why are critical thinking skills important

why are critical thinking skills important

The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills

1. Introduction

Critical thinking is an utmost important part of creativity and we often need critical thinking to help us in various problems. So the importance of critical thinking should never be underestimated. Many people do not realize the powerful tool that is critical thinking, the everyday person uses critical thinking processes to solve problems from very basic problems to more complex problems. With the never-ending technology boom, critical thinking is an enhanced essential skill as there are more problems to solve and formulate a solution to. Critical thinking also helps in decision making. It allows you to be more informed and gives you the knowledge to make a decision or from a selection of solutions, choose the best one. And some decisions can have a lasting impact, so using critical thinking to make an important decision the best one is especially important. Although never one magically becomes a critical thinker, it is a journey and is best to begin at a young age. Then it is easier to problem solve and make better decisions from a knowledgeable and experience base, rather than solely from emotions.

2. Benefits of Critical Thinking

The ability of the human mind to think critically has been accorded in the recent years much appreciation than it had been in the past. Employers seek individuals with critical thinking skills. Landrum (2002) conducted a study regarding employers’ views on critical thinking and found that employers want employees who can make decisions using critical thinking skills. She found that young people are coming into the workforce not knowing how to think. As defined by employers, a person possessing critical thinking skills is able to perceive a situation and identify an effective solution. The benefits in acquisition of critical thinking skills will be evident in college students, who are the learners of today and the leaders of tomorrow. After developing these skills, they will be more apt to making decisions, evaluating, and applying their knowledge. Stimulating these skills will ultimately enhance their self-esteem and grade point averages. This is supported in research conducted by Daniel and Bost (2009) with college students, showing that critical thinking skill development is a journey where students must know the starting point and the desired skills and then prepare a path for continuing professional development. McCormick (2003) also found a positive relationship between critical thinking and decision making in the workplace. Interviewing employees in health and human services professions, she inquired about the decision-making process for handling client problems. The participants who derived solutions more effectively demonstrated a clearer understanding of the problem. It was found that the ability to think critically is more important for decision making than decision-making style. These benefits achieve a cycle of reinforcing the ability to think critically. Clients will receive the best help and support given that one is providing solutions based on accurate assessments with the ultimate goal of achieving the best results. This positive feedback will further enhance the critical thinkers’ decision-making abilities.

3. Developing Critical Thinking Skills

One model which has made significant strides in the teaching of critical thinking is Robert Fisher’s ‘Teaching Thinking.’ This model discusses 3 different forms infusing ‘Thinking Lessons’ directly into the curriculum, these are ‘Thinking Skills Model’, ‘Thinking Pupils Model’, and ‘Thinking Schools Model’ all have a different approach but are unified by the same goal. By differentiating between critical and creative thinking, it merges ‘Thinking lessons’ with the curriculum, aims to create a culture of thinking, and finally to teach pupils to become autonomous thinkers and lifelong learners. Fisher’s model is a practical one that is appealing to teachers, for providing a more structured approach to the teaching of thinking.

Critical thinking is assumed to be the aim of education and a lifelong process contended to better understand the world. This is not a new idea; it dates as far back as the teachings of Socrates. Paulo Freire suggested that through challenging the legitimacy of the “oppressors” and by identifying students with the oppressed, it is possible to create a critical awareness of social reality. Finally, in recent times countless models have been generated on how to teach critical thinking, using various different strategies and techniques in the hope of a favorable outcome.

Without the ability to think critically, we are easily taken in by the nonsense put forth by politicians, advertisers, salespeople, and con artists. In this age of information fetidness, it is even more vital that our students are transformed from mere rote learners to informed consumers of information.

4. Applying Critical Thinking in Everyday Life

In various ways, critical thinking acts as a channel of discovery for those willing to utilize it. Critical thinking is a daily process that is used in a multitude of ways and may take several days to actually make a decision on an issue. Usually, the same issue is revisited several times in a day. The evaluating step, which is next, makes an individual think about the way they are thinking. It has an immediate purpose which is to move a person from substandard thinking to a more proficient level. The ultimate purpose is to make all thinkers self-autonomous. Critical thinking can be used in almost all aspects of living. It can be applied in a simple manner to just living your everyday life. Another example is devising a plan for self-improvement. We would use critical thinking to find the most efficient plan to do something and then stick to the plan as best as possible. This would involve problem-solving and decision-making which is another use of critical thinking. Decision making and problem-solving is an ongoing process in most situations. An old routine might not work anymore so we would have to re-evaluate it and find a better solution. This is known as a high order thinking process. It is quite comical that humans are capable of solving the most complicated issues in life yet creating bigger problems than what they had started with in the first place. Another huge use of critical thinking is to take a situation and evaluate it with the purpose of finding a reasonable and fair solution. This is called inference or interpretation. The problem-solving process compared to critical thinking is like cooking compared to having the right ingredients and recipe. You can be successful in making a meal without having done it the most efficient way. But if cooking is something you do often and want to be able to cook well without spending a lot of time, then it would be best to use the ingredients and recipe and learn the most efficient way to improve the skill.

5. Conclusion

Critical thinking is a desirable cognitive activity often considered a form of problem-solving. Its definition is contested, but the competing definitions can be understood as differing conceptions of the same basic concept: careful thinking directed at deciding what to believe or what to do. Contemporary critical thinking scholars have expanded these traditional definitions to include qualities, concepts, and skills that are congruent with the aims of modern education. In particular, they have sought to develop a more comprehensive approach to thinking about what goes on in our minds when we are in the process of deciding what to believe or what to do. This expanded conception is both more cogent and more amenable to the development of critical thinking assessment. In this essay, we have postulated a taxonomy of critical thinking subscales, have argued that specific critical thinking skills are amenable to instruction, and have noted the possibility of developing a corresponding measure of instruction to gauge students’ progress toward thinking more critically.