Thinking Critically

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Thinking Critically
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What is critical thinking?

• Critical thinking is the process of examining,
  analyzing, questioning, and challenging
  situations, issues, and information of all kinds.

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Elements of critical thinking

• Problem/goal identification
• Diagnosis
• Exploration
• Action Do it!
• Reflection

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Why is critical thinking important?

• It identifies bias
• It's oriented toward the problem, issue, or
  situation being addressing.
• It gives you the whole picture
• It brings in other necessary factors

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Why is critical thinking important? (cont.)

• It considers both the simplicity and complexity
  of its object.
• It gives you the most nearly accurate view of
  reality.
• It is most likely to help you get the results you
  want.

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Who can (and should) learn to think critically?

• Everyone, from children to senior citizens.

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How to help people learn to think critically

• How to be a critical thinking facilitator
• Affirm learners' self-worth
• Listen attentively to learners
• Show your support for critical thinking efforts
• Reflect and mirror learners' ideas and actions
• Motivate people to think critically, but help
  them to understand when it's appropriate to voice
  critical ideas and when it's not

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How to help people learn to think critically
(cont.)

• Regularly evaluate progress with learners
• Help learners create networks of support
• Be a critical teacher
• Make people aware of how they learn critical
  thinking
• Model critical thinking

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How to encourage the critical stance

• Recognize assumptions
• Examine information for accuracy,
  assumptions, biases, or specific interests
• Consider the context of the information, problem,
  or issue

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Facilitating problem solving using critical
thinking

• Identify the assumptions behind the problem
• Challenge those assumptions
• Imagine alternatives to what you started with
• Critique the alternatives
• Reframe the problem and solution