Introduction to critical thinking and its processes
- 1. INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING UNIT – 1
- 2. • Why is the sky blue? • Is time travel possible? • Why doesn’t she like me? • Why Doesn’t he like me? As you start asking questions and seek answers, in fact you are THINKING In other words…… Thinking is purposeful, organized process, that we use to make sense of the things happening around us
- 3. I Agree to this statement (Do you… Comment) GIVE place here to some further consideration of thought. You will never become great until your own thoughts make you great, and therefore it is of the first IMPORTANCE TO start THINKING
- 4. Definitions by Some Thinkers • DOGUID in 1987 classifies CRITICAL THINKING as "the ability to step. beyond common sense assumptions and be able to evaluate them in terms of their genesis, development, and purpose.“ • ENNIS in 1985 provides the definition as: Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do
- 5. Some Perspective from Book Edward Glaser (1941) has defined critical thinking as the ability to think critically and it involves three things: • ATTITUDE of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one's experiences, • KNOWLEDGE of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning, and • SKILL in applying those methods. WHY – You need logic and credible data to change someones already bult perspective
- 6. Various Forms of Thinking • Scientific thinking • Mathematical thinking • Historical thinking • Anthropological thinking • Economic thinking • Moral thinking • Philosophical thinking Think with Multiple Lenses
- 7. Basic Components of Critical Thinking According to Scriven & Paul (1987) following are sub divisions: - • A set of information and belief generating and processing skills • The habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior Choose a piece of news and give your own opinion on the same
- 8. Qualities of Well Cultivated Critical Thinker Linda Elder in 2007 gave following qualities that one should: • Raises vital questions and problems • Gathers and assesses relevant information and comes to well- reasoned conclusions / solutions after testing against relevant criteria and standards • Reflects open mentally within alternative systems of thought • Elaborates effectively his/her own conclusions
- 9. Historical Human Evolution Human beings in jungle and caves during stone age • How did they save themselves? • How did they use stones? • How did they use fire? • How did they grow crops? • How did they make homes? • How did they develop civilizations? • How did they begin trade? The answer that comes to mind is “they learned”
- 10. Origin of Critical Approaches • Socratic questioning the status que and probe deeply in thoughts. Challenge beliefs with deep thinking for clarity and rationality • He established that people may have power and high position but still can be intensely confused and irrational • Socratic questioning technique was continued by Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek thinkers as this is best known technique of thinking • In early middle ages philosophers like Al-Farabi and Thomas Aquinas continued the tradition of systematic critical thinking. • Ibn e Sina continued the critical and comparative analysis of the prevalent philosophical and religious text and paved the way to critical review of information received through senses.
- 11. Origin of Critical Approaches (Cont..) • In the Renaissance (15th and 16th Centuries), a torrent of scholars in Europe became active in thinking critically about religion, society, human nature, and law. Among these scholars were Colet, Erasmus, and Moore in England. • Francis Bacon, in England, was explicitly concerned with the way we seek knowledge. He recognized explicitly that the mind cannot safely be left to its natural tendencies. He laid the foundation for modern science with his emphasis on the information-gathering processes. • In 17th Century Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton presented their work extending the horizons of critical thought even further towards scientific discovery.
- 12. Origin of Critical Approaches (Cont..) • 18th Century thinkers applied critical thinking to the problem of economics, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. To traditional concept of loyalty to the king, produced the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. Applied to reason itself, it produced Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. • In the 19th Century, critical thought was applied to the domain of human social life by Comte and Spencer. Problems of capitalism, and economic critique of Karl Marx are the examples of 19th century work • In the 20th Century, our understanding of the power and nature of critical thinking has emerged in increasingly more explicit formulations of social structures.
- 13. Critical Theory in Education • Critical Theory in Education has emerged from the wider discipline of sociology. Education as mode of transforming and controlling • It cross-examines the social, cultural, political and economic context of compulsory education. Why and how generations are silenced to question the status que • Critical theory in education thus throws a critical eye upon the history, the development and practice of education and educational contextualization • William Graham Sumner (1906) mentioned "Schools make persons all on one pattern, orthodoxy
- 14. Critical Theory in Education (Cont…) • The field of critical theory in education hence covers a wide range of Social and Educational issues – the Context, Curriculum, the pedagogy or teaching style, the role of the State, the influence of corporate powers, the as well as the issues of Cultural and Individual Identity etc
- 15. Why We Need to Learn as an Educator • Brains are physiological while minds are developed • To have credible reasoning in countering existing knowledge • Correcting the path and thinking pattern in younger generation • To create inquisition for developing Higher Order Thinking skills • To equip us with conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information we have • Know about IMPLICIT and EXPLICIT meanings of what we see and hear
- 16. Why We Need to Learn as an Educator (Cont.) • Graduates should be prepared for thinking their way through the challenging life • Careful analysis, clear thinking, and reasoned deliberation are fundamental to democratic life. • Curriculum is a mind-grooming instrument
- 17. Development of Critical Thinking within Bloom’s Taxonomy https://edu.casio.com/forteachers/math_education/
- 18. How do we Develop Critical Thinking? • Receive - analyze the facts, opinions, assumptions, hypotheses • Use multiple sources of information to verify authenticity • Develop questions and seek answers from right source • Cross check before accepting information • Enhance social circle to gather more information on assumptions • Read multiple authors of opposite opinion • Apply logical reasoning in deciding and making sense • Question the already established theories to verify
- 19. Benefits of Critical Thinking • In todays era, more and more employers are looking for employees not with only specialized academic skills but with good thinking and communication skills. So we need to train our students for: - 1. Learn quickly and solve problems 2. Unlearn and relearn attitude is desirable 3. Teach them to show creativity (a new way of doing same job) 4. Gather and analyze the issue in a meaningful manner 5. Teach them as to how they can avoid foolish decisions 6. Support them in developing thinking skills
- 20. Barriers to Critical Thinking • If the critical thinking is so important, then why uncritical thinking is so common in our society? • Why is that so many people including the highly educated and intellectual people find it difficult to think critically? ?????
- 21. Barriers to Critical Thinking 5 Most Powerful Barriers to Critical Thinking 1 Egocentrism Self centered thinking 2 Sociocentrism Group centered thinking 3 Unwarranted Assumptions A belief that something is true without proper evidence or justification 4 Wishful Thinking Believing something is true because one wishes it to be true 5 Relativism Thinking that truth is just a matter of opinion
- 22. Characteristics of a Critical Thinker • They are honest with themselves • They regard problems and controversial issues as exciting challenges • They strive for understanding, keep curiosity alive and remain patient with complexity • They base judgements on evidence rather than personal preferences • They are interested in other people’s ideas so willing to read and listen • They practice fairmindedness and seek a balanced view • They practice restraint, controlling their feelings rather than being controlled by them
- 23. An Old Quiz (Hope you Know Answers) A Quiz was developed by Anderson Consulting Worldwide. Answer each question in given order: 1. How do you put a Giraffe into a refrigerator? 2. How do you put an Elephant into a refrigerator? 3. The LOIN KING is hosting an animal conference. All animals attended except one. Which animal did not attend? 4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by Crocodile and you don’t have a boat. How will you manage that? Send answers on email: afaqdurrez@hotmail.com
- 24. Some Quotes Relevant to Education & CT “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.) “Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think.” (Albert Einstein) “Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think that they think and the other eight five percent would rather die than think.” (Thomas A. Edison)
- 25. Answers for Quiz 1. How do you put a Giraffe into a refrigerator? Ans. Open the refrigerator, put giraffe in it and close the door. (This question tests whether you tend to do the simple things in an overly complicated way) 2. How do you put an Elephant into a refrigerator? Ans. Did you say open the refrigerator, put the elephant and close the door… No, you have to take the giraffe out and put elephant in and close the door. (This tests your ability of your actions in repercussions of previous actions)
- 26. Answers for Quiz 3. The LOIN KING is hosting an animal conference. All animals attended except one. Which animal did not attend? Ans. The elephant which is in refrigerator. You just put him there. (this tests your memory). If wrong, you have last chance to prove.. 4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by Crocodile and you don’t have a boat. How will you manage that? Ans. You jump into the river and swim across as all animals are in conference. (This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes)