Critical Thinking: An Exploration Of Theory And Practice

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking is an exploration of and exposition on the elusive concept of criticalthinking that is central to the operation of advanced stages of education and professionaldevelopment. It draws on a wide-ranging review of literature and discussion. With asubstantial section of resources for direct use with learners, the book provides theoryand practical support for the teaching process so that learners can become effectivecritical thinkers.Topics discussed include: a review of the concept of critical thinking, approaches to it, and the activitiesthat it involves;issues such as cultural influences, objectivity and subjectivity in critical thinking;the significance of the relationship between epistemological development andcritical thinking;a new concept of depth and quality in critical thinking;a new concept of academic assertiveness with wide implications for all aspects oflearning;the pedagogy of critical thinking, which is addressed through discussion and manyexercises;the pedagogy of academic assertiveness as a support to critical thinking.Critical Thinking: an exploration of theory and practice will be of interest to thosewho support the process of teaching, the teachers themselves, the learners, andthose who work in professional education and professional development. Teachers ofall disciplines at higher and further education levels in education will find this approachto defining and improving students’ critical thinking skills invaluable.Jennifer Moon works at the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, BournemouthUniversity and as a freelance consultant. She is a National Teaching Fellowship Awardwinner. Her other books include Learning Journals, Handbook of Reflective andExperiential Learning, Module and Programme Development Handbook, Reflectionand Learning in Professional Development and Short Courses and Workshops.

Critical ThinkingAn exploration of theory and practiceJennifer Moon

First published 2008by Routledge2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RNSimultaneously published in the USA and Canadaby Routledge270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’scollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business 2008 Jennifer MoonAll rights reserved. The purchase of this copyright material confers the righton the purchasing institution to photocopy pages 177–224 only. No other partof this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or byany electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the publishers.British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryLibrary of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataMoon, Jennifer A.Critical thinking : an exploration of theory and practice / Jennifer Moon.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0–415–41179–3 (pbk.) – ISBN 0–415–41178–5 (hardback)1. Critical thinking–Study and teaching. I. Title.LB2395.35.M66 2007370.15′2–dc222007005441ISBN 0-203-94488-7 Master e-book ISBNISBN10: 0–415–41178–5 (hbk)ISBN10: 0–415–41179–3 (pbk)ISBN10: 0–203–94488–7 (ebk)ISBN13: 978–0–415–41178–3 (hbk)ISBN13: 978–0–415–41179–0 (pbk)ISBN13: 978–0–203–94488–2 (ebk)

ContentsPrefaceviiPART 1Introduction113Introduction: the topic, the content, the writer, . . .PART 2Mapping the territory of critical thinking217Critical thinking as an elusive concept: what critical thinkingmight be . . .193Approaches to critical thinking in the literature354Some of the broader issues of critical thinking: standards,objectivity and the cultural basis57PART 3The person as a critical thinker655The role of emotion, language and curiosity in critical thinking676Academic assertiveness: being appropriately assertive as a thinker77PART 4Taking stock91793Critical thinking: a pause to take stock

vi ContentsPART 5Epistemological development and depth in critical thinking998 Critical thinking and learners’ conceptions of knowledge1019 Depth in critical thinking113PART 6Critical thinking and pedagogy12310 A defining statement on critical thinking and an introductionto the pedagogy12511 The pedagogy of critical thinking13812 The pedagogy of academic assertiveness162PART 7ResourcesReferencesIndex175225234

PrefaceThis book is an exploration as well as an exposition. It started from a fascinationwith the idea of thinking and a sense that, although thinking must surely be at theheart of education, it is not often explicitly taken into consideration in pedagogy.Critical thinking does, however, feature in the rhetoric of education, particularlyhigher education. Having a word for an idea, however, does not always meanthat everyone holds the same conception of it. Early reading around the topicrevealed a wide range of different views of what this thing – critical thinking –might be. So the search and the research began to shape themselves around thenotion of exploration as well as exposition. More of the background to the book isdescribed in the first chapter.As with other writings of this author, the intention has been to cover the topicin a broad manner – from the explorations and the theory to the development of aworking definition (‘defining statement’) and then the use of the defining statement as a broad principle around which pedagogical principles and practice couldbe developed. There are plenty of practical activities described at the end of thebook – and many materials to be photocopied and used directly with students.The book has developed from processes of reading, writing a learning journalon critical thinking, listening and also from running workshops. Several importantideas emerged in listening to what people said in workshops. As time has gone onand the book developed, the workshops also became valuable testing areas for thepedagogical materials that were developed.The book should be of interest to those who support the process of teaching,the teachers themselves, the learners, and those who work in the professions,professional education and professional development. The notion of critical thinking appears in a number of areas of education. The focus of this book is highereducation and professional development, but ideas will also be of interest to thoseworking in post-16 education and in particular, those teaching Critical Thinkingat ‘A’ Level and Theory of Knowledge on the International Baccalaureate courses.In covering the basic subject matter of education, it will be of interest to those whoneed to think about the theoretical background of critical thinking and for anyonewho needs to enact the process of critical thinking as part of an advanced programme of study or as an everyday or professional activity. For some it may simplyprovide activities to use with learners. It should be of interest too to staff andeducational developers and those who support students in study skills development.

viii PrefaceA book that is exploration as well as exposition takes a long time to write andso it has been with this one. Something that takes a long time, takes a lot of life aswell, and so it has been with this one. I thank those who have borne with my efforts,probably sometimes to the point of tedium. Also I would like to thank those whohave attended workshops, unwittingly perhaps, extending my thinking and thentrying out the new materials. I apologize to those few who commented that theywanted a workshop about a ‘finished thing’ and not ‘work in progress’. Fortunatelyor unfortunately, I will never feel happy to claim that I run workshops on ‘finishedproducts’. Terms such as ‘reflective learning’ and ‘critical thinking’ are alwaysbeing constructed and reconstructed and are rightly interpreted differently indifferent contexts.I want to thank, in particular, colleagues at the Centre for Excellence in MediaPractice at Bournemouth University, who, a year ago, in my new post in the Centre,included the writing of this book in my work remit and thus liberated me froma sense of guilt at writing when others thought I should be doing something else.Jennifer MoonMay 2007

Part 1Introduction

1IntroductionThe topic, the content, the writer, . . .IntroductionThis book is, as the preface says, an exploration and exposition. Writing it wasnot just a matter of bringing together existing ideas, but a matter of the use of theformat of a book and the activity of writing in order to research this thing – thisnotion of critical thinking – that seems to be a prominent activity in education andprofessional development, but about which there is so much uncertainty. Thischapter provides the background to this critical thinking project. It contains arange of headings that are generally introductory, but that do not logically flowfrom beginning to end. It begins by considering some examples of the use of theterm ‘critical thinking’ from tutors and learners. It moves on to ask some questionsand review the significance of critical thinking in higher education. The next sectiondescribes how the writer began to recognize the issues that she felt needed tobe explored, for if this book is research, it is important to place the researcher’sorientation into the consideration. There is then a section that summarizes thecontent of the whole book.Critical thinking situationsIt is tempting to dive into the exploration of critical thinking without any illustrationof the kind of situation that might inspire critical thinking in the first place. To divestraight in would be to ignore one of the major points that this book is designed tomake – that there are unclear understandings as to just what critical thinking is.We start, therefore, with some scenarios in which critical thinking might beenacted, and one example of critical thinking in action.Seth is a student on a drama course. He is asked to attend a performanceof a new play and write a critique of it, first for a public newspaper, thenas a drama specialist.Tim has tried working in oil paint for the first time. He asks Julia tocomment on his work. Julia says that she does not want to express herreaction in words, but in a graphic form. She makes a picture. Theydiscuss Tim’s work, using Julia’s graphic statement as a stimulus.