Teach Critical Thinking Skills
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Vincent Said:
Do we need to teach better critical thinking skills in our schools so it can help us evaluate world events?We Answered:
Well, there certainly doesn't seem to be much critical thinking going on in America as a whole and in our public school system in particular. Critical thinking is apparently not part of All Kids Left Behind.Why not start with the lump o lead that posted the suggestion we nuke No. Korea. Ten to one it is a 20 something that wrote that. Are we not teaching what happened in Hiroshima and why we no longer do open air tests??
Max Said:
How do you teach children critical thinking?We Answered:
Teach them to ask questions, and to keep on asking questions until the answers make sense.If the answers don't make sense, doubt their validity.
Then teach them logic. Not fuzzy 'common-sense' logic (common-sense is never common). But hard-nosed deductive and inductive logic.
Then teach them about perspective (personal subjective perspective vs theoretical objective perspective).
Then teach them about propaganda.
Then teach them about power and motivation: how they work and why they work.
Finally, teach them morality: Selfishness vs Selflessness and all the intermediate steps.
Leonard Said:
Why should public schools not teach critical thinking skills?We Answered:
Many very intelligent and educated people have very poor critical thinking skills. They make bad decisions, they draw erroneous conclusions, they misinterpret evidence and this is a bad thing for all of us. In the UK, there is now an A Level qualification (taught to students aged between 16-18) called Critical Thinking, aiming to improve the critical reasoning skills of students in this age group. Being entirely skills based, with no factual content or coursework, it can be taken alongside traditional subjects and it is really fun to teach and learn. The skills of students improve noticeably while they are doing the course and universities increasingly respect the qualification as an accurate discriminator of the truly able.See: http://www.thekjs.essex.sch.uk/yates/cri…
Cathy Said:
Are students taught critical thinking skills in school or are they taught to memorize things and obey orders?We Answered:
Old style schooling was taught mostly memorization and recitation. Rhetoric was the only thing taught and encouraged that had personal flair and thought. This continued in colleges well into the 1800s. Eventually memorization and recitation was replaced by the idea of individual thought and expression--essentially the idea of open ended questions. Essay writing, open ended questions, and reaction writing are all examples of critical thinking skills. American schools are still rather big on this method of study and stress open ended questions in high school and on tests. Part may be a result of the heavy idea of individualism and the individuals rights over the groups rights in America (meaning individual rights are more important than the good of the society). Japan, on the other hand, still practices mostly recitation and memorization--almost an exact model of what used to be the old system in colonial America.In the end, I prefer critical thinking to recitation. Its still taught in American schools but for some reason many call it "feminized" education as it requires essay writing and written responses to questions or problems. The "masculine" method was the memorization/recitation of colonial times, apparently. Although neither method is masculine or feminine, they are simply different.
Rita Said:
why dont we teach logic and critical thinking skills in school? or do creationists oppose this?We Answered:
If we did, it would be the end of theistic religion.