The key purposes of this study were to determine the extent that people purport to
utilise critical thinking in educational and organisational settings; second, to examine
the forces that encouraged and discouraged critical thinking and third, to identify
strategies and environments that encourage and foster critical thinking.
The literature examined shows that the use and teaching of critical thinking has been
well represented in educational settings. However, upon an initial review of literature
within organisations it appeared that the term critical thinking was not commonly
used. While critical thinking occurred within organisations it tended to be defined as
problem solving and decision making approaches.
The model of critical thinking which underpinned this research was that of Stephen Brookfield (1987). Brookfield's model was tested through the design of the
methodology. A total of ninety three surveys were completed by students at the
University of Canberra from the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Management.
Thirteen individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a selection of
these students.
The data suggested that critical thinking occurred both within educational and
organisational environments. One of the main impediments to the use of critical
thinking was the availability of ample time and the respondents claimed that they had
more time to apply critical thinking during their studies rather than at work. The
respondents identified strategies such as brainstorming, role playing and modelling
behaviour as some of the approaches that would increase the likelihood of the use of
critical thinking at work and study. An unanticipated finding was that individuals
applied a different interpretation in the application of critical thinking within
organisations compared to educational settings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219003 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Hewitt, Stephen, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Stephen Hewitt |
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