Developing Critical Thinking Specialist subject Developing Critical Thinking

Stephen D Brookfield (1987) Developing Critical Thinkers) “Learning to think critically is one of the most significant activities of adult life. When we become critical thinkers, we develop an awareness of the assumptions under which we, and others, think and act.” Stephen D Brookfield (1987) Developing Critical Thinkers)

Stephen Brookfield’s Components of Critical Thinking Identifying and challenging assumptions is central to critical thinking Challenging the taken-for-granted ideas Challenging the importance of context is crucial to critical thinking Awareness that practices, and such like, are never context free Critical thinkers try to imagine and explore alternatives Central to critical thinking is the capacity to imagine and explore alternatives Imagining and exploring alternatives leads to reflective scepticism Don’t take things as read!

Everyone uses some form of critical thinking but as you progress on to higher levels of study, the practice of criticism will be developed. This can be in various ways – from group analysis, mapping ideas, comparing and contrasting viewpoints, independent analysis, critical reflection, understanding and challenging arguments/assumptions etc.

Characteristics of effective criticism Agreeing with, or defending a position, or confirming its usefulness through an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses Conceding that an existing approach or point of view has some merits which can be useful, but that others need to be rejected

Focusing on ideas, theories and arguments and not on the author of those arguments, so as to produce careful, considered and justified evaluation Being aware of your own critical stance; identifying your reasons for selecting the work you have criticised and recognising the weakness in the critique.

Selecting elements from existing arguments and reformulating them to form a synthesis: a new point of view. Finding fault in an argument by identifying fallacies, inadequacies, lack of evidence or lack of plausibility Identifying errors in a criticism made by another to provide correction and balanced criticism, thereby advocating the usefulness of the original work and reasons for rejecting the criticism made of it.

Applying the skills When assessing text – does it contain argument? What is the argument? To help with this ask yourself: What conclusion does the author come to? What reasoning has the author used to support this conclusion? What assumptions are necessary for this conclusion to be drawn?

Once the argument is established, evaluate it – does the reasoning support the conclusion? How significant is the evidence? Is the explanation of the evidence supporting the argument If analogies are used – do they work? If different assumptions are made, what happens? What evidence strengthens the argument? What evidence weakens the argument? Does the reasoning support an alternative conclusion?

When using a critical approach, you will come up with alternative lines of reasoning, different possibilities and seeing where this may lead. Again, use the questioning approach: Look at the evidence collected – what conclusion can be found? Is further evidence needed to support this conclusion? What assumptions are made about the significance of the evidence being used? If you know the conclusion you wish to make, what evidence do you need to support this? Are there counter-arguments which could threaten the argument? Can these be refuted or lessened in some way?