Critical thinking and its importance in education : some reflections
email: olgaurib@uis.edu.co
B.A. in English language teaching; M.A in neuropsychology and education; full-time professor at Universidad Santo Tomás.
email: diana.uribe@ustabuca.edu.co
B.A. in English language teaching; Specialist in Hispano-american literature, criticism and teaching; M.A. in pedagogy. Full-time professor at Universidad Industrial de Santander.
email: marpivar@uis.edu.co
Purpose: This article reviews some conceptions of critical thinking and highlights its importance for education.
Description: First, it presents some philosophical and psychological approaches to critical thinking and their influence in international and national educational policies as a means of fostering active citizenship and in turn sustainable development. Second, it highlights the relation between critical thinking and Content and Language Integrated Learning. Third, the authors of this article insist on the vital role teachers have on developing critical thinking.
Point of view: The concept of critical thinking has been approached by different academicians through history. However they may differ, they all have in common features such as intellectual discipline, integrity, freedom, citizenship, creativity and empathy. Therefore, critical thinking development must be inherent in education as societies need citizens who facilitate their progress. An example of how critical thinking can be developed in education is illustrated through the implementation of CLIL in language classes.
Conclusion: Having in mind that students spend a lot of time in school, teachers are called to help family to develop our students’ critical thinking skills during their regular teaching practices.
Anderson, Lorin W, and David R. Krathwohl. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: a Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Longman Publishing, 2001.
Astleitner, Hermann. “Teaching Critical Thinking Online”. Journal of Instructional Psychology, vol. 29, no. 2, 2007, pp. 53-77.
Barrionuevo, Claudia. El pensamiento crítico y la licenciatura en turismo. Estudio de caso: fatu, U.N.Co. Universidad Nacional del Comahue, 2012.
Bar-Yam, Miriam, et al. “Changes in the Teaching and Learn-ing Process in a Complex Education System”. New England Complex Systems Institute, 2002, www.necsi.edu/research/management/education/teachandlearn.html.
Bataineh, Ruba Fahmi, and Lamma Hmoud Zghoul. “Jorda-nian tefl Graduate Students’ Use of Critical Thinking Skills (As Measured by the Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level Z)”. International Education and Bilingualism, vol. 9, no. 1, 2006, pp. 33-50, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050608668629.
Behar-Horenstein, Linda, and Lian Niu. “Teaching Critical Thinking in Higher Education: A Review of Literature”. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, vol. 8, no. 2, 2011, pp. 25-42, doi: https://doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v8i2.3554.
Brookfield, Stephen. The Power of Critical Theory: Liberating Adult Learning and Teaching. Jossey Bass, 2005.
Brown, H. Douglas. “Some Practical Thoughts About Stu-dents / Sensitive Critical Pedagogy”. The Language Teacher, vol. 28, no. 7, 2004, pp. 23-27.
Brumfit, Christopher, et al. “Language Study in Higher Education and the Development of Criticality”. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, vol. 15, no. 2, 2005, pp. 145-168, doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/s026-1444800014828.
Butler, Heather. A. “Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment Predicts Real-World Outcomes of Critical Thinking”. Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 25, no. 5, 2012, pp. 721-729, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2851.
Byrnes, Heidi, et al. “Realizing Advanced Foreign Language Writing Development in Collegiate Education: Curricular Design, Pedagogy, Assessment”. The Modern Language Journal, vol. 94, Supplement, 2010, pp. i-vi, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01137.x.
Chacón, Edgar, and Diana Lago de Vergara. (2003). “Di-dáctica para el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico en estudiantes universitarios”. Educ Med Super, vol. 17, no. 2, 2003, scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttex-t&pid=S0864-21412003000200009.
Chapman, Elaine, and Marnie O’Neill. “Defining and As-sessing Generic Competencies in Australian Universities: Ongoing Challenges”. Education Research and Perspectives, vol.37, no. 1, 2010, pp. 105-123.
Council of the European Union. “Detailed Work Programme on the Follow-Up of the Objectives of Education and Training Systems in Europe (2002/C 142/01)”.Official Journal of the European Communities, vol. 14, no. 6, 2002.
Coyle, Do. “clil – A Pedagogical Approach”. Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd ed. Springer, 2008, pp. 97-111.
Crenshaw, Philip, et al. “Producing Intellectual Labor in the Classroom: The Utilization of a Critical Thinking Model to Help Students take Command of their Thinking”. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, vol. 8, no. 7, 2011, pp. 13-26, doi: doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v8i7.4848.
Ennis, Robert. “Critical Thinking and Subject Specifici-ty: Clarification and Needed Research”. Educational Researcher, vol. 18, no. 3, 1989, pp. 4-10, doi: doi.org/10.3102/0013189x018003004.
--. Critical Thinking. Prentice Hall, 1996.
--. “Nationwide Testing of Critical Thinking for Higher Education: Vigilance Required”. Teaching Philosophy, vol.31, no. 1, 2008, pp. 1-26, doi: https://doi.org/10.5840/teachphil20083111.
-. “A Super-Streamlined Conception of Critical Thinking”. The Critical Thinking.co, 2012, www.criticalthinking.com/articles/critical-thinking-definition.
European Commission. “Communication from the Commis-sion to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: ‘Promoting young people’s full participation in education, employment and society’”.com, 2007.
Facione, Peter. “Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction”. Report for the American Philosophical Association. The Delphi Report. Academic Press, 1990. 1-20.
Fahim, Mansour, and Nazari Ogholgol. “Practicing Action Research for Enhancing Critical Thinking”. Journal of Science (jos), vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, pp. 84-89, worlds-ciencepublisher.org/journals/index.php/JOS/article/view/717.
Fahim, Mansour, et al. “The Relationship between Test Takers’ Critical Thinking Ability and their Performance on the Reading Section of toefl”. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, vol. 1, no. 6, 2010, pp. 830-837, doi: https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.1.6.830-837.
Gerard, Jerry. Preservice Teacher Development and Korea. Ac-ademia.edu, Pusan National University, 2010, pp. 1-16, www.academia.edu/3518377/Preservice_English_Teacher_Development_and_Korea.
Gómez, Hernando José. “Desarrollar destrezas para la competitividad de Colombia”. Ministerio de Educación Nacional: Al Tablero, no. 48, 2008-2009, www.mine-ducacion.gov.co/1621/article-183961.html.
Hashimah, Nor, and Jusoff Kamaruzaman. “Thinking through Content Instruction: Microteaching Unvei-l s ”. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2011, pp. 37-43, doi: https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.1.1.37-43.
Isaza, Andrés. “El pensamiento crítico en la Ley de Educación Superior”. Tercer Foro sobre la Reforma de la Educación Superior. Universidad del Rosario,2012. 1-14, www.urosario.edu.co/urosario_files/a1/a1381280-6cbc-4321-9f8d-c0abf238db77.pdf.
Icfes – Saber Pro, www.icfes.gov.co/estudiantes-y-padres/sa-ber-pro-estudiantes/estructura-general-del-examen.
Karbalaei, Alireza. “Critical Thinking and Academic Achieve -ment”. Ikala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura vol. 17, no. 2, 2012, pp. 121-128.
King, Patricia, et al. “Critical Thinking among College and Graduate Students”. The Review of Higher Education,vol. 13, no. 2, 1990, pp. 167-186, doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.1990.0026.
Krathwohl, David. “A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An Overview”. Theory into Practice, vol. 41, no. 4, 2002, pp. 212-254, doi: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421-tip4104_2.
Lai, Emily. (2011). “Critical Thinking: A Literature Review”. Research Report. Pearson Assesment, 2011. 150, images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/CriticalThink-ingReviewFINAL.pdf
Lipman, Matthew. Thinking in Education. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Lake, Larry. (2012). “Integrating Writing, Thinking, and Learning: A New Edition of a Faculty Development Treasure. Review”. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, vol.12, no. 3, 2012, pp. 579-584, doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-1625343.
Liu, Ou Lidia, et al. “Assessing Critical Thinking in Higher Edu cation: Current State and Directions for Next-Gene-ration Assessment”. ets Research Report Series, rr, vol. 14, no. 10, 2014, pp. 1-23, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12009.
Loes, Chad, et al. “Effects of Diversity Experiences on Criti-cal Thinking Skills: Who Benefits?”. The Journal of Higher Education, vol. 83, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1-26, doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2012.0001.
McDougald, Jermaine. “The State of Language and Content Instructions in Colombia”. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, vol. 2, no. 2, 2009, pp. 44-48, doi: https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2009.2.2.15.
Ministerio de Educación Nacional. “Educación superior: competencias genéricas en educación superior. 2009 Año de la educación para la innovación y la competitividad”. Boletín Informativo, no. 13, diciembre 2009, www.mineducacion.gov.co/1621/w3-article-92779.html.
-. “Propuesta de lineamientos para la formación por competencias en educación superior”, men, 10 de febrero de 2011, www.mineducacion.gov.co/1621/ar-ticles-261332_archivo_pdf_lineamientos.pdf.
Mok, Jane. “The New Role of English Language Teachers: Developing Students’ Critical Thinking in Hong Kong Secondary School Classrooms”. The Asian efl Journal Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 2,2010, pp. 262-287, www.academia.edu/2745413/Classroom_interaction_in_story-based_lessons_with_young_learners.
Moseley, David, et al. Frameworks for Thinking: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Pally, Marcia. “Skills Development in ‘Sustained’ Content-Based Curricula: Case Studies in Analytical / Critical Thinking and Academic Writing”. Language and Edu cation, vol. 15, no. 4, 2010, pp. 279-305, doi: doi.org/10.1080/09500780108666814.
Paul, Richard. Critical thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World (2nd ed.). Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1992.
Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools (4th ed.). Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2006.
Paul, Richard, et al. California Teacher Preparation for Instruction in Critical Thinking: Research Findings and Policy Recommendations California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Foundation for Critical Think-ing, 1997.
Pineda, Clelia. “Critical Thinking in the efl Classroom: The Search for a Pedagogical Alternative to Improve English”. Ikala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, vol. 9, no. 15, 2004, pp. 45-80. www.redalyc.org/pdf/2550 / 255025901003.pdf.
Rafi, Muhammad. “Promoting Critical Pedagogy in Lan-guage Education”. The International Journal of Arts and Humanities, vol. 37, 2010, pp. 63-73.
Rodríguez, Mónica. “clil: Colombian Leading Into Con-tent Language Learning”. Ikala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, vol. 16, no. 28, 2011, pp. 79-89.
Saeed, Ketabi, et al. “Critical Thinking across the elt Curri-culum: A Mixed Methods Approach to Analyzing L2 Teachers’ Attitudes towards Critical Thinking Instruc-tion”. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, vol. 2, no. 3, 2013, pp. 15-24, doi: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2012.189.
Scriven, Michael, and Richard Paul. “Defining Critical Thinking”. Statement by Michael Scriven and Richard Paul, 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform,Summer 1987, www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-think-ing/766
Shapiro, Jon, and Donna Kilbey. “Closing the Gap between Theory and Practice: Teacher Beliefs, Instructional Decisions and Critical Thinking”. Reading Horizons,vol.31, no. 1, 1990, pp. 59-73, scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol31/iss1/7/.
Shim, Woo-jeong, and Kelley Walczak. “The Impact of Faculty Teaching Practices on the Development of Students’ Critical Thinking Skills”. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, vol. 24, no. 1, 2012, pp. 16-30, www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTL-HE1128.pdf.
Siegel, Harvey. “The Generalizability of Critical Thinking”. Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 23, no. 1, 1991, pp. 18-30.
Tama, M. Carrol. “Critical Thinking has a Place in Every Classroom”. Journal of Reading, vol.33, no. 1, 1989, pp. 64-65, www.jstor.org/stable/40030067?seq=1#page _scan_tab_contents.
Temel, Senar. “The Effects of Problem-Based Learning on Pre-Service Teachers’ Critical Thinking Dispositions and Perceptions of Problem-Solving Ability”. South African Journal of Education, vol.34, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-20, doi: doi.org/10.15700/201412120936.
Universidad Industrial de Santander. “Presentación de la Escuela de Idiomas”, www.uis.edu.co/webUIS/es/aca-demia/facultades/cienciasHumanas/escuelas/idio-mas/presentacion.jsp.
Universidad Nacional de Colombia. “Formulación de una propuesta de reforma a la educación superior desde la Universidad Nacional de Colombia: documento propositivo”, 2009, www.unal.edu.co/rector/documen-tos/comunicados/UNCE_Documento_Propositi-vo_11_12_2012.pdf.
White, Martha. “The Real Reason New Colleges Grads can’t get Hired”. Time Magazine, 10 Nov. 2013, business.time.com/2013/11/10/the-real-reason-new-college-grads-cant-get-hired/.
Xu, Jun. “The Application of Critical Thinking in Teaching English Reading”. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, 2011, pp. 136-141, doi: https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.1.2.136-141.
Young, Edyth, et al. “Educating Preservice Teachers: The State of Affairs”. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2011, pp. 1-73.
Zarei, Abbas Ali, and Elham Haghgoo. “The Relationship between Critical Thinking and L2 Grammar and Le-xical Knowledge”. English Linguistics Research, vol. 1, no. 1, 2012, pp. 104-110, doi: https://doi.org/10.5430/elr.v1n1p104.
Ética. La revista y su equipo editorial propiciarán, a través de sus políticas y actuaciones, la ética en los procesos de investigación, el uso apropiado de los contenidos protegidos por derechos de autor y la calidad de los trabajos que publica, de manera que los diferentes colaboradores (editores, autores y evaluadores) interactúen bajo principios de integridad académica.
- Autores. Se espera que los autores que participen en la revista presenten textos originales, de su propia creación, derivados de procesos de investigación rigurosos, que no hayan sido previamente publicados, usen de manera adecuada las fuentes que sirven de soporte bibliográfico y cualquier otro material que esté protegido por derechos de autor. Los textos también deben estar escritos de manera cuidadosa y considerando los requisitos de forma y citación que correspondan al estilo de la revista.
- Evaluadores. Se espera que los evaluadores de la revista realicen una lectura minuciosa y constructiva de cada artículo que acepten revisar, buscando no sólo emitir una recomendación de aprobación o rechazo para el editor, sino que sus comentarios permitan que los autores mejoren sus textos o reflexionen sobre los alcances, posibilidades o falencias de su manuscrito. Asimismo, los evaluadores deben considerar que los textos que el editor les ha confiado son inéditos, y cualquier uso indebido o no autorizado de la información allí contenida implicaría una falta ética grave. También, la responsabilidad de evaluar un trabajo, una vez se ha aceptado, no puede ser transferida a terceros, en especial, si no se ha justificado y consultado previamente con el editor. Finalmente, cualquier conflicto de intereses que el evaluador identifique después de haber recibido un trabajo y que potencialmente menoscabe su independencia en la elaboración de un concepto debe informarse.
Notificación sobre casos. Si hay alguna evidencia de problemas éticos en las investigaciones que presentan los trabajos publicados por la revista, dudas sobre su rigor científico, sospecha de falsificación o manipulación indebida de datos, conflictos de intereses no revelados, identificación de publicaciones previas (“refritos”), problemas de autoría o plagio, pedimos, por favor, que se contacte de manera inmediata al editor de la revista para que pueda ahondar en el caso y tomar las acciones que correspondan. Las notificaciones que se reciban sobre problemas éticos se manejarán con absoluta confidencialidad, protegiendo la identidad de la persona que ha detectado el problema, si así lo solicita.
Retractaciones, correcciones y resolución de conflictos. La revista sigue los lineamientos (http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines) y procedimientos (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts) del Committee on Publication Ethics (cope) para el manejo de conductas inapropiadas en la publicación académica. Asimismo, se harán retractaciones o correcciones de artículos ya publicados cuyos contenidos presenten errores que afecten su calidad científica o el reconocimiento apropiado de sus autores, ya sea por equivocaciones involuntarias en el proceso de investigación y publicación o por problemas éticos serios como plagio, falsificaciones, manipulaciones de datos, entre otros.
Uso de los contenidos y autoarchivo. La revista publica sus contenidos en acceso abierto, sin que medie ningún periodo de embargo. Asimismo, todos los trabajos publicados aparecen bajo una licencia Creative Commons de Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), y su uso debe hacerse bajo esas condiciones de licenciamiento.
