Critical Thinking Preparing Society’s Decision Makers FEMA 12th Annual All-Hazards Higher Education Conference June 1–4, 2009 ® James M McCarty, Assistant Dean Thomas Edison State College

2 How does Philosophy and Critical Thinking factor into Emergency Management ? From Socrates…to Plato…to Aristotle…to Thomas Aquinas and Descartes To Sumner, Dewey and …why should we care ?

3 Critical Thinking- a Perspective (Thinking About How We Think) "Criticism is the examination and test of propositions of any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality or not… The critical faculty is a product of education and training… It is a mental habit and power. It is our only guarantee against delusion, deception, superstition, and misapprehension of ourselves and our earthly circumstances.” (W.G. Sumner 1906)

4 John Dewey- “How we Think” 1910 –father of modern CT ? Saw it as an active process of “reflective thought” and that it is “persistent & careful” (Fisher 2001) Can it be both reflective (passive) & engaging (active)? Does reflective thought always and necessarily lead to good goal directed, focused decision making ?

5 Issue Theoretical vs. Applied Critical Thinking How do educators prepare our emergency managers to solve problems? (what are we offering now ?) What role should formalized Critical Thinking as an active, engaging process, have in Emergency Management & Preparedness?

6 Can we (should we) develop a Critical Thinking curriculum that is: Pragmatic ? Relevant ? Develops better decision makers ?

7 INSIGHTS “Critical Thinking is Hard” (Van Gelder 2005) It is not “second nature” to us and does not necessarily develop as our education progresses. “Practice Makes Perfect” (Van Gelder 2005) We must engage in its’ practice to improve.

8 Humans are Lazy Thinkers- we tend to seek patterns that are simple and that make immediate sense… and make us comfortable. We “generalize” and “assume”. We avoid challenging our existing beliefs and assumptions. We make decisions based on “conventional wisdom” We avoid creativity (risky ?)

9 Decision Making- the action side of the CT equation. A typical decision making methodology: 1.Define issue or “frame problem” 2.Gather information 3.Identify possible options, alternatives 4.Select one or range of alternatives 5.Implement 6.Monitor-Adjust

10 Conclusions Critical Thinking cannot be learned overnight & cannot be successfully applied by learning “about” it. We need to successfully apply critical thinking to see the benefits and be able to transfer those benefits to real world situations. As educators, we need to recognize this and formalize the learning process, to encourage the life long practice of critical thinking.

11 Conclusions Continued: Use of formal courses in critical thinking is one way to communicate our emphasis on CT as a key outcome to achieve. Imbedded case studies, debates, criticism and use of decision making methodologies is another strategy (tactic?) to engineer critical analysis into our course work.

12 ` Future Issues/Concerns Where is the professionalization of EM going ? What are we contributing to that trend ? What skills, abilities, techniques will EMs need years from now ?

13 How can/should we learn what will be needed by future EMs ? What technologies might help us help them ? What do you think ????

14 Discussion