Critical thinking - CUHKmhlai/EDD5229/EDD5229_lecture7_2008-200… · 2008/10/24 2 Critical...

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2008/10/24 1 Critical thinking Lai Man Hong Lai Man Hong Department of Educational Department of Educational Administration and Policy, Administration and Policy, CUHK CUHK 07/08 7.7 1.6 20.7% 4 ( 300 50 ) Critical thinking • Active, persistent and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds which support it and the further conclusions to which it tends (Dewey, 1909) Active, reasons, implications Critical thinking An attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one’s experience Knowledge of the methods of logical enquiry and reasoning Some skill in applying those methods. Critical thinking calls for a persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to which it tends (Glaser, 1941) Attitude, skills, being disposed to use them Critical thinking Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do (Norris & Ennis, 1989) Critical thinking Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content or problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skilfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them (Paul et al. 1993) Thinking about one’s thinking Consciously aiming to improve it by reference to some model of good thinking

Transcript of Critical thinking - CUHKmhlai/EDD5229/EDD5229_lecture7_2008-200… · 2008/10/24 2 Critical...

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Critical thinking

Lai Man HongLai Man HongDepartment of Educational Department of Educational

Administration and Policy, Administration and Policy, CUHKCUHK

“我鍾意讀英中,可以練好英文。”“因為現時英中太少,家長選擇不多。即使部分學生最初不適應英文教學,但很多家長都會請補習。”“現制已經好好,日後一旦學校自行決定授課語言,部分水平不足的學校也以英語授課,令英中水平下降。”以07/08學年為例,升中生共7.7萬人;但英中學額只得1.6萬個,佔學生人數20.7%,而具備能力以英文學習的學生約有4成目前語文基金撥款予中中及英中資源不一(中中300萬;英中50萬),新政策推動下有關的撥款需要一併檢討,「不理中文中學、英文中學或是夾在中間的雙語學校,都應該獲得相同的改善語文撥款。」「現時報章及媒體大部分都是中文的,若學生搜集的資料需要翻譯為英文將會多一重功夫,用中文表達一定會較好。」

Critical thinking

• Active, persistent and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form

of knowledge in the light of the grounds

which support it and the further

conclusions to which it tends (Dewey,

1909)

• Active, reasons, implications

Critical thinking

• An attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one’s experience

• Knowledge of the methods of logical enquiry and reasoning

• Some skill in applying those methods.

• Critical thinking calls for a persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to which it tends (Glaser, 1941)

• Attitude, skills, being disposed to use them

Critical thinking

• Critical thinking is reasonable, reflectivethinking that is focused on deciding what

to believe or do (Norris & Ennis, 1989)

Critical thinking

• Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about

any subject, content or problem – in which the

thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking

by skilfully taking charge of the structures

inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual

standards upon them (Paul et al. 1993)

• Thinking about one’s thinking

• Consciously aiming to improve it by reference to

some model of good thinking

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Critical thinking

• Critical thinking is skilled and active interpretation and evaluation of observations and communications, information and argumentation (fisher & Scriven, 1997)

• To be critical, thinking has to meet certain standard – of clarity, relevance and reasonableness

• Active – questioning

• Interpretation – involved constructing and selecting the best of several alternatives

Critical thinking: some basic

competencies• To recognize problems

• To find workable means for meeting those problems• To gather pertinent information

• To recognize unstated assumptions and values

• To comprehend and use language with accuracy• To interpret data

• To appraise evidence and evaluate statements

• To recognize the existence of logical relationships between propositions

• To draw warranted conclusions

• To put to test the conclusions at which one arrives• To reconstruct one’s patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider

experience

• To render accurate judgments about specific things

Identifying reasons and

conclusions• Presenting an argument

– What is the conclusion of this argument? What is the author trying to persuade us of?

– What reasons are given in support of the conclusion?

– Is anything assumed (that is, implicit but not actually stated in the text)?

– Is the argument a good one?

• Conclusion do not necessarily come at the end of the argument, they may come at the beginning, or indeed anywhere else. Furthermore, they may even be unstated—they may be implied by what is said.

Different patterns of reasoning

• The simplest case– Reason – so – conclusion

• Giving side by side reasons– Reaon1 and reason2 so conclusion

• A chain of reasoning– Reason1 so conclusion therefore conclusion 2

• Joint reasons– Also—furthermore—so for all these reasons

• More complex patterns of reasoning– That – but – because -- so

1. Skilful analysis and evaluation of

arguments2. Clarifying ideas

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3. Judging acceptability 4. Judging credibility

5. Evaluating inferences

• Does the reasoning include some important assumptions?

• Does there other relevant arguments

which strengthen or weaken the case?

• What is your overall judgment?

– Is the argument reasonable?

Empowerment (Land & Gilbert, 1994)

• Knowledge and skills

• critical consciousness

• active participation

Critical Pedagogy

• The primary preoccupation of critical pedagogy is with social injustice and how to transform inequitable, undemocratic, or oppressive institutions and social relations

• Urging teachers to help students become more skeptical toward commonly accepted truisms.

• The critical person is – one who is empowered to seek justice, to seek emancipation

– to get the big picture

– to looks to how an issue relates to “deeper” explanations -deeper in the sense that they refer to the basic functioning of power on institutional and societal levels.

Paulo Freire & Henry Giroux• “culture of silence”

• Critical consciousness

– recognition of a system of oppressive

relations, and one’s own place in that system

– critiquing the social relations, social

institutes,and social traditions that create and

maintain conditions of oppression.

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• Decodifications

– learning to decode means to find the actual, hidden meaning of things.

– a reading of social dynamics, of forces of reaction of change, of why the world is as it is, and how it might be made different.

• Critical dialogue /language of critique

– cultural action for freedom is characterized by dialogue, and its preeminent purpose is to conscientize the people

• Praxis

– reflection and action, interpretation and change

– Change and collective action

Criticality (Burbules, 1999)

• Abilities and skills of critical thinking– valid argument, supporting evidence, conceptual clarity, and so

on– the ability to think outside a framework of conventional

understanding,

– To think differently

– Opposite of the hegemonic

• Critical reflection– ability to reflect on one’s own views and assumptions as

themselves features of a particular cultural and historical formation.

• Collective questioning, criticism, and creativity

Discourse

• A means of achieving social control and self-regulation

– The concept of discourse emphasizes the social processes that produce meaning

– Discourses are about what can be said and thought, but also about who can speak, when, and with what authority.

– How is it that one particular statement appeared rather than other (Ball, 1990)

– practice of silencing• what is not said in schools

– continuous interpretation and reconstruction (Popkewitz, 1991)

Authenticity

• Recognition of our own originality and

uniqueness (Taylor, 1991)

• Autonomous, self-directed self (Grimmett,

Neufeld, 1994)