Critical thinking is not an isolated goal unrelated to other important goals in education. Rather, it is a seminal goal which, done well, simultaneously facilitates a rainbow of other ends. It is best conceived, therefore, as the hub around which all other educational ends cluster. For example, as students learn to think more critically, they become more proficient at historical, scientific, and mathematical thinking. They develop skills, abilities, and values critical to success in everyday life. All of this assumes, of course, that those who teach have a solid grounding in critical thinking and in the teaching strategies essential to it.
Professional Development Specialized for Your Department or Program
Research suggests that critical thinking is not typically an intrinsic part of instruction at any level. Students reach high school, college and beyond without training in it. At the same time, faculty tend to take it for granted as an automatic by-product of their teaching. Yet without critical thinking systematically designed into instruction, learning is typically transitory and superficial. What can we do?
There are no easy answers to this problem, for students and instruction will not be transformed over night. However, with well-designed long-term professional development in critical thinking, faculty can begin to teach for critical thinking.
Having conducted successful workshops at more than 600 institutions, for more than 70,000 educators, Dr. Richard Paul and his team of distinguished presenters know how to lay the necessary foundations, and then build for the future through follow-up workshops. Highly practical, each workshop is designed to ensure that participants think their way through critical thinking concepts and principles and then apply these concepts and principles to the redesign of instruction.
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