Think Bubbles and Socrates: Teaching Critical Thinking to Millennials in Public Relations Classes

Rebecca J Tallent,Justin J Barnes

doi:10.13189/ujer.2015.030702

Rebecca J Tallent, Justin J Barnes

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2015.030702

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Abstract

Critical thinking skills are crucial in the public relations profession, but teaching these skills to the Millennial Generation is vastly different from previous generations. How can a professor get past No Child Left Behind's dependence on test review guides and everybody wins in getting students to think for themselves? Using the Socratic method along with thinking tools/exercises, students can learn how to devise their own solutions using quality critical and creative thinking.

Highlights

How to teach critical thinking, or CT, to students born between 1981 and 2000 who have been spoon-fed the “everybody wins” philosophy (1) or prepare these same students who have been taught the test rather than independent thinking skills through No Child Left Behind programs? The authors acknowledge not every person in the Millennial generation has the following attributes; and that the experiences are generalized to college students who are normally from middle to upper-middle class families
Teaching critical thinking is a key element for communications courses, especially journalism and public relations, so there is a significant amount of information available
Professors working with college students of the Millennial generation understand this group does think differently than other, previous generations, thanks to No Child Left Behind, the “everyone wins” philosophy under which they have been raised and parents who remain exceptionally protective of their children

Summary

Introduction

Whether students plan to enter corporate, government or not-for-profit public relations, quality critical thinking skills are required for all professionals. Bergman, Fearrington, Davenport and Bergman (4) outright call Millennials a narcissistic generation who hold an inflated view of themselves, believing they are special or unique, expecting special treatment while owing nothing in return This opposes how most public relations professionals view themselves, which is normally one of intellectually curious individuals with good problem-solving abilities who can work as team players in a service industry with a competitive yet “can do” attitude to service the needs of the client (5, p 40). By playing off what VanMeter, Grisaffe, Chonko and Roberts (11) called the Millennial or Gen-Y attributes of high idealism/high relativism, which has them as a group tending toward situationalism, but stymied by the addition of ambiguity, public relations professors can develop methods of actively promoting CT skills in a way that can incorporate analysis into their everyday thinking, making them ready for the workplace and managers who depend on public relations professionals to be clear-sighted in their observations of breaking news or issues management

Why Critical Thinking is Important

Can Existing Pedagogies Mesh?

Teaching Critical Thinking to Gen-Y

Findings

Discussion

Conclusions