Freedom to critically think

Through the vagaries of life I have been writing a lot of job applications lately. Although my ability to state my case ( basically; I am awesome please please give me a job) has improved I have struggled to articulate the role that critical thinking and teaching it too adolescent boys plays in how I conduct my classroom.

Teaching is in many respects, like all human based endeavours, an imperfect combination of finely honed and educated bullshit, a whole lot of spit and paper in it's myriad of forms. My medium is the fertile brains of adolescent boys who struggle for coherent thought through the miasma of south bound blood flow and an alarming preoccupation with the political tensions on the Korean peninsula.

I ask questions and I give them interesting things to read like Walter Benjamin's wonderful essay on the concept of history and I talk and cajole and use sarcasm and wit and not a little charm to make the conceptual connections stick to the historical content the curriculum dictates I teach. Occasionally I awkwardly pat them on the back when they cry due to yet again sucking at maths or coach them through their first job interview at McDonalds or more seriously deal with the difficult outcomes of personal identity, parental pressure and cultural integration of 2nd generation migrants.

The big question that I cannot really answer is.........do I teach them to critically think and how can I creatively assess not only the ability but the depth and breadth of it?