Critical Thinking in

Democracy EducationMatthew Hiebert

Bethesda, Maryland

April 4, 2014

Opening ReflectionConsider this

• Manipulative language

• Be afraid

• Grand generalizations

• Ad populum argument

• Listen carefully

• This is important

• I’m an expert

• Logical fallacies

• Ad hominem arguments

• Post hoc ergo propter hoc

• Appeal to authority

• Cliches

• Convoluted

points

• Unfair and

one-sided• Dodging the

question

• Straw man

arguments

• Emotionally laden

• Over-

simplifications

• Sound bites

• Misuse of statistics• Out of context

• Propaganda

• Propaganda

• Propaganda

• Propaganda

• Propaganda

• Propaganda

• Propaganda

•Manipulation

•Manipulation

•Manipulation

•Manipulation

Overview

1. First principles

2. Rationale for critical thinking

3. Teaching critical thinking explicitly

4. Teaching critical thinking tacitly

1. First Principles

What do we mean by critical thinking?

First Things First

Don’t take my word for it.

Clarifying Our Terms

Starting points:

• Critical versus uncritical thinking

• Higher and lower level thinking

• Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational

Objectives (cognitive)…

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Strengths and appropriate uses:

• Clearly articulates learning above the

knowledge level

• Helps scaffold instruction to engage

higher levels

• Useful in developing assessments and

lesson plans with a range of cognitive

tasks

• Very well developed base of literature

and resources

Considerations…

Be careful of hidden

biases and embedded

assumptions…

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Clarifying Our Terms

Bloom’s Taxonomy (cognitive)

Lower Level Thinking Higher Level Thinking

Knowledge Analysis

Comprehension Synthesis

Application Evaluation

Knowledge

Comprehension

ApplicationAnalysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Other assumptions that might be inferred:

• Discrete levels/ activities

• Hierarchy of value

• Implied directionality for teaching

• Assumptions about the nature of learning

– Oversimplifies complex activities

– Suggests teaching and learning can be

reduced to objectives

– Narrows potential scope of learning to

predefined list … and of course…

Lateral thinking

Argumentation

Bias detection

Infering

DeterminingPerception Intuition

Emotional intelligence

Critical reasoning

Inquiry

Curiosity

Creativity

Credibility

Clarity

Making connections

Strategic

Beyond Bloom’s Taxonomy

… back to our task…

Characteristics of Critical Thinking

Common characteristics associated

with critical thinking:

• Multifaceted

• Higher order (meta)

• Reflective and self-reflective

• Deals with validity,

appropriateness, and ethics

• Partly discipline-dependent

Defining Critical Thinking

Points that come up often in definitions:

• Disciplined, rational, open-minded,

informed by evidence

• Purposeful, self-regulatory

• Results in interpretation, analysis,

evaluation, inference

• Applies valid criteria and evidence to

form judgments

• Considers alternative perspectives

• Integrates new information/ perspectives

Putting It All Together

Potential criteria:

• Disciplined, rational, open-minded,

informed by evidence

• Purposeful, self-regulatory

• Results in interpretation, analysis,

evaluation, inference

• Applies valid criteria and evidence to

form judgments

• Considers alternative perspectives

• Integrates new information/ perspectives

Characteristics of critical thinking:

• Higher order (meta)

• Reflective and self-reflective

• Deals with validity,

appropriateness, and ethics

• Discipline-appropriate

• Multifaceted

Lateral thinking

Argumentation

Bias detection

Infering

DeterminingPerception Intuition

Emotional intelligence

Critical reasoning

Inquiry

Curiosity

Creativity

Credibility

Clarity

Making connections

Strategic

Putting It All Together

Potential criteria:

• Disciplined, rational, open-minded,

informed by evidence

• Purposeful, self-regulatory

• Results in interpretation, analysis,

evaluation, inference

• Applies valid criteria and evidence to

form judgments

• Considers alternative perspectives

• Integrates new information/ perspectives

Characteristics of critical thinking:

• Higher order (meta)

• Reflective and self-reflective

• Deals with validity,

appropriateness, and ethics

• Discipline-appropriate

• Multifaceted

Lateral thinking

Argumentation

Bias detection

Infering

DeterminingPerception Intuition

Emotional intelligence

Critical reasoning

Inquiry

Curiosity

Creativity

Credibility

Clarity

Making connections

Strategic

Potential criteria:

• Disciplined, rational, open-minded,

informed by evidence

• Purposeful, self-regulatory

• Results in interpretation, analysis,

evaluation, inference

• Applies valid criteria and evidence to

form judgments

• Considers alternative perspectives

• Integrates new information/ perspectives

Characteristics of critical thinking:

• Higher order (meta)

• Reflective and self-reflective

• Deals with validity,

appropriateness, and ethics

• Discipline-appropriate

• Multifaceted

Lateral thinking

Argumentation

Bias detection

Infering

DeterminingIntuition

Emotional intelligence

Critical reasoning

Inquiry

Curiosity

Creativity

Credibility

Clarity

MakingStrategic

Critical Thinking

Standards of Quality Thinking

Rather than getting preoccupied with

“Critical Thinking”, consider:

• Clarity

• Accuracy

• Precision

• Depth

• Significance

• Relevance

• Breadth

• Logic

• Fairness

• Sufficiency

• (Congruence)Adapted from Paul, R. & Elder, L (2006) The Foundation for Critical Thinking

3. Rationale

Why is critical thinking so important in

democracy education?

Rationale for Critical Thinking

Different ways of looking at why

critical thinking is important:

• Critical thinking and humanization

• Critical thinking and autonomy

• Critical thinking and community

• Critical thinking in a democracy

• Others…

Critical Thinking and Humanization

For humanization and self realization:

• Inherent value to the individual

• Enriched consciousness and awareness

• Not just critical – also enhances our

capacity for appreciation!

• Development of identity and sense of self

• Overcoming ethical servility

• Inherent value to individual freedom

Critical Thinking and Autonomy

Developing autonomy and personal

agency:

• Capacity for greater independence

of thought and action

• “Intellectual self defense”

• Ability to develop and support a

position, course of action etc.

Critical Thinking and Community

Developing community and social

cohesion:

• Capacity to empathize with others

• To understand and respect other

perspectives

• To recognize one’s own assumptions

and biases

• Ability to work collectively and

collaboratively with others

Critical Thinking and Democracy

In relation to democratic values,

principles, and processes:

• Supports deliberative discussion and

debate.. Working things out together

• Helps maintain accountability and

balance of power

• Necessary countermeasure to forces

that affect public opinion (state and

corporate media, lobbyists, group

think, stereotypes etc.)

Critical Thinking and Democracy

But more fundamentally:

• Democracy is predicated on governance

by informed consent, which is in turn

predicated on personal agency

• Therefore…

• Capacity for critical thinking is a

necessary precondition for the legitimacy

of a democratic government

–Along with others, such as access to

relevant information

3. Teaching critical

thinking explicitly

Approaches for direct instruction on

critical thinking skills

Direct Instruction on Critical Thinking

Metacognition:

• Refers to awareness and understanding

of one’s own thought processes

• Improves analytical capacity

• Can be facilitated by instruction related

to thinking processes themselves

– Some of this stuff is “teachable”!

Teaching Metacognition

Teaching metacognition:

• Involves observing, revealing and

discussing thought processes

• Provides structure to our thinking about

thinking (i.e., Bloom’s Taxonomy)

• Involves practice and application of new

skills

• May be subtle and indirect

• Involves a variety of tools, techniques,

and terms

Teachable Tools, Techniques,

and Terminology

Creating lenses

Evaluating evidence

Detecting bias

Asking

critical questions

Understanding

fallacies and heuristics

Identifying red flags

Understanding

language issues

Standards

of quality thinking

Critical

thinking tools

Knowing a

few key terms

Teachable Techniques

Consider the things that critical

thinkers do, which are “teachable”:

• Ask probing questions

• Consider the source

• Seek to understand the perspective

• Pinpoint vague or cliché points

• Look for irony/ contradiction

Asking Key Questions

Critical thinkers probe ideas and assumptions

through questions, which can be taught:

• Why? … and peeling back the layers

• What is missing from this?

• What would be another way of looking at

this?

• What is being assumed or taken for granted?

• What does the author or speaker have to

gain by presenting this, and not something

else?

Knowing a Few Key Terms

Language is cognitive scaffolding, and

new words give students power over

abstract concepts:

• Evaluation

• Standards

• Evidence

• Bias

• Parsimony

• Criteria

• Perspective

• Paradigm

• Theory

• Logical

• Coherence

• Assumption etc.

Criteria and Indicators

Teaching the development and

application of criteria/ indicators:

• Thinking in any domain/ subject/

professional field can be judged on

the basis of certain merits or criteria

• These criteria can be articulated,

debated, and agreed upon, leading to

greater clarity and mutual

understanding

Cognitive Models and Visuals

The application of models and

conceptual frameworks can contribute

to more sophisticated reasoning:

• Visual models help us to organize and

categorize elements of thought

• Conceptual models help us identify

gaps and deficiencies

• Examples…

Cognitive Models and Visuals

Cognitive Models and Visuals

Knowledge

Comprehension

ApplicationAnalysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Cognitive Models and Visuals

Cognitive Models and Visuals

Strengt

h

Weakness

Opportunity ? ?

Threat ? ?

Cognitive Models and Visuals

Cognitive Models and Visuals

Other kinds of “lenses” also fit into

this family of tools:

• Scientific standards

• Academic rigor

• Journalistic integrity

• Ethical frameworks

• Legal reasoning

• Qualitative evaluation rubrics etc.

Evaluating Evidence

Part of critical thinking involves evaluating

evidence on which positions are based:

• Criteria for evaluating evidence may be

general (like sufficiency),

• Or domain specific (legal, statistical etc.)

• Identify validity requirements

–Content validity

–Construct/ internal validity

– External validity

Detecting Bias and Propaganda

Bias is unavoidable, and we can raise

students’ awareness of this:

• The nature of propaganda and its

relationship to media in general

• How to identify sources in media

• How to identify sources of funding

• Techniques for detecting biases,

fallacies, and unbalanced

manipulative works

Heuristics and Fallacies

Fallacies and heuristics, by their nature,

may be difficult to pick up on, but can

be taught:

• Fallacies – failures in reasoning that

renders an argument invalid

• Heuristics – cognitive short-cuts which

omit logical steps, sometimes leading

to errors

Red flagsCritical thinkers are adept at picking up on

“red flags”, which can be taught:

• Stating opinion as fact, or citing an

unnamed “experts”

• Unnecessarily complicated language

• Long sentences that lead to confusion

• Citing statistics without sources

• Use of “thought-terminating clichés”

• Emotionally laden language

• “Leading” language

Other Language Issues

Critical thinkers are also attuned to

language, and the loopholes it can create.

Consider:

• Management speak

• Loaded phrases

• Judgmental phrases

• Emotionally laden or manipulative

• Leading questions – Don’t you think?

• How phrasing can lead and frame a

debate (setting the “rules”)

Language Issues

Consider the following:

“What do students need to learn about

democracy, in order to participate

effectively as citizens?”

• How does the question “lead”?

• What assumptions are embedded?

• How does it limit the possible

responses?

The ChallengeWith all this…

The ChallengeWhat is “learned” is not limited to what is

“taught” explicitly.

We want to cultivate habits and

behaviors as critical thinkers, not just

skills.

Therefore…

4. Teaching Critical

Thinking Tacitly

Cultivating a critical mindset

Conventional Perspective

Tacit Teaching

Tacit Teaching

Tacit teaching goes beyond the limits of

“explicit” instruction. Tacit teaching:

• Is the intentional arrangement of

contextual factors in students’

experiences to produce a learning effect

• Relates to “socialization” as much as

“education”

• Focuses on cultivating habits and

dispositions more than knowledge

Tacit Teaching Strategies

Using

criteria and standards

Facilitation Environmental design

Questioning

Scaffolding

Norming

Role modeling

Facilitation

Rather than teaching by explicit

instruction (lecture), facilitation works by:

• Giving students space and time to work

things out

• Using questions to push thinking

• Using suggestions sparingly and

thoughtfully

• Structuring learning experiences

effectively

Questioning (Socratic Method)

The effective use of questioning in class can:

• Challenge and guide students’ thinking to

deeper levels

• Serve as an example/ model of what

critical thinkers do and how they work

… try to emphasize higher-level, open-

ended questions, as well as probing,

successive questioning

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is the provision of structures that

allow students to go beyond their current

capacity. This involves:

• Structuring tasks in appropriate sizes and

stages

• Breaking down complex activities into

manageable units

• Providing guidelines, approaches,

models, outlines etc. which help students

learn how to be effective

Role Modeling

Every adult in a school is a role model,

whether positive or negative. Consider the

power of this influence:

• How you (as a teacher, or a faculty) are

demonstrating critical thinking?

• How transparent and open you are with your

own thinking processes?

• Do you create opportunities for students to

learn from your approach?

• Are you willing to admit your own mistakes,

and learn from them?

Norming

Norming is a process whereby critical

thinking becomes internalized as a habit

or disposition. This can be facilitated by:

• Repeated exposure over time

• Practice, with feedback, until it become

second nature

• Reinforcement

• Adoption of associated vocabulary

(standards, evidence etc.) into daily use

Assessing Critical Thinking

Actually assessing critical thinking is a

good way of building metacognitive

awareness. Consider:

• What assignments should be graded, in

part, based on critical thinking?

• What kinds of test questions would allow

students to demonstrate these skills?

• What criteria or standards should apply?

• How should students be involved in their

own assessment?

Scaffolding

Role modeling

Creating lenses

Evaluating evidence

Detecting

Knowing a

few key termsPutting It All Together

Creating lenses

Evaluating evidence

Detecting bias

Asking

critical questions

Understanding

fallacies and heuristics

Identifying red flags

Understanding

language issues

Standards

of quality thinking

Critical

thinking tools

Using

criteria and standards

Facilitation

Environmental design

Questioning

Scaffolding

Norming

Role modeling

Knowing a

few key terms

Putting It All Together

Closing ReflectionIn contexts were critical thinking may not

be officially supported, or where certain

topics are “off limits” for debate, what

are the best entry points for cultivating a

critical mindset among students?

Thank youMatthew Hiebert

matt@aroundsquare.com