Critical thinking is most simply defined as high level thinking and is a desired skill by many employers, universities and industries alike. The origins of critical thinking date back to Socrates, he developed a method of questioning those with unbackable beliefs or ideas. Since then the usage of high level thinking has been integrated into society and spawns many useful new inventions across the globe. But why is this skill so highly regarded? Some argue that critical thinking cannot be ‘taught. Yet, the principles of this skill are integrated into most education systems from elementary school all the way up to college and graduate levels. Middle and high schools strive to produce students with versatile and dynamic thinking skills to be carried over to college or employment afterwards.
There are a variety of reasons that institutions desire good critical thinkers but a major advantage to it revolves around the ability to be flexible. With a subject like Math there is (typically) one answer and few ways to find that answer, some people thrive in this category and are able to fluidly memorize and execute complex math algorithms. However for many careers and in college classrooms there are more abstract, real world problems which require high level thinking to create multiple solutions and ideas. Critical thinking is the ability to search for bias, flaws and inaccuracies in information while simultaneously analyzing the situation. The ideal goal is producing an effective solution. Good critical thinkers emphasize the challenge of reasoning and make use of prior knowledge frequently when examining a situation. All of these things are crucial in the world of leadership and overall success.
Critical thinking has had a major upturn in regards to curriculum integration, starting at a very young age schools strive to introduce these skills to their students. One phrase that speaks particularly true to the teachings of critical thinking is “There is no right or wrong answer”. Spoken by many teachers, this phrase very simply embodies the idea of flexibility when it comes to problem solving. Students must learn to collect their own information when coming up with new solutions, this is essential to thinking critically in any environment. Skills taught to support the students with effective research is lessons on using scholarly sources, reliable websites and utilizing libraries. Students are more likely to develop confidence when thinking critically because any solution made will be backed solidly with information hand-picked by the individual. This confidence likely translates to more participation and willingness to learn, students will enjoy this type of thinking as it is often rewarding and highly intellectual.
The upturn of critical thinking in education means that teachers must facilitate this skill in the classroom. Critical thinking requires base knowledge, it is impossible to think critically about anything with no prior knowledge on the subject. While students may gather their own more specific information, they require basic knowledge which should be provided by their instructor. Encouragement of students to question “status quo” is another key way that teachers can help their pupils to develop strong thinking skills. A popular method of doing this is playing devils advocate. Instead of voicing an opinion on any given topic, teachers should strive to allow students bounce ideas off one another. Instructors should question all responses so that the students learn to support their own ideas exceptionally well. Lastly, avoiding the “how to do it’ approach is essential when it comes to producing students who are able to think critically. Back to the math analogy, there is often a specific approach or algorithm when examining a problem that must be used to solve it. Teachers in other subjects should try to avoid step-by-step instructions when asking for student responses. This allows for creativity and variety when they are developing their solutions. This inherently incorporates big picture thinking, which brings in classroom materials out into the world and vice versa. Students must be able to use these skills in real life, so highlighting the outside world is a key factor to producing good critical thinkers.
These skills are so highly regarded across the board in life that it is essential for education systems to produce good critical thinkers. Students are the future and they always will be. They become inventors, entrepreneurs, professionals and make up the workforce of the years to come. Students become leaders. In order to lead people must possess a variety of skills taught in the BUILD class, but none of which would be possible without critical thinking. This high level thinking allows for knowledge expansion and the ability to examine multiple viewpoints on a subject, which will be unavoidable when managing a group of people. This skill is essential to success in both professional and personal lives as it provides people with a sense of confidence, intelligence and diversity.