Activity11n

History and critique of Critical Thinking movement

Goal: Review what was learned in CE2 and make contrasts with the approach of this course

Reading to prepare for activity
Paul provides a history of The Critical Thinking Movement. Kaplan and Walters explain "second wave" criticisms. Partnership for 21st Century Learning describe 21st Century learning skills.

Kaplan, L. D. (1994). Teaching intellectual autonomy: The failure of the critical thinking movement. Re-thinking Reason: New Perspectives on Critical Thinking. K. S. Walters. Albany, State University of New York Press: 205-219.
Partnership for 21st Century Learning. (2015). "P21 Framework definitions." Retrieved 7 September 2015, from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2015.pdf.
Paul, R. W. (2011). "Reflections on the Nature of Critical Thinking, Its History, Politics, and Barriers and on Its Status across the College/University Curriculum Part I." Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines 26(3): 5-24.
Walters, K. S. (1994). Introduction: Beyond logicism in critical thinking. Re-thinking Reason: New Perspectives on Critical Thinking. K. S. Walters. Albany, State University of New York Press: 1-22.

Steps
1. Compose a four-person dialogue on the value and proper way to teach critical thinking according to spokesperson for the 1970s critical thinking movement, second wave criticism, 21st Century skills, and the indirect approach explored in this course. (You can take it that all four dialoguers want to expose the best in each other as well as make their own case well. So the desired tone is not denunciatory and a moderator or additional "special participant" should probably not be needed. Here is an example of a multi-person dialogue on a completely different topic.) (40)
2. Post to blog (5).
3. Peruse the posted conversations of other students (10 m).
4. Before the end of this session's activity, share your experience attempting this in a breakout group, then the class as a whole (10+10).
5. Submit Plus-Delta feedback on the activity (5m).

(2015 posts)