Some people argue that schools ought to teach students how to critically think as well...?

Question

as passing on important skills and knowledge. How well do you feel that U.S. schools presently provide this function? Is this ever likely to be a major function of schooling?

Answer 1

Yes they are supposed to. If you follow the model of the trivium, this is supposed to come in the 2nd stage, and then presentations and style in the final (3rd) stage.

Schools do a LOUSY job of this for several reasons. Many teachers sad to say, don't know what logic and critical thinking is all about. They seem to believe that criticizing is the same as critical thinking, and they don't understand nor teach logic at all.

Another reason is that many people believe this is the MOST important skill, so they start at too young of an age. This leads to confusion for all but the most gifted students, and it deprives them of the knowledge base on which to build these skills.

In summary, many schools try to make this a major function, but they fail b/c they don't know what they're doing.

Answer 2

You pose an excellent question. As a teenager, I had the opportunity to attend the Governor's School of North Carolina, which had this exact mindset, teaching students how to think critically and about the acquisition of viewpoints and knowledge. It was the greatest educational experience of my life. This school was funded by the state, and also some individual teachers at my schools have fostered a similar point, no state curriculum includes this. In fact, we often learned mindless information to help us pass a state multiple-choice test. Perhaps in the future, schools will encourage critical thinking as a necessity in education.

Answer 3

IMHO, not alot of it gets done. I think critical thinking should start when you begin taking control of your own education (i.e., University, Trade School, college, etc.). That's when you should question what you learn, question the why things are as they are and just question the status quo in general. Then again, critical thinking might not be that much of a skill as much as an innate trait. Maybe you are born with it to some degree. Having taught Bachelor and PhD students, I can tell you it is hard to hammer it in even what we would consider "bright" students.

Answer 4

No, schools mostly just flood the students with information. More facts, more bits of this and that. Only few classes really make the student think on how to analyze and use the information. But, lower school is supposed to be general. When your start specializing in your field, then you have to think more instead of just absorb more--especially in math or science.

Answer 5

My school did a decent job. Critical thinking makes more sense to kids, since it is usable information. Most kids assume that Trig is useless and lets face it, for most of us it is usuless. I am a tile setter and I use it, but most do not.

Answer 6

I think parents ought to be doing some of this, the schools can't do it all.