7 minute read
Edmond Life and Leisure - October 3, 2024
From the Publisher
Schools need to teach critical thinking
There are two items I would add to our elementary curriculum if I were King for a day. They are classes in critical thinking and personal finance. Many school systems will tell you they do both, in junior high school or high school. Both are too late. I will tackle critical thinking today.
I saw a story over the weekend on how Finland teaches critical thinking skills starting in elementary school even as young as six years of age. Too soon? I do not think so folks. They work hard at encouraging that kids can still be creative and enjoy their fantasy world but what they teach is how to tell the difference and know when you are playing make believe. They do not want to become dream killers for young children.
Finland always ranks at the top for education skill in their country. They spotted the same problem as many other countries in that getting folks to be critical of what they see on social media is key. Taking at face value all the junk that is out there leads to a more divided society. Most countries are trying to educate the adults but wisely Finland has started to build a culture of critical thinking by starting so young and let it propagate through out the rest of their country.
The lack of critical thinking is not new. I had a friend who was a college professor in the early 1990’s and she was astounded at the lack of critical thinking of her first-year students. She was shocked that they would so readily not question advertising they saw. Of course, we did not have the social media to deal with, but her prediction back then was that if we did not educate students in the secondary education system about the importance of critical thinking it was going to be a big problem. She was so ahead of her time on this one.
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is "thinking about thinking." It is a way of deciding if a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. It can be split into two key areas, logical fallacies and cognitive bias. A cognitive bias is when someone makes a bad choice that they think is an excellent choice. A fallacy is a misleading argument that might sound true and may even be based on truth but is in fact false. Social media is full of both.
It can be easy to assume that critical thinking is simply the ability to analyze to decide. While that is true, there is so much more to it. Students need to see both sides of an issue and welcome new evidence that challenges their ideas, insist that claims be backed by facts, draw conclusions from the evidence, and solve problems.
Dr Richard Paul said, “Critical thinking is the art of thinking about thinking in an intellectually disciplined manner…they analyze thinking, they assess thinking, and they improve thinking.” Effective critical thinkers will first analyze why someone thinks the way they do, evaluate quality and reliability and use that evidence to inform their judgment.
This type of thinking is, of course, imperative for English and Drama classrooms which is where I remember being taught the process in high school. It was expected that you would apply this process to any book we were assigned to read and best of all it was automatic which is what Finland is trying to instill at an early age. Students can use critical thinking to explore characters, themes, and language, understand what the writer is trying to tell them, and then decide using this information.
So, why is critical thinking so important for your students after they leave school?
1. Because higher education and jobs require it.
The fundamental truth is that critical thinking is vital for graduating students to achieve a successful academic and/or working career. It is not just doctors, lawyers, and detectives; no matter what career students aim toward, having good critical thinking skills will help them stand out against their peers. Critical thinkers can problem solve, so when the hiring manager asks, “how would you solve this issue?” they are directly asking candidates to prove they can think critically.
It is also what makes us human. A computer, along with AI, can recite facts, analyze data and draw conclusions, whereas a human can do this while also considering circumstances and emotions. In a world where technology poses a threat to some job roles, critical thinking is the tool to ensure that students stand out against both peers and computers.
2. Because it is needed to process the news
We are all faced with fake news, biased information, and propaganda more. The rise of social media is playing a massive role in how we all consume our news, which means we all must ensure that we are thinking critically about everything we read.
The ability to debate source reliability is necessary to help us understand what fact is and what is an opinion. After we have discovered and analyzed that, we can then draw our conclusion on the information we are being told. So, whether it is choosing whom to vote for, deciding whether to see a film with a fantastic review, or digesting a major international incident, we simply would not be able to do this without critical thinking skills.
3. Because it supports students to make better decisions about their life
One of the main roles of a teacher is to help prepare students for their futures. Critical thinking and the inevitable outcome of mastering that skill means we can trust that our students have everything they need to make informed decisions.
This means that when students face challenging situations and adversity, they are equipped with the tools needed to overcome them.
4. Because it helps students think independently
If we think back to Paul’s definition of critical thinking, he said that critical thinkers can comprehend their thoughts. Knowing how others think and how we think can lead to understanding ourselves better. We learn what our motivations are and how we prefer to reach these goals.
This means that we can change parts of our lives to ensure that we are content. We can analyze parts of our lives that do not give us joy and adjust them to help ensure that we have overall happiness.
5. Because, well, everything else
The truth is that the list of why students need critical thinking skills is never-ending. In addition to the above, this crucial skill helps with communication, improves relationships, allows for creativity, supports mental well-being, and so on. Critical thinking skills are vital for just about every aspect of a student's life.
Maybe critical thinking is a buzzword in schools now, but the reason is very, very important. And as vital as the skills are after students leave school, the fundamental learning of the skill must begin in the classroom.
Declining and stopping the lack of critical thinking is splitting this country apart. We need to change the culture to get folks to talk with each other and thinking about what the other person is saying. Too often folks either refuse to listen to someone else’s logic or even worse assume it is flawless. One of the educators in Finland put it this way, “You have a right to your opinion but not a right to alter the facts.”
(Ray Hibbard may be reached at ray@edmondpaper.com)
