week 1
Critical thinking is a concept that has been developing in various forms in the past two millenniums. Although the term “critical thinking”, was used more commonly in late first half of twentieth century.
Edward Glaser (1941) has defined critical thinking as:
“The ability to think critically, involves three things:
an attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one's experiences,
knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning, and
some skill in applying those methods.”
According to Glaser, the process of critical thinking comprises a persistent effort to analyze any accepted form of knowledge in the light of new evidence that supports it or challenges it for further analysis. It begins with the ability to recognize problem with the existing knowledge, belief or assumptions then goes on to find workable means of solving the problem. This process includes collection of empirical evidence and then to state the unstated assumptions and values with clear descriptions in understandable language. Clarity and accuracy of interpreting the data is the key to convince those who stand strong on the already constructed knowledge. It is not at all an easy task to cohesively appraise evidence and evaluate arguments, to recognize the existence (or non-existence) of logical relationships between propositions, and then to carefully draw warranted conclusions which are not over generalized. The critical thinkers are ready to put the conclusions and generalizations to test before reconstructing one's patterns of beliefs, and they examine closely before they move on to render judgments about specific things phenomenon of life.
(Edward M. Glaser, An Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking, spoken at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, 1941)
After completion of this unit you will be able to
1. Understand the phenomenon of critical thinking
2. Describe how this phenomenon developed in the field of education
