I think activism based on valid and logical thinking should be promoted first on the basis of the individual.  By this I mean that first a person must be able to act on the ideas concerning their own mental, emotional, and physical development and then the persons actions can affect personal, work and community relationships.  



Amanda Ramsey, PC I
400 State Avenue
PO Box 171248
Kansas City, KS  66117
(Phone) 913-279-7561
(Fax) 913-279-7260
amanda.ramsey at srs.ks.org

This message and accompanying documents are covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521, and contain information intended for the specified individual(s) only.  This information is confidential.  If you are not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, copying, or the taking of any action based on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by E-mail, and delete the original message.



>>> "Cynthia Peters" <cynthia_peters at worlded.org> 7/8/2008 8:48 AM >>>

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
Change Agent Editor
World Education
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA  02210
 
tel: 617-482-9485 ext. 3649
fax: 617-482-0617
email: cpeters at worlded.org 
 
Check out The Change Agent online at: 
www.nelrc.org/changeagent 

----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list
professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov 
 
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment 

Provide feedback by May 30th on the AALPD Quality Professional Development Standards:
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/AALPD_PD_Quality_Standards_Feedback 
 
Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development