Reproducing Social Inequalities through Higher Education: Critical Thinking as Valued Capital

A Pedagogy of Force: Faculty Perspectives of Critical Thinking Capacity in Undergraduate Students

“…In general, research has established a clear connection between faculty epistemologies and their professional reasoning (Clarke & Gabert, 2004;Reybold, 2003), thus it is reasonable to conclude that faculty attitudes about critical thinking affect students' acquisition of critical thinking skills. Tsui (2003) warns that some faculty may believe their students are ill prepared to think critically and therefore they do not even attempt to develop the ability. Faculty members must monitor their own beliefs and biases to ensure that they do not negatively influence critical thinking development in their students.…”

“…King and Kitchener argue, "As educators, we have the responsibility to teach students the 'habits of mind' associated with making interpretive analyses and thoughtful, reasoned arguments" (1994, p. 222). Tsui (2003) sheds light on another critical thinking/student growth concern: the "relationship between institutional selectivity and the development of higher order thinking skills" (p. 318). She approaches the issue from the perspective of socioeconomic status, arguing that in many instances "the higher education system engages in the transmission of social inequality by availing opportunities to succeed in adult life for some while constraining opportunities for others" (2003, p. 318).…”

What Jim Crow’s Teachers Could Do: Educational Capital and Teachers’ Work in Under-resourced Schools

“…In the contemporary United States, urban teachers must craft their own situated pedagogies in which students and their home cultures are affirmed. More importantly, all students must leave classrooms with educational capital as a precondition for accessing and exchanging various forms of capital in spite of the complex inequalities that they were born into (Tsui 2003). Gloria Ladson-Billings (2000) has called for prospective and veteran teachers to employ situated pedagogies in which teachers ''make the school and home experiences of diverse learners more congruent'' and ''think more carefully about the relationship of [teaching] to the communities in which they are located and the school populations that their graduates are likely to serve'' (p. 210).…”

“…Future research should explore the specific skills, knowledge, and credentials that black students obtained and map out outcomes before and after integration. 4 For full-length historical studies on the Jim Crow period, especially state-sponsored discrimination and oppression, read work by the following historians : Anderson 1988;Gaines 1996;Gilmore 1996;Litwack 1979Litwack , 1998 One notable exception has been the work of Lisa Tsui (2003) who defines educational capital as ''that set of skills, abilities, and forms of knowledge (e.g., knowledge of grammar, math skills, ability to think critically) that is valued by schools and school officials'' (p. 320).…”

First Year Student Expectations: General Education Goals at a Multi-Campus Community College

“…Currently, they have larger percentages of nontraditional, lower-income, and minority students than do four year universities (Horn & Griffith, 2006;Provasnik & Planty, 2008). If university students are more likely than community college students to be provided with clear expectations and messages about the value of general education (as well as access to a curriculum that reflects those general education goals), then inclusiveness and equal access for all students through education will become less obtainable for the underprivileged (Tsui, 2003). The class divide allows for "higher-class elites who matriculate at four-year colleges and universities, and thus obtain the credentials necessary for coveted leadership positions in our society" (Sacks, 2009, p. 16).…”