Critical Analysis
Three levels of analysis
| Level | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ethno-methodological | Examines taken-for-granted assumptions and rules of everyday social behaviour |
| Hermeneutic phenomenological | Reflects on interpretation of the learner’s experience and the phenomena being experienced |
| Discursive | Probes how speech and texts construct social truths |
The information-need cycle
Need → Map → Formulate questions → Source → Find → Evaluate → Apply → back to Need.
Four competences of a critical thinker (Ennis)
- Clarification: identify focus, analyse arguments, define terms
- Basis: judge credibility of sources, judge observations
- Inference: deduce, induce, judge value judgements
- Metacognition: reason from premises one disagrees with, integrate the other competences
One-line takeaway
Critical analysis is breaking the experience down into parts and examining the relationships among the parts and with the whole.
A teacher hits a problem they cannot solve with intuition. The problem is real, the situation is complex, and a guess will not do. Critical analysis is the toolkit for working through these problems methodically. It has three layers: levels of analysis, a cycle for handling information, and a list of competences that describe what a critical thinker does.
The basic move is the same throughout. Break the situation into parts. Examine the parts and the relationships among them. Build an understanding that holds up under questioning.
What critical analysis is
Analysis involves breaking down information into its component parts and examining the relationships within these parts and with the whole. By doing this, the teacher shows the ability to differentiate and distinguish between the components of their experience.
All critical analysis is built around one basic assumption: applying theory to practice. The teacher is not just describing what happened. They are using theory to explain it, and using the explanation to plan the next step.
Three levels of analysis
Different problems call for different kinds of analysis. Three levels cover most cases.
Ethno-methodological analysis
This level examines taken-for-granted assumptions and rules of everyday social behaviour.
The classroom has dozens of unwritten rules. Who speaks first when the class enters. How loudly students may disagree. What counts as a good answer. These rules are usually invisible until you analyse them.
Ethno-methodological analysis surfaces the rules. A teacher using this approach asks, “what is the unspoken rule that students are following here?” The answer often explains a behaviour that seemed inexplicable until the rule was named.
Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis
This level reflects on the interpretation of the learner’s experience and the phenomena being experienced. The goal is to move beyond the partiality of previous understanding.
The teacher asks, “what is this experience like from the student’s side?” Not what the student should be experiencing, but what they actually are. The analysis tries to enter the student’s perspective and understand the lesson from inside that perspective.
This is harder than it sounds. The teacher’s own frame keeps interfering. The work involves repeatedly setting aside the teacher’s view in order to see the student’s.
Discursive analysis
This level probes how speech and texts construct social truths.
The words the teacher uses, the words the textbook uses, the words students use to describe the class: all of these shape what is taken to be true. A class repeatedly described as “lazy” comes to be a lazy class. A class repeatedly described as “talented” comes to be a talented class. The descriptions are not innocent.
Discursive analysis asks, “what is the language doing here?” It treats words as actions, not as transparent labels.
Choosing the right level
The three levels are tools, not a hierarchy. A useful teacher chooses the level that fits the problem.
A problem about why a class greets the teacher in a particular way is ethno-methodological. A problem about why a student is silent is hermeneutic phenomenological. A problem about how the school’s language about students shapes what teachers expect is discursive.
Models should be used to trigger broader reflection rather than as ends in themselves. Teachers need to understand that different models engage different levels of complexity and need to be used selectively. Students should also be helped to see the strengths of different models and methods of reflection.
Presenting one model as if it were the only way reflective practice is done is a mistake. The point is to have several tools and to know when to use each.
The information-need cycle
When a teacher needs to investigate a problem, they need information. The information-need cycle structures the search.
The cycle has eight steps. Each one matters.
Need
What does the teacher need to know? Need is determined by learning outcomes or by the information required for the problem at hand.
Examples:
- “I need something on smoking.” (Vague.)
- “I have an assignment for which I need the best evidence to support an intervention.” (Better.)
- “I have an assignment for which I need to find research.” (Better still.)
A clear need is the start of useful searching. A vague need produces a scattershot search.
Map
Map all the possible conceptual pathways to developing a question that will provide an answer. This is keyword generation, critical creative thinking, and language work.
The teacher writes down all the words and concepts related to the need. The map shows the territory of possible searches.
Formulate questions
Sharpen the need into a focused question.
“I need something on group work” becomes “I need information on the teacher’s role in effective group work.” The first version is too vague to search. The second is searchable.
Source
Which information sources will provide the answer? Books, articles, peers, observations, online databases, the principal’s experience, the teacher’s own past records.
The choice matters because each source has different strengths. A research database is good for theory; a colleague is good for local practice; a student survey is good for student perspective.
Find
Develop a search strategy. Strategies vary by source but follow standard frameworks. For literature, this includes keyword combinations, filters, and snowballing through citations. For people, it includes who to ask, when, and how.
Evaluate
Does the information found actually answer the question? Or is it close to the question but not quite right?
Evaluation is a step that often gets skipped. The teacher finds something, calls it the answer, and stops. A real evaluation asks whether the source is credible, whether the method behind it is sound, and whether the findings transfer to the teacher’s situation.
Apply
How can the information be used? What conclusion can be drawn?
Application is the bridge from research to practice. Information that is found, evaluated, and never applied is not useful.
Back to Need
The application generates a new need. The cycle starts again at a slightly higher level than the last round.
Need, map, formulate questions, source, find, evaluate, apply, back to need
The cycle takes a teacher from a vague sense of needing to know something through to a usable conclusion. Each step refines the previous one. The cycle does not stop at “apply”: the application produces a new need that starts the next round.
What affects critical analysis
Critical analysis is influenced by three practical factors.
Level of support in the work environment. A teacher in an environment that supports analysis can spend time on it. A teacher whose work environment expects everything done yesterday cannot.
Time available for critical analysis. Real analysis takes hours. Snatching ten minutes between lessons rarely produces useful work.
Tools available for critical reflection. Access to literature, to data, to colleagues, to a quiet space. All of these matter.
A teacher who lacks support, time, or tools will do shallower analysis than one who has all three. This is not a personal failing. It is a structural fact that the teacher and the school need to address together.
Critical analysis strategies
Different forms of reflection fit different contexts. A busy practitioner often relies on reflection-in-action, in the moment. Working in a dialogical team allows for hearing different perspectives. Critical incidents, case studies, reflective journals, and practical exercises provide structure for deeper analysis.
The teacher chooses the strategy based on the problem and the time available. No single strategy fits all problems.
The four competences of a critical thinker
Robert Ennis described four competences that characterise a critical thinker. These describe what the critical analysis skill set actually contains.
Clarification
Identify the focus. Analyse arguments. Ask and answer questions of clarification. Define terms. Judge definitions. Deal with equivocation. Identify unstated assumptions.
This is the foundation. A teacher who cannot clarify a problem cannot analyse it.
Basis
Judge the credibility of a source. Make and judge observations.
This competence says that not all information deserves equal weight. Some sources are credible and some are not. Some observations are reliable and some are not. The critical thinker has the skill to tell them apart.
Inference
Deduce. Judge deductions. Induce. Judge inductions. Make and judge value judgements.
This is the reasoning competence. From premises, what follows? What does not follow? Are the value judgements being made justifiable from the evidence?
Metacognition
Reason from premises, assumptions, and positions one disagrees with or doubts, without losing one’s own thinking. Integrate the other competences in making and defending a decision.
This is the highest competence. The critical thinker can think with positions they reject, evaluate them honestly, and use the evaluation to defend their actual decision. This is what allows real argument with people who disagree.