WikiInfoLit Unit 1 Page 2
The Mandates for Critical Thinking
As educators, we are all aware of the importance of critical thinking. Many educators have studied John Dewey's classic, How We Think. You may want to read or reread Chapter 1. Dewey called it reflective thinking, felt it was important for optimal learning, and identified several key features:
- suspending judgment
- detaching from personal preferences and emotions
- attitude of inquiry and exploration
- testing hypotheses
- relating new knowledge to prior knowledge
- relating new knowledge to knowledge from other domains
- "finding ones way"
- examining alternatives
- accepting ambiguities
Dewey was a huge influence on our educational system. In recent years, the importance of his reflective thinking, or what we now call critical thinking, has been emphasized more and more. Critical Thinking is one of the 4 Cs of the Common Core.
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Screenshot from the P21 Common Core Toolkit. Please click to enlarge, and read.
It is also part of the Middle States accrediting organization's Standard 12 for higher education.
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Screenshot from the Middle States Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education. Please click to enlarge, and read.
