is a story to read or an essay to write. The most vivid examples that would demonstrate the use of reasoning in my classroom are related to the two key components of my language arts courses: writing and reading.

The primary emphasis of my Language Arts classes is on writing. When I ask a student to create an essay on the topic they have not written about all the patterns of reasoning are displayed. The student must first collect their thoughts and knowledge on the topic. Then they must analyze their existing information and evaluate whether or not they have sufficient background to write the essay. If they lack enough information research must occur. Once they have a large collection of data, they must categorize or, as Stiggins would suggest, use the analytical pattern of reasoning. At this point the evaluative pattern again comes into play. Which pieces of information are important and contribute to the direction of the essay? If their skills and knowledge are advanced synthesis may occur.

The secondary emphasis of my classes is reading and the ability to communicate information about what has been read. If the student understands what they read they will be able to place its in the context of their lives and their experience with reading other pieces. At times the responses we do to readings access Stiggins' pattern of analysis. The students will break a story down into its component pieces, or an article into its important points. At this point, especially with a piece of literature, we will compare and contrast this piece with other pieces we have read. This is also a time for evaluative reasoning. My first question is usually, "What did you think?" Inevitably the response is either, "It was good," or "It sucked." At this point, I will usually go around the circle and ask them to me a specific example of something that was good or bad about the piece. We then move from this basic phase into an analytical phase in which they will compare, contrast and classify what they have read with other works. I hope they have the underlying knowledge and confidence to broach new thoughts and ideas about the significance if there is something new in the piece. This may lead to synthesis of new connections and paths.<>

I appreciated Stiggins' own evaluation of his system as limited and his categories overlapping. Though I felt the amount of overlap was excessive and wished to try to make it more compact. To my chagrin, after many scribbled notes, dog-eared pages, self-arguments and rearrangements of Stiggin's concepts into the layout in Figure 1.1, I realized that I had managed to re-create the top three levels of Bloom's taxonomy. That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way. - Doris Lessing. Furthermore, throughout this whole process I kept coming back to the fact that every problem or issue has a variety of solutions which are reached by combining a variety of methods of thought. As Stiggins writes, "Reasoning patterns are rarely used independently of each other." (Stiggins, 2001, p. 266) Jumping off from my realization of recreating part of Bloom's Taxonomy, I tried to fit it all together. In Figure 1.2 I have attempted to align Stiggins' Six Patterns of Reasoning, with my own adaptation, Bloom's Taxonomy and Wiggins' and McTighe's Six Facets of Understanding by Design. Like Stiggins "I tried to glean from these various opinions the things they had in common." (Stiggins, 2001, p. 273)

My final conclusion is that what we as educators and learners must have is a framework to stretch our ideas on. Like a painter must stretch and size and temper his canvas, so must we as educators and learners prepare the basis of our thinking, our reasoning, for the work of art that is the human reasoning process.

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References

Stiggins, Richard J. (2001). Student-Involved Classroom Assessment (3rd ed.). New Jersey, Ohio. Merrill Prentice Hall.

Soto, Melvin. Bloom's Taxonomy. OfficePort Educational Site. Retrieved July 11, 2004, from   http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm

Perkins, David. (1993). Teaching For Understanding. American Educator: The Professional Journal of the American Federation of Teachers; v17 n3. Institute for Inquiry website. Retrieved July 11, 2004, from http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/workshops/teachingforunderstanding.html

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (December 1997). Education Update (Volume 39, Number 8). Retrieved July 11, 2004, from http://www.ascd.org/cms/ object lib/ascdframeset/index.cfm?publication=http://www.ascd.org/articles/eu199712_6.html <> 

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