Teaching Critical Thinking Skills

In Christian schools we want students to think critically about important issues. This has always been an important goal for learning in school but never more so than now. In Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism, Patricia Aburdene says that spirituality in business is “today’s greatest megatrend.” She says that the “parade of fallen corporate heroes who march across our television screens” were unable to exhibit self-mastery in their leadership. The kind of spirituality and conscious capitalism Aburdene is talking about comes from taking a critical look deep inside oneself for to find one’s basic moral beliefs that transform one’s life and one’s actions.

Another reason that we must help students learn to think critically about important issues is that all kinds of information and misinformation are available on the Internet and students need help in learning to examine the supporting evidence to determine validity. All of us have read outrageous claims on the Internet, claims that are based on falsehood or on only partial truths. It is difficult, but extremely important, to teach middle school and high school students how to recognize what is true…how to know which supporting evidence can be trusted.

Teaching for this kind of thinking seems to be the most effective when we begin with what we call THE BIG QUESTION. The big question is a question that is troubling to many members of society. Critical thinking always means that one must set aside one’s immediate response to or beliefs about the answer. This is particularly difficult for some Christians who might believe that answers to difficult questions can be found in the Bible, using their own particular interpretation of passages.
The steps for teaching critical thinking are:
1. What is there about this question that reminds me of something else I know?
2. How is it similar to that thing?
3. In what way is it different from the thing it calls to mind?
4. Setting aside all of my prejudices, where might I go to get as much information about the question as I can possibly find? My information will come from sources such a science, sociology, economics, psychology, philosophy, and the Bible.
5. Now I have gathered all of that information, why do I value the source from which the information has come?
6. Finally, how will I answer the question?

Going through this thinking process does not mean that one has arrived at a truth on which all will agree or even on which all Christians will agree. It simply means that after looking at all the supporting evidence, this is one’s judgment. And if I am most of all persuaded by my religious belief, at least I will recognize that that is true and I will know that I must respect others who have different religious or basic beliefs.

How does all of that work out in a real-life situation? Tomorrow I will describe ways we can do this.