Critical thinking as a citizenship competence: teaching strategies

Abstract

General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. AbstractThis article is about enhancing critical thinking as a crucial aspect of the competence citizens need to participate in society. First empirical research into the question which instructional strategies are 'effective' in enhancing critical thinking is reviewed. Characteristics of instruction that are assumed to enhance critical thinking are: paying attention to the development of the epistemological beliefs of students; promoting active learning; a problem-based curriculum; stimulating interaction between students; and learning on the basis of real-life situations. Research has failed to prove the effectiveness of programs especially devised to improve critical thinking (higher-order) skills. In the second part of this article, the various proposals for instructional formats for critical thinking are discussed from a social constructivist point of view. Learning to think critically is conceptualized as the acquisition of the competence to participate critically in the communities and social practices of which a person is a member. If education is to further the critical competence of students, it must provide them with the opportunity at the level of the classroom and the school to observe, imitate and practice critical agency and to reflect upon it. Learning contexts must be chosen which students can make sense of and in which they can develop a feeling of responsibility for the quality of the practice in question.

Health literacy as a learning outcome in schools

“…Critical thinking skills are important for students if they are to participate as active citizens in society (ten Dam and Volman, 2004).…”

Information-problem solving: A review of problems students encounter and instructional solutions

“…Also research of Ten Dam and Volman (2004) reveals that stand alone programs stimulating skills that are highly regulative and make an appeal to students' critical thinking ability are not effective.…”

Trusting Trust in the Context of Higher Education: The Potential Limits of the Trust Concept

“…learn to examine evidence, judge the reliability of sources, focus on central aspects of the issue, etc.). This type of classroom teaching is generally valued and represents an essential arena where the ability to conduct critical thinking is established and developed (Brookfield, 1986;Pithers & Soden, 2000;ten Dam & Volman, 2004). Thus, the ability for critical thinking is central to learning processes in the sense that it allows students to develop the ability to reflect, which is primarily focused on choosing appropriate cognitive and behavioural patterns (Ennis, 1993).…”

“…It follows that the main aim of contemporary education slowly but steadily tends to shift from the absorption and repetition of knowledge towards autonomous and critical thinking in terms of dynamic construction of knowledge. Therefore, critical thinking ability in modern education is praised as being a crucial area of competence on which democratic societies rest (ten Dam & Volman, 2004). However, the collision between traditional and modern paradigms of teaching accentuates the possible ambiguity of the trust concept.…”