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September 2010 Newletter

September 2010 Newsletter

Foundation for Critical ThinkingNEWSLETTER
Foundation for Critical Thinking
www.criticalthinking.org

September 2010 
Keynote Address 2010Those of you who missed the 30th International Conference on Critical Thinking (and those who attended as well) might be interested in this insightful keynote address by Dr. Richard Paul in which he discusses the history of critical thinking and reveals some of his personal narrative in terms of critical thinking.
Critical Thinking in the News
Race to the Top of the Bottom: a Failure of Insight, by Dr. Linda Elder
August 31, 2010

The "Race to the Top" winners have been announced by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  But will this initiative foster critical thinking?  Read Dr. Elder's editorial to get our view:
An Argument for Critical Thinking
Dr. Linda Elder was recently interviewed for the August 2010 episode of the Secular Buddhist podcast. In the interview she discusses how she came to recognize the importance of critical thinking and why it is increasingly important in today's complex world.  Find the interview at this link: http://www.thesecularbuddhist.com/episode_027.php
Teaching Tip... from the Aspiring Thinker's Guide
We can help students think through important ideas when we regularly engage them in simple but powerful activities like this:

Directions to students:
Every subject has key concepts or main ideas. Use the following guides for figuring out the essence of key concepts. Write your answers...
1. State the meaning of the concept in one simple sentence.
2. State the significance of the idea. (This idea is important because…)
3. Give an example of the concept (as it applies to real life).
4. Connect the idea to other important ideas in the subject.
5. Give examples for number 4 above.

Here is a pattern for practicing the guidelines above:
1. X is…In other words…
2. X is important because…
3. For example…
4. This idea is connected to the following ideas within the subject…
5. Some examples that show the relationship between this idea and other important ideas are…
Thinking Worth Thinking About...
Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically – without learning how, or without practicing. It is ridiculous to suppose that any less skill is required for thinking than for carpentering, or for playing tennis, golf, or bridge, or for playing some musical instrument. People with untrained minds should no more expect to think clearly and logically than those people who have never learnt and never practiced can expect to find themselves good carpenters, golfers, bridge-players, or pianists. Yet our world is full of people who apparently do suppose that thinking is entirely unskilled work...This accounts for the fact that, as a people, we are so much less efficient in this respect than we are in our sports. For nobody assumes that any game is so easy that we are all first-class players “naturally,” without having to learn how to play or without practice.  

                                                                                                                                       A.E. Mander, in Clearer Thinking, 1936