The Most Important Thread You'll Ever Read in the Study!!!

[Makalakumu]

I was doing some research for grad work and I thought I'd share this little tidbit from educational psychology.

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-development-a-stage-theory/483

This is a stage theory that describes the development of critical thinking and, considering recent threads in the study, I thought it might be important for participants to use this to gain some self knowledge. Here's a sample from the article.

The stages we will lay out are as follows:

Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker
Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker
Stage Six: The [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Accomplished [/FONT]Thinker
​

Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker



[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Defining Feature: Unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of the determining role that thinking is playing in their lives and of the many ways that problems in thinking are causing problems in their lives. Unreflective thinkers lack the ability to explicitly assess their thinking and improve it thereby.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Knowledge of Thinking: Unreflective thinkers lack the knowledge that high quality thinking requires regular practice in taking thinking apart, accurately assessing it, and actively improving it. In fact, unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of thinking as such, hence fail to recognize thinking as involving concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc. Unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of the appropriate standards for the assessment of thinking: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Skill in Thinking: Unreflective thinkers may have developed a variety of skills in thinking without being aware of them. However, these skills are inconsistently applied because of the lack of self-monitoring of thought. Prejudices and misconceptions often undermine the quality of thought of the unreflective thinker.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Some Implications for Instruction: We must recognize that in the present mode of instruction it is perfectly possible for students to graduate from high school, or even college, and still be largely unreflective thinkers. Though all students think, most students are largely unaware of how their thinking is structured or how to assess or improve it. Thus when they experience problems in thinking, they lack the skills to identify and “fix” these problems. Most teachers do not seem to be aware of how unaware most students are of their thinking. Little is being done at present to help students "discover" their thinking. This emphasis needs shifting.[/FONT]

Some questions that popped into my mind....

1. What stage am I?
2. How can I grow as a thinker?
3. What do my posts in the study say about my critical thinking developmental stage?

Thoughts?

 

[Big Don]

IMO, a better question would be:
Are less intelligent people generally happier than their intellectual superiors?

 

[Makalakumu]

IMO, a better question would be:
Are less intelligent people generally happier than their intellectual superiors?

The answer is no. The article cites some surprising...or maybe not so surprising...benefits to critical thinking. It also lays out a road map to learn how to do it better.

 

[Steve]

Can you post more info about the other stages? Interesting thread.


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[Josh Oakley]

Can you post more info about the other stages? Interesting thread.


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The rest is actually on the link he provided. Interesting stuff.
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[Tgace]

Where educrats be without pedantry?

What is the difference between an educator and an educrat? Simply put, educrats believe in process—as opposed to educators, who believe in results. -D Saunders

All very interesting, but it reminds me of issues I have with some LE administrative concepts. The people with PhD before their names all seem to be long on process and short on application. Ive lost count of how many classes on things like "Intelligence Led Policing" I've gone to where everything the presenter said made sense while he was saying it, but on the drive back to the PD you realize that you really have no clue how you are supposed to implement it. I'd trade days worth of theory classes for a couple of hours of someone telling me "try THIS and see if you notice improvement".

 

[Makalakumu]

Where educrats be without pedantry?

What is the difference between an educator and an educrat? Simply put, educrats believe in process—as opposed to educators, who believe in results. -D Saunders

All very interesting, but it reminds me of issues I have with some LE administrative concepts. The people with PhD before their names all seem to be long on process and short on application. Ive lost count of how many classes on things like "Intelligence Led Policing" I've gone to where everything the presenter said made sense while he was saying it, but on the drive back to the PD you realize that you really have no clue how you are supposed to implement it. I'd trade days worth of theory classes for a couple of hours of someone telling me "try THIS and see if you notice improvement".

Yeah, I see your point. I am not a fan of stage theories in general because people tend to adopt features of multiple stages as they grow and change. Drawing lines seems artificial. However, the borderlines in these stages actually seem to lay out a map of the spectrum of critical thought in general. I think the theory could help motivated people grow.

 

[Makalakumu]

I was doing some research for grad work and I thought I'd share this little tidbit from educational psychology.

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-development-a-stage-theory/483

This is a stage theory that describes the development of critical thinking and, considering recent threads in the study, I thought it might be important for participants to use this to gain some self knowledge. Here's a sample from the article.



Some questions that popped into my mind....

1. What stage am I?
2. How can I grow as a thinker?
3. What do my posts in the study say about my critical thinking developmental stage?

Thoughts?

In my private life, I think at my best I fit in stage five because I tend to be very careful about my thoughts and will consider all sides. For some reason, this is harder for me online. Maybe the non-face to face interface doesn't feel natural or maybe the pseudo anonymity brings out my character flaws, but I definitely regress online. So, I can swing from stage three to stage five and maybe I need stabilize this in order to grow.

Shooting from the hip online vs taking careful aim IRL.

 

[blindsage]

IMO, a better question would be:
Are less intelligent people generally happier than their intellectual superiors?

Well, since the thread is about critical thinking and not intelligence, it's not really a relevant question.

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, since the thread is about critical thinking and not intelligence, it's not really a relevant question.

Is anyone else willing to give a shot at rating themselves?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Is anyone else willing to give a shot at rating themselves?

I'm somewhere between Stage Three and Stage Four, I guess.

My desire is to arrive at the truth if there is an objective truth to be realized, or to find a subjective truth I can defend with logic and fact as well as believe in. As I have said many times here and elsewhere, this alienates many, because I categorically reject 'party lines' and other 'isms' on that basis alone. I try to follow where the facts take me; even when it means walking away from cherished beliefs, angering my 'party line' friends, or making enemies when I call ******** on various bits of intellectual garbage out there. However, I don't always succeed, I still have a few poorly-supported beliefs that I refuse to let go of, and I do let my emotions rule my intellect from time to time.

However, I am a fan of critical thinking. I wish I was better at it.

 

[elder999]

Some questions that popped into my mind....

1. What stage am I?

It usually depends on what I'm thinking about.

2. How can I grow as a thinker?

Again, I think it depends on what I'm thinking about. In some cases, do I ahve to "grow as a thinker?" I don't think so.

3. What do my posts in the study say about my critical thinking developmental stage?

Again, it depends on what I'm posting about, doesn't it? And, truthfully, applying "accomplished thinking" to some posts will elicit only ridicule as the legitimate response. :lol:

Ag

 

[Makalakumu]

It usually depends on what I'm thinking about.



Again, I think it depends on what I'm thinking about. In some cases, do I ahve to "grow as a thinker?" I don't think so.



Again, it depends on what I'm posting about, doesn't it? And, truthfully, applying "accomplished thinking" to some posts will elicit only ridicule as the legitimate response. :lol:

Ag

I wonder if a true accomplished thinker participates much in online debating? Where would you find a stage 6 person? What would be a good example for us to look at in order to see what excellent critical thinking looks like?

 

[WC_lun]

I'm not sure where I am on the scale, but I do try to use critical thinking in my decisions and opinions. I dislike decisions made from pure emotion because they are rarely the right decision long term.