Critical thinking is a widely shared educational goal which has been granted
more explicit attention than ever in recent years. Five major approaches to this
area of educational concern have been influential to the development of
educational practices, research programs, and conceptualization in the field. Three
of these approaches (the 'process' or basic skills approach, the problem solving
approach, and the logic approach) are found to be based on unfounded
assumptions about the nature of reasoning and thinking, and inadequate attention
to the purposes which make critical thinking such a widely accepted educational
goal. A fourth (the information processing approach) is found to involve instances
of reductionism which render incoherent many of the terms with which we
understand and assess our own reasoning, and that of others. The fifth approach
(the multi-aspect approach associated with Robert Ennis) is not so essentially
flawed, but is found to contain some significant problems. Most notably there is
a problem with fixing the reference of 'mental abilities' (which is essential for
the issue of generalizability of critical thinking abilities) and with understanding
the relationship between judgment and the other aspects of critical thinking.
It is argued that writers in the field of critical thinking generally have tried to
purchase objectivity for their conceptions by connecting them with the ideal of
disengaged knowledge, either as exemplified by the study of formal logic or the
natural sciences. It is argued that, in contrast with this approach, we ought to
recognize that values and value judgments are at the heart of critical thinking. The ideal of disengagement tends to interfere with our understanding of thinking
as a normative (rule-governed) activity grounded in our social practices. This
thesis argues for the adoption of a realist position with regard to values, an
expressivist understanding of language, an interpretive stance toward the study of
rationality, and a social constructivist conception of rules. Some consequences of
these positions for instruction, teacher preparation, and future research are suggested. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41453 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Creators | Selman, Mark R. |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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