How Writing Short Stories Benefit My Critical Thinking : A Reflective Study
Abstract
Although universities and higher education had made critical thinking
skills their ultimate goal to attire their students with, the ideal outcome still
somehow feels quite unreachable. In a study that aimed to investigate the difference
between the critical thinking of graduate and non-graduate students between 256
Scottish and Australian university students studying education, Pithers and Soden
(1999) concluded that there is no significant difference between the two groups.
This suggests that the universities included in the study failed to install critical
thinking skills in their students. It is a primary goal and necessity to make sure that
university students are driven by their critical thinking skills so that they could
apply their knowledge with self-awareness and responsibility.
Educators from higher education are determined to equip the students of
the 21st century with critical thinking skills in navigating the vastly changing world.
As teachers and educators attempting different methods to include critical thinking
skills into students’ awareness, integrated subjects and methods were held in the
classroom to engage them. Writing a short narrative emphasize the social aspects
of creativity and writing. Through perspective shifts and metareflection, such an
approach tries to improve students' ability to write to learn (Elbow 1973) and think
critically. Writing short stories also offers a different kind of boost to students. It
demands inspiration, originality, imagination, and personal preference as powerful
tools to develop their minds as a writer. This research focuses on how my
experiences in writing three short stories benefit my critical thinking skill as a
university student and an EFL learner. Moreover, with the rise of narrative research
and creative thinking in education, the prejudice against narrative inquiry and
creative writing in academia must eventually be overcome. Due to the obvious gap
in this study, more research on the relationship between creative writing and critical
thinking is urgently required.
The data for this study were taken from a reflective journal. The researcher
used categorical-content analysis to analyze the data. The entries of the reflective
journal was about my experiences on writing three short stories entitles “Neverland
2.0”, “Tsumibito” and “Solar Plexus”. The codes for the analysis were
predetermined from Ennis’s Disposition of Ideal Critical Thinker (1991) in which
I have simplified before. As anticipated, the capacity for self-reflection and critical
thought has been a part of my writing process. I learned how creating short stories
aids my critical thinking through the reflections. High order thinking, the capacity
for self-reflection, and metacognition ability are necessary for short story writing.
Building a short story involves several different components, all of which clearly
demonstrate the application of critical thinking skills. I must identify the topic, the
theme, and the lesson I wish to convey before I can decide on the story's focal point.
In developing the plot of the story, I must use my ability to filter and select elements
that I want to use in my story. There is also a reasoning and analysis to be done
considering the hypotheses that emerged during the writing process. And finally, I
must use my self-reflecting ability as a writer to deeply comprehend my characters,
to engage readers in the narrative, to perceive the story in different perspectives,
and to be adaptable to changes.
There is no reason why writing needs to be one of the most dreadful
subjects in learning English. Creative writing is a friendly approach to establishing
better cognitive skills seamlessly through students’ likeness and diverse
personalities. Short story writing is not difficult for students to do on their own;
there are many options for varied interests and preferences, and it may be used with
students of all ages, shifts, and English proficiency levels (Pardede, 2011).
Analyzing a simple short tale from anyone can provide you a window into how they
feel and how they think about certain issues. It is obvious that this study is bound
to a certain context and that further research is required. My reflective study,
however, sheds light on the potential of short story writing as a practical tool that
contributes to critical thinking abilities. This study suggests that critical thinking
skills are implemented in every component in the writing process of short stories.
Additionally, incorporating story writing into a learning process will support the use of literature as authentic language learning material. It is encouraged to conduct
more study to show the advantages of short story writing on critical thinking skills.