For a 12 to 18 years period from the age of 6 to our mid twenties we have lived constantly in an educational system wherein we seldom if ever learned to function intellectually independent of outside direction. We have never learned how to learn!
How is it possible for such an individual to develop the internal processes (bootstrap) that allow him or her to become an independent critically self-conscious thinker? Bootstrap is defined as: designed to function independently of outside direction—capable of using one internal function or process to control another.
Like the PC setting in front of us we seem to have an automatic default position. Our default position is ‘reject’ when encountering any idea that does not fit in our already learned patterns and algorithms.
Somehow the individual must find a way to change that default position from ‘reject’ to ‘examine critically’. Of course—how do we every not reject this message?
critical listening: A mode of monitoring how we are listening so as to maximize our accurate understanding of what another person is saying. By understanding the logic of human communication-that everything spoken expresses point of view, uses some ideas and not others, has implications, etc.-critical thinkers can listen so as to enter sympathetically and analytically into the perspective of others. See critical speaking, critical reading, critical writing, elements of thought, intellectual empathy.
critical person: One who has mastered a range of intellectual skills and abilities. If that person generally uses those skills to advance his or her own selfish interests, that person is a critical thinker only in a weak or qualified sense. If that person generally uses those skills fairmindedly, entering empathically into the points of view of others, he or she is a critical thinker in the strong or fullest sense. See critical thinking.
Personally, I’d love to see courses on critical thinking starting in early high school. It doesn’t have to be for credit (in fact, it’s best that it isn’t because some students will try to “pass” just by spitting back whatever answers they think the teacher wants to hear, thus missing the whole point).
Not everyone needs to be a critical thinker, though, just like not everyone needs to be an engineer or an artist. Better to just train teachers to spot students who are especially creative and give them more challenging work, rather than teach to standardized tests and such.
Hmm. This thread could do with a better title… how about “Bootstrap Problem”? Just something I thought of off the top of my head.
Seriously, though, I agree with you that general education nowadays encourages the rote learning of facts and not the development of actual thinking abilities. Even less fact-orientated subjects, such as english (as in the study of literature, not the language), history, or psychology often have “ready-made” opinions in textbooks that students are encouraged to accept.
However; I don’t think a lack of critical thinking skills is that big a problem. We may be taught in schools or colleges in a way that doesn’t promote actual reasoning, but real life, away from such structured learning, does provide experiences which help us develop our thinking skills. And those that are interested often actively seek out another means of expanding their capabilites; look at this board, for one (ok, probably only Great Debates. But participating in a debate is one of the best ways of developing critical thinking skills).
Which is what already happens. That is what the accelerated programs at schools are for. Some of them are simply harder, more advanced classes, but some incorporate independent investigation and free thinking.
I think it’s built into our physiology; our brains are predisposed to learn to think independently; that we don’t do so much of it at an earlier age could be a survival trait (i.e. when we’re younger, we need to trust our parents to provide safety, food, etc. When we’re older, we need the ability to discern what is and is not safe, what is good to eat and how to get it, so that we can in turn nurture our children.
Or to put it another way; genotypes that resulted in a higher tendency to wander out of the cave and play with the sabre-tooth/eat the shiny red berries, despite what mum and dad say, would have a tendency to weed themselves out of the gene pool; similarly, genotypes that resulted in a relaxed sense of what was the safe place to put/safe thing to feed junior, would also have a tendency to weed themselves out of the gene pool, because the junior that is at risk, is already carrying the parents’ genes.
Adults need to think for themselves; dependent children need to be dependent, or at least it has been that way during the rise of humans.
I am interested in acquainting adults with what CT (Critical Thinking) is, why it is important for children, and why it is important for adults who were not taught this in their schooling.
CT (Critiacl Thinking) is about the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for making good judgments. We make judgments constantly and there are bad judgments, good judgments and better judgments. Knowing CT helps put one in the better class of judgments.
I think it is cultivated in all of us to some degree, from a very young age. Some people refuse to accept the challenge, and there’s nothing we as a society can do about that.
I don’t know what schools you went to, but I went to plain ol’ public school and we were encouraged (at least by some teachers) to employ critical thinking skills with regard to things like literature and social studies. Of course there are those instructors who aren’t as passionate about the teaching/learning process and don’t put the effort into it, but I still think a lot of the problem lies with the individual.
You also need to cultivate a sense of confidence in children so they aren’t afraid to think outside the box. Much of that comes from the parents. Many parents encourage higher education primarily as a means to earning more money rather than learning for learning’s sake. I think that approach does a terrible disservice to a kid.
First of all, a lot of teachers do try to integrate higher-level thinking skills into their programs. The “teaching to the test” movement is unfortunately at odds with this, and there are other pressures put on teachers by students, parents, etc., to do a rote curriculum.
Second of all, replying to Bryan’s post, I work in training and can pass on the sad fact that critical thinking is very hard to transfer, i.e., when learned as a separate skill, people have difficulty applying it in a context, and when they learn it one context, they have difficulty applying it to another.
So I agree with the OP to the extent that critical thinking needs to be taught, but it’s simplistic and untrue to say the schools just don’t teach it and ought to. You can bet anything that’s occurred to casual standers by is understood by teachers, has been discussed at length, researched, attempted, met with challenges, and sometimes crystalized a whole field of study.
Are you going to just toss around platitudes and quotes from someone else, or are you going to actually establish something of a debate here?
As another poster indicated above, there are those of us who did receive an education which involves not only critical thinking, but also a wide variety of other subjects which involved making intelligent and original decisions in those classes.
I envy you. I first went to a public school where the teachers gave you blank looks if you asked about anything that wasn’t covered in the text and then ended up in a private Christian school where critical thinking was a punishable offense.
We all can learn the fundamentals of logical thinking just as we can all learn how to multiply and divide. Learning the attitude and character traits of Critical Thinking can also be learned if there exists a sufficient will to know.
Our schools and colleges have started teaching Critical Thinking. If all schools and colleges do I do not know. CT (Critical Thinking) consists of the fundamentals of logical thinking together with the attitudes and character traits needed for Critical Thinking. CT is teaching youngsters how to think rather than just what to think.
Most all subjects one takes in school teach us how to think critically in that particular subject matter. When we are taught math we learn how to think critically when faced with a math problem. But only lately with CT have our schools taught the general skills and knowledge of how to think critically in a general sense.
