I think Steve Kaufmann raises an interesting point below about the
relationship between critical thinking and activism. I agree that
teaching critical thinking skills is about helping students come to
their own conclusions, not spoonfeeding a replacement ideology. But I'm
not sure I agree about activism.

One aspect of critical thinking, it seems to me, is understanding the
role of human agency, including our own. A teacher shouldn't presume to
tell students which direction to take their activism (or agency), but a
teacher should look for ways to help students see that systems and
institutions come from decisions that people made (not from nature) and
they can be altered by more human decisions/activism.

Curious to know what others think about this...
 

> One word of caution. I do not think that critical thinking should be

> confused with any kind of social activism. We cannot promote an

> ideology, however exalted, and at the same time encourage critical

> thinking. Surely critical thinking requires people to form their own

> opinions and to learn how to present them effectively and yet deal

with

> contrary opinions. 



-- 

Cynthia Peters
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