Addressing social polarization through critical thinking: Theoretical application in the “Living Well With Difference” course in secondary schools in England

Abstract

Responding to international calls for critical thinking programs to address social polarisations and extremism through education, this article examines the cognitive and socio-psychological foundations of a critical thinking programme for secondary schools in England called “Living Well With Difference” (LWWD). The aim of LWWD is to develop critical thinking about issues of social polarisation, prejudice and any kind of extreme thinking. These issues often involve the interaction of emotion and thinking, which is understood using a dual systems framework, illustrated with examples of course methodology and content. The learning process aims to promote more cognitively flexible, complex and integrated thinking, measured by integrative complexity, and is supported by meta-awareness to enable emotion management. The aim is for participants to engage with difficult social issues through structured group activities, while becoming aware of social, emotional, textual, visual and rhetorical influences to increase Media Information Literacy, as a foundation for engaging with differing perspectives in order to reduce barriers between groups in society.

Fusion of Emotional Thinking and Mental Health of Students in Vocal Music Teaching

“…Vocal teaching should not only pay attention to the improvement of singing techniques but also not ignore the cultivation of singing psychological quality, both of which are unified to serve vocal activities [13]. Teachers can only accurately grasp the psychological characteristics of students in the teaching process and actively use the methods of vocal psychology teaching in order to guide students from the perspective of psychological training, so that students can learn to self-control and adjust, which can effectively reduce the blindness of practice after class, improve learning efficiency, and also greatly improve the single mode of classroom teaching in the past [14]. The prerequisite for training students to be able to maintain a good mental state when singing and to master vocal technical skills is also based on the understanding and comprehension of knowledge, because the singing voice is all in representational form, and students gradually form and develop various mental qualities of singing in the process of learning and educational practice [15].…”