It has been my pleasure and responsibility for a few years now to teach a course in critical thinking at the local community college. The challenge has been daunting and rewarding. Of course, we all know the old joke. The seriousness of its implications has never been more obvious than now in our current political climate. But this blog is not about politics. During the next few days/weeks, I thought I would share with you what and how I present this subject to my students. They pay to attend class. I get paid to conduct the class. You get it free. So be careful; you might get your money's worth.
I begin the semester by defining critical thinking. There are several definitions from which to choose. This is the one I have chosen for now. Without a solid foundation and a common understanding from which to begin, the structure and direction will be faulty, accomplishing little.
Critical thinking involves several characteristics. The first I begin with is INQUIRY. A critical thinker asks probing questions. S/he will analyze assumptions, processes, and decisions that led to particular decisions. This process encourages deeper understanding and seeks relevant information. This thinking strives to maintain an open mind and looks at things from different perspectives.
Critical thinking has APPLICATION in every aspect of life, personal, political, and professional. The process includes location of relevant material, evaluation of the credibility of that material and its source, drawing rational and defensible conclusions, and reflection on those results.
REFLECTION is the capacity to answer questions and think rationally. "Is it reasonable?" Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking. It is considering other points of view and respecting different opinions.
But critical thinking does not stop here. One must be able to COMMUNICATE in writing and orally. It requires a sense of audience and be driven by a strong sense of purpose. This demands clarity, relevance, accuracy, and fairness. The process helps others join the conversation with deeper understanding. It promotes civil discourse.
Critical thinking is LOGICAL. It recognizes contradictions and circular reasoning; it uses deductive and inductive logic and, using credible information, arrives at valid conclusions. Critical thinking is systematic thinking, generating predictable theories, and testing their validity.
Critical thinkers are CREATIVE. They seek solutions and apply those solutions to other problems. Critical thinking uses imagination and flexibility. It moves from simple to complex using association, connotation, metaphor, and elaboration.
The personal affective benefit is that you learn to accept the opinions of others, not to reach agreement, but to learn from each other. Good critical thinking demands intellectual generosity, honesty, humility, courage, curiosity, and fairness......but that's the subject of another blog.
