(In researching this subject, I found so much interesting content on teaching critical thought…here’s my best effort in trying to summarize it.)
Teaching Critical Thought. While addressing a different subject, US Naval Academy’s Academic Dean Dr. Samara Firebaugh recently came up with a relevant quote. When talking about how the Academy incorporates new technology into their academic program, she commented, “We try to communicate to the midshipmen (students) why critical thinking, logical reasoning and ethical judgment is so important to their development….”.1 So it’s not just critical thinking, but that’s the focus of this post.
From elementary school through doctoral programs we undergo so many years and stages of formal/classroom learning. Some content requires rote memory (think multiplication tables, math formulae, vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, historical dates, foreign language, Periodic Tables, etc.). Creativity is also important, as is developing reasoning skills, and learning to solve problems. The higher the education level, the more these learning skills- as well as critical thought– are required. Yet we don’t have specific courses on them. Hopefully middle/high school course learning objectives include development of such skills. We have to learn/practice “how to apply ____ skills” sometime before being released into adulthood, don’t we?
Some educators will argue that critical thinking is not a skill. Instead, there are other educational skills to learn, and once learned, they make critical thinking more likely. There are also “things” such as bias that makes critical thinking less likely.
Middle/High School. I believe most teachers genuinely desire for each student to graduate from high school having developed an ability to think- and communicate orally and in writing- critically. I’m not so sure any middle/high school curricula is specifically designed to accomplish that (what used to be known as a “classical education” was designed for achieving this objective). I found numerous references stating that teaching critical thought in middle/high school is often left by the wayside because there are too many other state-mandated subjects to be taught at that level.
Nor do I feel that most of today’s middle/high school teachers are well equipped to emphasize critical thinking. There are numerous middle/high school teacher references on teaching critical thought. One such reference defined critical thinking as the ability to objectively analyze information, evaluate arguments, and make reasoned judgments. It involves the use of logic, reasoning, and evidence to form well-informed opinions.2 The reference went on to include some quality guidance for teaching critical thinking skills in class.
(One middle/high school-level reference equated critical thinking to “thinking outside the box”. I think that might be misleading, especially since at this level, students are still learning what “inside the box” includes.)
Today, especially with so many unfiltered misinformation sources (perhaps a downside to our cherished U.S. Bill of Rights, Amendment 1), the ability to think critically is perhaps more important than ever.
Is it possible to learn to think critically at home (and I’m not just talking about home schooling parents)? Of course it is, assuming the parents possess such skills. An additional benefit to learning this skill at home might be parents sharpening their own critical thinking skills.
College Level. I’m not sure where best to start here. Books have been written on if/where critical thinking instruction is to be included at that level. Certainly any college or university should expect students to show up with some ability to think critically, and every college student should expect to be in an academic environment which takes their thinking skills to a higher level. I would also expect students entering college with exceptional critical thinking skills/abilities to have the potential to learn more, and be better equipped to excel in adult life (assuming the student applies those skills/abilities in the academic environment). Every college classroom is going to have a spectrum of student critical thinking abilities. I suspect the professor gets to decide whether to include instruction in critical thinking as part of the course. That’s a great debate subject!
Many will argue that much of today’s college curriculum is indoctrination with professors introducing their own biases, and there’s evidence to support this conclusion. I’m not sure it’s fair to characterize this broadly.
One final reference below written by a professional educator who knows far more about this subject than I, for your consideration:
I will continue to update this post, as well as the previous post on critical thinking. As always, your thoughts and inputs are welcome.
- Shipmate Magazine, September-October 2024, p.25. ↩︎
- https://everydayspeech.com/sel-implementation/empowering-high-school-students-with-critical-thinking-practical-tips-for-teachers/ ↩︎