How Critical is Critical Thinking?

Abstract

T he improvement of thinking skills in students is considered a top priority by a growing number of American educators (Gallup 1985). This sensibility is reflected in the curriculum by a dramatic increase in courses that teach critical thinking at college as well as precollege levels. Although there is much debate as to how critical thinking is best taught (whether, for instance, it should be approached as an isolated subject or integrated into domain-specific courses), the educational establishment is in almost unanimous agreement that it should be taught. Some (Barry 1984; Blair and Johnson 1980; National Assessment of Educational Progress 1981; Nosich 1982) defend this contention by claiming that critical thinking is a pragmatic imperative in an age of information overload, deceptive advertising, and political ideology. Others (McPeck 1981; Postman 1985; Siegel 1988) argue that training in critical thinking is a necessary condition for the very possibility of effective learning in general. Still others (Paul 1982, 184, 1987; Scriven 1980) hold that instruction in critical thinking fosters an open-minded tolerance of alternative perspectives and worldviews.