argumentive essay

argumentive essay

The Importance of Critical Thinking in Modern Education

1. Introduction: Defining Critical Thinking and its Significance

So, what exactly do we mean when we talk about critical thinking? Certainly some part of what is involved in critical thinking has to do with reasoning, and the skills needed to develop and articulate good reasons for what one believes and does. So, the critical thinker solicits relevant and reliable evidence, uses logical strategies to weigh this evidence in a reliable way, and infers consequences from its use that themselves meet satisfactorily certain criteria. Ultimately, good reasons are reasons answerable to skepticism, to the question, “How do we know that’s true?” The question, “Is that claim reliable?” is intended to solicit a sense of the justificatory strategy used to support the claim. The critical thinker wants to know more than what is believed; she wants to know why that which is believed should be believed. Hence, the critical thinker asks for reasons. And ultimately, that which is judged most plausible will be answerable to the question, “How do we know?” or the question, “Why should I believe you?”

Given our commitment to the idea that developing critical thinking skills is an important goal of education, finding ways to cultivate critical thinking in college students is a particular area of concern. Our increasing reliance on technology as a substitute for actual thought, as well as access to a seemingly infinite amount of data so effortlessly assembled by our various media, has in some ways made the need for developing critical thinking skills more urgent. The “4d age,” the digital age, poses a unique challenge in this regard, and it would seem that developing critical thinking skills and dispositions is more important than ever.

2. The Role of Critical Thinking in Academic Success

The ability to think clearly and rationally is important whatever we choose to do. If you work in education, research, finance, management, or the legal professions, then critical thinking is obviously important. But critical thinking skills are not restricted to a particular subject area. Being able to think well and solve problems systematically is an attribute for any career. The pitches made to potential undergraduates increasingly use words such as “challenge,” “inquiring minds,” “intelligent curiosity,” and “independent thought.” This is further reflected in the UK’s first-year student learning evidence, which found that many incoming undergraduates had relatively little experience of being asked to think critically and to engage in the practice of argument and debate.

When it comes to college and graduate school, students are encouraged to think critically, to question, to analyze, to refine their argument, and evaluate those of others. It is through the process of evaluating evidence, considering alternative perspectives, and developing an argument that we learn to think logically and critically. We owe it to students to teach them how to think, how to question, how to challenge arguments, and so much more. We must provide students the opportunity and skills to engage in a rich exploration of their world – the logic behind it, the methods involved, and the very means through inquiry that construct and construct everyday practices.

3. Critical Thinking as a Key Skill for the 21st Century Workforce

Teaching critical thinking implies teaching two dimensions: professional and personal. Acquiring critical thinking as a generic skill allows one to interact effectively with information in various spheres of life: from work to everyday life, from politics or economic or social issues to culture and environment. The Personal Dimension implies that acquiring CT in general would support the personal agenda: one learns how to learn, one becomes autonomous in career planning, one is drawn to lifelong learning, and one becomes prepared to live and work in the network society and to communicate with people with different viewpoints. These dimensions are interconnected and become more prominent with the increase in the level of higher education. The difference in these dimensions seems dependent on the stakeholders’ views, especially with regard to who gets more benefit from the CT skill acquisition. Policymakers and employers indeed emphasize the professional dimension, namely a timely response to changes in labor market needs and increased competitiveness. Individuals, in contrast, prioritize the personal dimension of CT skills acquisition on a more constant basis, focusing both on their personal development and the prospects for a fulfilling life in a broader sense.

The list of those skills has been changing due to a large extent to the dynamics of the real world and the rapid technological development. This process has been accompanied by various labels being coined – transversal skills, soft skills, twenty-first-century skills, and others. The synthesis of numerous classifications suggests that actually several key competence areas are noted in them, which are usually represented as skills and abilities. Some of those skills necessary for the labor market have become most noticeable: ability to learn and apply new information, critical thinking and problem-solving, ability to work in a team framework, ability to communicate effectively, sense of social responsibility and initiative, ability to plan and organize, career autonomy, and the ability to take risks which have a high value but have always been of interest for educators regardless of reforms in education.

4. Fostering Critical Thinking in Educational Settings

Once an instructional plan is established, students should be led through a dialectic process, a cornerstone of the Socratic Method as developed by Plato and Socrates. This involves teaching through extensive question asking by the teacher, with the teacher and students both engaged in the process. With the Socratic Method, students critique their own reasoning in the context of seeking out alternative points of view to strengthen one’s own argument. Socratic questioning reinforces the connection between substantive and procedural aspects of student reasoning. Introducing different points of view and roles to play for students, when they consider critical thinking skills, helps them identify with their own thought process.

How does one teach critical thinking skills? First, it is possible to create an environment consisting of instructional methods and an organizational structure which is highly relevant. Encouraging students to think from several different perspectives promotes both individual thinking, discourse about the meaning of freedom and democracy, and a dialectic process that can lead to moral decision-making. Teachers should also present a plan for instruction, including objectives and evaluation measures. The pervasive message here is that critical thinking must be actively taught across the curriculum.

Education is a critical goal in a technological society such as the United States. The ability to examine and evaluate information is a necessary characteristic of an educated citizen. When educators strive to teach critical thinking skills, the student integrates his or her own reasoning, evaluation, judgment, decision-making, or problem-solving to occur in new and unfamiliar situations. Education that emphasizes rote learning does not lead to critical thinking.

5. Conclusion: The Future of Education and the Role of Critical Thinking

In today’s rapidly changing society, we are predisposed to accept the idea that we need to equip students with the best possible answers and all of the knowledge available. In many cases, these well-prepared answers are taught long before the relevant problems are posed. Furthermore, it is not hard to identify gaps (while not necessarily emphasizing them as problems) in what we or others know. But is this really enough? Will we face all of the problems we pose exactly as they are posed now? Even more importantly, do we understand how we reached so suddenly the present level of worldwide social and economic activity? Can we predict the long-term future of these worldwide challenges or issues? If we collect all the current carefully prepared answers, or if we anticipate yet-to-be-created answers, shall we have exhausted the power of critical thinking? After all, our goal in the educational process is not just teaching, it is learning.

The need to foster critical thinking is not unique to any particular generation or time period. However, it is possible to argue that, in the current era, it is perhaps even more important than it has been at any other time in history. To many people, critical thinking is among the most crucial benchmarks of the educated mind, the common denominator of all our educational goals. Its significance and its potential to help us meet important challenges are more thoroughly embedded in our environment today than in any previous period.