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CULTIVATING THE CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING ABILITIES IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

cercetător dr. Marinela Rusu Institutul „Gh. Zane”, Iaşi

We can say that critical and creative thinking are interrelated and complementary aspects of thinking, especially when comes to propelling the complex process of problem-solving. Almost all of the thinking, which we undertake contains some critical and some creative aspects. For example, whenwe try to solve real life problems we move back and forth several times between creative and criticalreflection as we develop solutions or weigh the consequences of any one solution. It is important,therefore, that any attempts to improve thinking abilities pay attention to both critical and creativeaspects of thinking.The term

critical thinking

has become so prevalent in philosophy, psychology and educationthat it has become a ‘buzzword’. For instance,

critical thinking

prominently shapes goals in education,whether among curriculum developers, education researchers, parents, or employers. Norris (1985)stated in his ‘Synthesis of Research on Critical Thinking’, that critical thinking should be aneducational ideal and not just an educational option. Such a claim necessitates that students have a“moral right” to be taught how to think critically. In other words, one’s education is not completeunless one has learned how to think critically.However, the concept of

critical thinking

is not new. It dates back at least to Socrates, and ithas been a focus of educational reform movements throughout history. Of allthe kinds of thinking that one can possibly identify, none has drawn greater attention from theeducational community than critical thinking.An understanding of the meaning of critical thinking is important because the concept can bevague and elusive. Brookfield (1987) asserted that critical thinking is a way of life,which can be seenin the context of, for example, one’s relationships, work activities, and political involvements.Brookfield defined critical thinking as more than just the

skills of logical analysis

. Rather, criticalthinking involves uncovering assumptions underlying the habitual ways of thinking and acting, andthen being ready to think and act differently in light of the new-found insights. Paul (1995), a criticalthinking guru, defined what it means to be a well-educated person in relation to critical thinking. He postulated that a student who applies critical thinking skills is one who often asks probing questions,seeks to figure out the logic of things, examines assumptions, analyses concepts, tests implications,and consequences.The current critical thinking movement can be traced back to 1962 with Ennis’ landmark article, ‘A Concept of Critical Thinking’. Ennis’ initial conception of critical thinking focused on the

correct assessment of statements

based on criteria. It focused on the quality of the products of criticalthinking, rather than the process. Specifically,

12 aspects of critical thinking

have been identified(Ennis, 1962) and they refer, mainly to the capacity of judging

whether

:1) grasping the meaning of a statement;1

2) there is ambiguity in a line of reasoning;3) certain statements contradict each other;4) a conclusion follows necessarily;5) a statement is specific enough;6) a statement is actually the application of a certain principle;7) an observation statement is reliable;8) an inductive conclusion is warranted;9) the problem has been identified;10) something is an assumption;11) a definition is adequate; and12) a statement made by an alleged authority is acceptable.These ’quality-of-product-based’ conceptions of critical thinking were redefined approximately20 years later, incorporating a process of reasonable and reflective thinking, and focused on

deciding what to believe or do

(Ennis, 1989; Norris and Ennis, 1989). Ennis’ new definition of critical thinkingconsists of three major parts. First, critical thinking starts as a problem-solving process in a context of interacting with the world and other people. Second, it continues as a reasoning process, informed by background knowledge and previously acceptable conclusions, and it results in drawing a number of inferences through induction, deduction, and value judging. Finally, the critical thinking process endsin a decision about what to do or believe. Ennis’ new conception of critical thinking revolves aroundthe ideas of

general thinking skills

, and

dispositions

toward critical thinking.Ennis’ taxonomy of general critical thinking skills can be summarized into five main aspects:1) Elementary clarification; 2) Basic support; 3) Inference; 4) Advanced clarification; and 5) Strategiesand tactics. Operating in the background of these critical thinking abilities are the

elements of clarityand critical thinking dispositions.

These critical

thinking dispositions

define the “critical spirit” of thethinker, and such critical spirit is what motivates the thinker to apply critical thinking skills to his or her own thinking. Swartz and Reagan (1998), like Ennis, also adopted the definition of critical thinkingas the evaluation of reasoning and argument as reasonable, reflective thinking directed at decidingwhat to believe or do. These critical thinking skills, according to Swartz and Reagan, are frequentlyneeded in our personal and professional life and they fall into two categories:(1) Skills related to

basic information

that we get from a variety of sources—such asdetermining the accuracy and reliability of sources, and(2) Skills related to making

inferences

by which we draw conclusions that we do not verifydirectly from information offered as evidence to support them.Discussing the mental processes of critical thinking without mentioning

one’s disposition

(i.e.,willingness or inclination) toward it would be an incomplete endeavor. Critical thinking dispositionsrefer to

one’s tendencies toward critical thinking behavior

such as seeking clarity and beinginquisitive.Ennis (1989) also defined a critical thinking

disposition

in terms of the ‘critical spirit,’ which isa tendency to do something given certain conditions. Ennis argued that individuals must either haveformed habits to use certain abilities, or overtly think and choose to use the abilities they possessed. A person with an ability to think critically under certain conditions will do so, only if so disposed.In a similar spirit, Peter and Noreen Facione, authors of the California Critical ThinkingDispositions Inventory (CCTDI), defined critical thinking dispositions as a constellation of attitudes,intellectual virtues, and habits of mind (Facione and Facione, 1994).We can say that Siegel’s theory (1985) about critical thinking fundamented in a decisively waythe concept of

attitudes

and

dispositions

. He suggested that a critical thinker is one who isappropriately moved by

reasons

The thinker has a propensity or disposition to believe and act inaccordance with reasons, and the ability to assess the force of reasons in many contexts. In other words, tapping into the purposes behind a certain action, and the willingness to explore those purposes2

and means to reach the ends is more crucial than possessing the technical and mechanical criticalthinking skills and yet be unsure of the direction to be taken.

McPeck (1981) considered the critical thinking not only like an opportunity. He suggested thatcritical thinking could be defined as ’a propensity and skill to engage in an activity with reflectivescepticism’ (p. 8). Paul (1993) defined critical thinking as ’disciplined self-directed thinking, whichexemplifies the perfections of thinking appropriate to a particular mode or domain of thinking’ (p. 33).Beyer (1990) had a similar conception of critical thinking, defining it as a ‘willingness’ (a pre-disposition) and an ability to scrutinise and evaluate thinking to determine truth, accuracy, or worth,and to construct logical arguments to justify claims or assertions. Beyer’s theory of

critical thinking

includes

dispositions, criteria, argument, reasoning,

and

point of view

. From the above-mentionedconceptualization, to think critically means to suspend judgment, maintain a healthy scepticism andexercise an open mind. Further, all these definitions of critical thinking (Beyer, 1990; Glaser, 1941;McPeck, 1981; Norris and Ennis, 1989; Paul, 1993; Swartz and Reagan, 1998) seem to have one maintheme in common, i.e., critical thinking is a mental process that seeks to clarify as well as evaluate theaction and activity that one encounters in life. The mental processes

of clarification and evaluation

are essential in the problem-solving and decision-making processes, which encompasses our entiredaily activities.One idea is interesting here, that

critical thinking cannot be negative or wrong

. Onemisconception people possess is to confuse critical thinking with the

sharing of opinions

and

being out-spoken.

For example, asking someone for their opinion on national healthcare policy, a responsesuch as ‘we need better than what we had’ without any elaboration does not reflect on critical thinkingability.One with critical thinking ability should be able to state an opinion that is supported by strongreasoning and backing. Likewise, in a classroom context, if students are asked to express an opinion,they are not necessarily being pushed to think critically.

Critical thinking

is not necessary being‘critical’ and negative about everything.

The process of critical reasoning

should produce

positiveand improved results

. In other words, the process of critical thinking should not merely stop at pointing out weaknesses but also providing alternative to the current state of the situation.

Critical thinking

is a mental activity which is not directly visible as a process. As such,

the process of

measuring

critical thinking poses a great challenge to the experts in the field. One approachto tap into the development or changes in the quality of one’s critical thinking skill is through

assessing the outcomes produced by the skill

. Some of the more prominent standardized criticalthinking tests, which have been widely used are: the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal(Watson and Glaser, 1980)—aimed at grades 9 through adulthood; the Cornell Critical Thinking Test(Ennis and Millman, 1985)—aimed at grades 4 through 14; the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking EssayTest (Ennis and Weir, 1985)—aimed at grades 7 through college; and the California Critical ThinkingTest (Facione and Facione, 1994)s—aimed at college level students.

Critical thinking and the ability to think critically

have become part of the educators’ language.Professionals in every field, including education, business, engineering, nursing, journalism, themilitary or public service rely on critical thinking, together with their knowledge of their field, to makegood decisions ‘in dealing with tactical, strategic, clinical, leadership, communication, economic, or design problems’. This is because critical thinking serves as

a dynamic tool

for learning as well as for problem-solving and decision making processes.If we talk about the

creative thinking

, we could say together with

Albert Rothenberg

thefollowing:

’The problem of creativity is beset with mysticism, confused definitions, value judgments, psychoanalytic admonitions, and the crushing weight of philosophical speculation dating from ancient times.’

Like critical thinking, creative thinking is also a complex, multifaceted, and

multi-dimensional cognitive ability

. When the term ‘creative’ is mentioned, it inevitably evokes other related terms such‘creativity,’ ‘creative thinking,’ ‘creativity methods,’ ‘creative thinking techniques,’ and ‘creativethinking skill.’ Creativity is often used to denote a more

universal conception of creativeness. It isoften described in terms of three main components:

ability, attitude

, and

process

(Harris, 2001).3

of 00

Critical and creative abilities

It is important to cultivate in our educational process the abilities for a critical but also for a creative thinking in our children. Thus, we will help for their intellectu... (More)

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