EDD 5229
Liberal Studies in Knowledge Society
Topic 10
Understanding the Curriculum Aim of Liberal Studies:
How Critical is Critical Thinking?
Critical Thinking in Senior-Secondary
Curriculum Liberal Studies of HKSAR
 In Sept, 2001, Learning to Learning: The Way Forwards
in Curriculum Development
 Critical Thinking is identified as one of the nine generic skills
within the framework of the curriculum reform
 Critical thinking has been defined as one of the three generic
skills that should be prioritized among the nine skills.
“Since public feedback indicated that the curriculum reform
envisaged is too broad, a priority focus will be placed on the
development of three of these generic skills, namely
communication skills, creativity and critical thinking skills,
though the others should not be neglected.” (Curriculum
Development Council, 2001, p. 25)
Critical Thinking in Senior-Secondary
Curriculum Liberal Studies of HKSAR
 In Sept, 2001, Learning to Learning: The Way Forwards
in Curriculum Development
 The idea of critical thinking: In the document, critical thinking
is depicted as
“Critical thinking skills help students to draw out meaning
from given data or statements, generate and evaluate
arguments, and make their own judgement.” (CDC, 2001, p. 24)
Critical Thinking in Senior-Secondary
Curriculum Liberal Studies of HKSAR
 In July, 2007 Liberal Studies Curriculum and
Assessment Guide (Secondary 4-6)
 Curriculum Aims
“The aims of Liberal Studies at the Senior Secondary Level
are: ...
(d) to develop in students a range of skills for life-long learning,
including critical thinking skills, creativity, problem-solving
skills, communication skills and information technology
skills; …” (CDC and HKEAA, 2007, p. 5)
Critical Thinking in Senior-Secondary
Curriculum Liberal Studies of HKSAR
 In July, 2007 Liberal Studies Curriculum and
Assessment Guide (Secondary 4-6)
 Learning Outcomes
“By the end of the course, students should be able to: …
(d) identify the values underlying different views and
judgments on personal and social issues, and apply critical
thinking skills, creativity and different perspectives in making
decisions and judgments on issues and problems at both
personal and social levels. …”(CDC and HKEAA, 2007, p. 6)
Critical Thinking in Senior-Secondary
Curriculum Liberal Studies of HKSAR
 In 2009, Package on The Learning and Teaching of
Critical Thinking Skills” (Senior Secondary)
“Although it sometimes seems that there is very
little that academics can agree upon, there is
considerable agreement among experts in the
field regarding the definition of critical
thinking. …Different authors use different terms
and vary in the breadth of their definition, but
overall there are no major disagreements about
the sorts of skills that are included under a
critical thinking rubric.” (Halpern, 2003 Quoted in
Ku et al., 2009, p.2)
“The term critical thinking is the use of those cognitive
skills or strategies that increase the probability of a
desirable outcome. It is purposeful, reasoned, and goal
directed. It is the kind of thinking involved in solving
problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods,
and making decisions. Critical thinkers use these skills
appropriately, without prompting, and usually with
conscious intent, in a variety of settings. That is, they are
predisposed to think critically. When we think critically, we
are evaluating the outcomes of our thought processes —
how good a decision is or how well a problem is solved.
Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking
process — the reasoning that went into the conclusion
we’ve arrived at or the kinds of factors considered in
making a decision.” (Halpern, 2003 Quoted in Ku et al.,
2009, p.2)
The five categories of critical thinking skills :
1. Verbal Reasoning Skills
2. Argument Analysis Skills
3. Skills in Thinking as Hypothesis Testing
4. Using Likelihood and Uncertainty, and
5. Decision Making and Problem Solving Skills
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The idea of critical thinking in education can be traced
back to John Dewey’s concept of “reflective thinking”
(Dewey, 1933; 1939). Throughout its short history of
development, particularly in the US, the field is filled
with contentions and disagreements. It is far from a
field of “considerable agreement” or “no major
disagreement”.
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 First round of debate:
 In 1962, Robert Ennis’ paper entitled “A concept of critical
thinking” was published in Harvard Educational Review. In the
paper, critical thinking was defined as “a correct assessing of
statement.” (Ennis, 1962, p. 81) Ennis further conceptualizes
that “twelve aspects of critical thinking are:
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
First round of debate:
…“twelve aspects of critical thinking are:
Grasping the meaning of a statement.
Judging whether there is ambiguity in a line of reasoning.
Judging whether certain statements contradict each other.
Judging whether a conclusion follows necessarily.
Judging whether a statement is specific enough.
Judging whether is actually the application of a certain principle.
Judging whether an observation statement is reliable.
Judging whether an inductive conclusion is warranted.
Judging whether the problem has been identified.
Judging whether something is an assumption.
Judging whether a definition is adequate.
Judging whether a statement made by an alleged authority is
acceptable.” (Ennis, 1962, 83)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 First round of debate:
 Ennis' conception of critical thinking has been criticized as
“pure skills conception (Siegel, 1988, p. 6) and it is but a
“battery of atomic technical skills.” (Paul, 1994, p. 185; see
also Burbules and Berk, 1999; Walters, 1994; Thayer-Bacon,
2000)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The second round of debate:
 In the 1980s, Ennis took two further initiations in developing
his conception of critical thinking
He developed two sets of standardized-test instruments, i.e.
Cornell Critical Thinking Tests (Ennis and Millman, 1982) to
measure levels of critical thinking performance.
Ennis published a paper entitled “A Taxonomy of Critical
Thinking Disposition and Ability”. In the paper, Ennis responded
to the criticism of skill-bias by adding disposition into the
conception of critical thinking. According, he developed a
taxonomy consisting of 14 levels of dispositions and 12 levels
of ability. (Ennis, 1987)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The second round of debate:
 Ennis’ efforts triggered another round of criticism.
John McPeck criticizes that “critical thinking cannot be reduced
to a few mechanical ‘decoding’ skills” and more specifically
“the major shortcomings of both the Cornell tests is that the
format of a standardized multiple-choice test does not permit
the comprehensive or circumspect judgements that are required
by the concept of critical thinking.” (McPeck, 1981, p.145)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The second round of debate:
 Ennis’ efforts triggered another round of criticism.
Harvey Siegel also criticizes “So instead of two roughly equal
components of critical thinking, proficiencies (skills) and
tendencies (dispositions), what Ennis’s conceptionamounts to
is actually a highly complex list of proficiencies coupled with
the simple admonition to exercise the proficiencies. …(T)he
tendencies to utilize critical thinking skills is under-analyzed
and under-attended to in Ennis’s work.” (Siegel, 1988, p.7)
Siegel specifically criticizes the Cornel Critical Thinking Tests
as “the one-sided heroic effort to develop effective tests for the
proficiencies (skills) in the total absence of effort to develop
effective tests for the tendency (disposition)” (Siegel, 1988, p.8)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The second round of debate:
 Ennis’ efforts triggered another round of criticism.
More recently, Burbules (1993; Burbeles & Beck,1999) and
Walters (1994) criticize that critical thinking may plausibly be
reduced to examination skills of mechanical logicism.
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The third round of the debate
 John McPeck queries whether it is possible to teach critical
thinking as generalized skills without relating it to specific
subject content. He criticizes the content-free approach to
critical-thinking instruction commonly adopted in the 1970s.
He underlines that “thinking is always thinking about
something. To think about nothing is a conceptual
impossibility.” (1981, p.3) More specifically, McPeck contends
that
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The third round of the debate
 …“In isolation from a particular subject, the phrase ‘critical
thinking’ neither refers to nor denotes any particular skill. It
follows from this that it makes no sense to talk about critical
thinking as a distinct subject and that it therefore cannot
profitably be taught as such. To the extent that critical thinking
is not about a specific subject X, it is both conceptually and
practically empty. The statement ‘I teach critical thinking’,
simpliciter, is vacuous because there is no generalized skill
properly call critical thinking.” (p. 5)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The third round of the debate
 McPeck’s criticism meets with forceful counter-arguments
from Stephen Norris (1990), Richard Paul, and Harvey Siegel
(1990). Norris and Paul defend that critical-thinking instruction
is content-free, while Siegel provides a more balanced view of
suggesting that some aspect of critical thinking can be taught
in terms of generalized skills, while some are subject and
content specific. (Siegel, 1988; 1990)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Round four: Reformulations and elaborations.
 Harvey Siegel re-conceptualizes critical thinking by injecting
the concept of reason into critical thinking instruction.
He suggests that “to be a critical thinker is to be appropriately
moved by reasons…. A critical thinker is one who appreciates
and accepts the importance, and convicting force, of reasons.
When assessing claims, making judgments, evaluating
procedures, or contemplating alternative actions, the critical
thinker seeks reasons on which to base her assessments,
judgments, and actions. To seek reasons, moreover, is to
recognize and commit oneself to principles.” (Siegel, 1988, p.3233)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Round four: Reformulations and elaborations.
 Harvey Siegel re-conceptualizes critical thinking by injecting
the concept of reason into critical thinking instruction.
By reason, Siegel makes use the conception put forth by
Scheffler. He indicates that “reason is always a matter of
abiding by general rules or principles… reason is always a
matter of treating equal reasons equally, and of judging the
issues in the light of general principles to which one has bound
oneself… if I could judge reasons differently when they bear on
my interests, or disregard my principles when they conflict with
my own advantage, I should have no principles at all. The
concepts of principles, reasons and consistency thus go
together.” (Scheffler, 1973; quoted in Siegel, 1988, p.33)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Round four: Reformulations and elaborations.
 Harvey Siegel re-conceptualizes critical thinking by injecting
the concept of reason into critical thinking instruction.
Siegel further differentiates critical thinking into two
dimensions, namely proficiency and spirit. The former refers to
the capacities of making use of "reason" in assessing one's
thinking, while the later signifies " a willingness to conform
judgment and action to principle, not simply a ability to so
conform. On who has the critical attitude has a certain character
as well as certain skills: a character which is inclined to seek,
and to base judgment and action upon, reasons; which rejects
partiality and arbitrariness; which is committed to the objective
evaluation of relevant evidence; and which values such aspects
of critical thinking as intellectual honesty; justice to evidence,
sympathetic and impartial consideration of interests, objectivity,
and impartiality." (Siegel, 1988, p. 39)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Round four: Reformulations and elaborations.
 Richard Paul makes a distinction between the weak sense and
the strong sense of critical thinking
By weal sense of critical thinking, it refers to training of “atomic
technical skills of logical thinking. As a result, “students
studying critical thinking at the university level have highly
developed belief systems buttressed by deep-seated uncritical,
egocentric, and sociocentric habits of thought by which they
interpret and process their experiences, whether academic or
not, and place them into some larger perspective. …those
students …become sophistic rather ten less so, more skilled in
rationalizing and intellectualizing their biases.” (Paul, 1994, 184)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Round four: Reformulations and elaborations.
 Richard Paul makes a distinction between the weak sense and
the strong sense of critical thinking
By strong sense of critical thinking, it refers to the view which
rejects the idea that critical thinking can be taught as a battery
of atomic technical skills independent of egocentricbelief and
commitments. Instead of “atomic arguments …it emphasizes
argument network (points of view, frames of reference,
worldviews, systems of thought); instead of merely teaching
evaluation of atomic arguments it emphasizes a more dialectical
and dialogical approaches.” (1994, p. 185-6)
“Teaching critical thinking in a strong sense helps students
develop reasoning skills precisely in those areas where they are
most likely to have egocentric and sociocentric biases. Such
biases exist most profoundly in areas of their identities and
vested interests.” (p. 190)
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Round four: Reformulations and elaborations.
 Richard Paul makes a distinction between the weak sense and
the strong sense of critical thinking
Subsequently, Richard Paul established The Center for Critical
Thinking at Sonoma State University in North California.
http://www.criticalthinking.org/about/centerforCT.cfm
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 The Delphi Report: A statement of expert consensus for
purpose of educational assessment and instruction,
American Philosophical Association.
http://www.insightassessment.com/pdf_files/DEXadobe.PDF
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Definition of critical thinking:
“We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory
judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and
inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual,
methodological, criteriological, or contextual consideration upon
which that judgment is based. CT is essential as a tool of inquiry.
As such, CT is a liberating force in education and a powerful
resource in one’s personal and civic life. While not synonymous
with good thinking, CT is a pervasive and self rectifying human
phenomenon.
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Definition of critical thinking: (cont’d)
“The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed,
trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation,
honest in face of personal biases, prudent in making judgments,
willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex
matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the
selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking
results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances
of inquiry permit. Thus, educating good critical thinkers means
working toward this ideal. It combines developing CT skills with
nurturing those dispositions which consistently yield useful
insights and which are the basis of a rational and democratic
society.”
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
 Definition of critical thinking: (cont’d)
“The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed,
trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation,
honest in face of personal biases, prudent in making judgments,
willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex
matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the
selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking
results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances
of inquiry permit. Thus, educating good critical thinkers means
working toward this ideal. It combines developing CT skills with
nurturing those dispositions which consistently yield useful
insights and which are the basis of a rational and democratic
society.”
CT cognitive skills and sub-skills
Skill
Sub-skills
1. Interpretation
Categorization
Decoding significance
Clarifying meaning
2. Analysis
Examining ideas
Identifying arguments
Analyzing arguments
3. Evaluation
Assessing claims
Assessing arguments
4. Inference
Querying evidence
Conjecturing alternatives
Drawing conclusions
5. Explanation
Stating results
Justifying procedures
Presenting arguments
6. Self-regulation
Self-examining
Self-correcting
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
Constituents of Critical Thinking: Affective dispositions
Approaches to life and living in general
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
inquisitiveness with regard to a wide range of issues,
concern to become and remain generally well-informed,
alertness to opportunities to use CT,
trust in the processes of reasoned inquiry,
self-confidence in one’s own ability to reason,
open-mindedness regarding divergent world view,
flexibility in considering alternatives and opinions,
understanding of the opinions of other people,
fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning,
honesty in facing one’s own biases, prejudices, stereotypes,
egocentric or sociocentric tendencies,
• prudence in suspending, making or altering judgments,
• willingness to consider and revise views where honest reflection
suggests that change is warranted,
Critical Thinking: An Intrinsic Evaluation
Constituents of Critical Thinking: Affective dispositions
Approaches to specific issues, questions or problems:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
clarity in stating the question or concern,
orderliness in working with complexity,
diligence in seeking relevant information,
reasonableness in selecting and applying criteria,
care in focusing attention on the concern at hand,
persistence though difficulties are encountered
precision to the degree permitted by the subject and the
circumstance.
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 In the late 1970s, two theoretical perspectives have
emerged and invoked new critical conceptions in
educational study. They have invoked profound
challenges to the conventional conception of criticalthinking instruction. They are critical literacy and
critical pedagogy. Both perspectives owe their
theoretical origins from two similar sources, on Critical
Theory of the Frankfurt School and the conception of
The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972) from a Brazilian
educator Paulo Freire.
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical literacy perspective:
According to Freire's experiences in the program of literacy for
Brazilian farmers, he expends the concept of literacy from
merely reading and writing of words to reading and writing of
the world. In his own words
“It is impossible to carry out my literacy work or to understand
literacy… by divorcing the reading of the word from the reading
of the world. Reading the word and learning how to write the
word so one can later read it are preceded by learning how to
write the world, that is, having the experience of changing the
world and touching the world.” (Freire and Macedo, 1987, p.49)
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical literacy perspective:
Subsequently, Green (1988), Lankshear and Knobel (2003)
reconceptualize literacy into three levels
Operational literacy: It refers to the mastery of the decoding
(reading) and encoding (writing) operations of systems of
language or of other media. It indicates the ability to relate the
words with the worlds “represented”.
Cultural literacy: It refers to the mastery of the "system of
meanings" and cultural system underlying a specific linguistic
system. It indicates the capacity to interpreting the meanings
"signified" in media.
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical literacy perspective:
Subsequently, Green (1988), Lankshear and Knobel (2003)
reconceptualize literacy into three levels
Critical literacy: Based on the perspectives of the Critical Theory
and constructionism, critical-literacy theorists begin with the
assumption of "social construction of reality". And they
emphasize that there are hypostatized power relations and frozen
ideological relation at work underlying these realities and they in
turn serve as legitimation and reproduction mechanism of
particular institutional configuration. (Habermas, 1971; 1979）
• Accordingly. Critical literacy is defined as ability to unveil the
legitmation bases underlying particular linguistic and cultural
systems.
• Furthermore, in Freire's conception, it is
– To read the words and the read the world
– To write the words and to write the world
– To rewrite the world and to transform and improve the world
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical pedagogy perspective: By applying the
conception of social construction, legitimation and
reproduction to education in general, the critical
pedagogy put forth critical analysis beyond the
conception of literacy and look into different aspects of
pedagogy, such as (1) pedagogical content, (2) the
pedagogical relationship, and (3) the pedagogical
process,
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical pedagogy perspective:
Pedagogical content:
This perspective can be traced back to Basil Bernstien thesis
“How a society selects, classifies, distributes, transmits and
evaluates the educational knowledge it considers to be public,
reflects both the distribution of power and the principles of social
control." (Bernstein, 1970, p.74)
Accordingly, the concerns about pedagogical content is to reveal
how a particular curriculum “legitimatizes” and “reproduces” a
particular institutional configuration.
At the same time, how it "marginalizes", "suppressed" and
“silences” the “others”
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical pedagogy perspective:
Pedagogical relationship
This aspect of inquiry in critical pedagogical can best be
illustrated with Freire's conception of "the banking education".
“Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the
students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.
Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and
'makes deposits', which the students patiently receive, memorize,
and repeat. This is the 'banking' concept of education.… The
students, alienated like the slave in the Hegelian dialectic, accept
their ignorance as justifying the teacher's existence…" (Freire,
1972, p.45-46)
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical pedagogy perspective:
Pedagogical relationship
To rectify, Freire advocates a dialogical relation through which
students are encourage to reflect and re-write the world in which
they find themselves. And in the process to liberate themselves
from the situated and submerged contexts
These aspect of inquiry has initiated researches in both the
perspectives of feminism and post-colonialism.
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical pedagogy perspective:
Pedagogical process
This aspect of inquiry can be illustrated with Freire's conception
of "problem-posing education."
By rejecting the banking concept of education, teachers and
students can engage in a dialogical relation and "pose problem"
to each others and more importantly to "the world" in which they
are embedded.
"Problem-posing education involves a constant unveiling of
reality … (It) strives for the emergence of consciousness and
critical intervention in reality." (Freire, 1972, p.54)
"In problem-posing education, men develop their power to
perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and
in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a
static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation." (Freire,
1972, p.56)
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Critical pedagogy perspective:
Pedagogical process
"Problem-posing education affirms men as beings in the process
of becoming - as unfinished, uncompleted beings in and with a
likewise unfinished reality." (Freire, 1972, p.56-57)
“This movement of inquiry must be directed towards
humanization – man’s historical vocation. The pursuit of full
humanity, however, cannot be carried out in isolation or
individualism, but only in fellowship and solidarity; therefore it
cannot unfold in the antagonistic relations between oppressors
and oppressed…. Problem-posing education, as a humanist and
liberating praxis, posits as fundamental that men subjected to
domination mush fight for their emancipation.” (Freire, 1972, p.58)
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Taking together, theorists of the critical literacy and
critical pedagogy perspectives have waged some
profound criticisms on critical thinking instruction.
Criticism on the decontextualization of the thinking process:
It is criticized that critical thinking has abstracted human thinking
processes as "decontextualized" and "disembedded" activities of
pure reasoning and simple logical operations.
It is suggested that to rectify this pitfall the contextuality and
historicity of thought should be reintroduced into critical thinking
instruction.
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 Taking together, theorists of the critical literacy and
critical pedagogy perspectives have waged some
profound criticisms on critical thinking instruction.
Criticism on the decontextualization of the thinking process:
The emphasis on the contextuality and historicity of thought has
found echo in Max Horkheimer's critique on Immanuel Kant's
famous conceptions of "pure reason" and " transcendental self"
"It is the human being who thinks, not the Ego or Reason…. [And
that] is not something abstract, such as the human essence, but
always human beings living in a particular historical epoch."
(Horkheimer, 1968, p.145; quoted in Hoy and McCarthy, 1995, p.9)
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 …some profound criticisms on critical thinking
instruction.
Criticism on the desubjectification of the thinker:
It is criticized that critical thinking has abstracted thinkers as
“disembodied” and “disinterest” individuals who are expected to
provide assessment to argumentative claims with regards to their
logical validity.
It is suggested that one way to rectify this fault, Habermas' thesis
on the "knowledge-constitutive interests" should be reintroduced
Another way to rectify the fault of desubjectification, critical
thinking instruction should "re-subjectify” thinkers as “relational
self”, “situated self”, and “embodied self” and bring the
conceptions of "care" and "recognition" back into the critical
thinking instruction.
Critical Thinking: An Extrinsic Evaluation
 …some profound criticisms on critical thinking
instruction.
Criticism on the objectification of the objects of thinking:
It is criticized that critical thinking has abstracted the objects of
inquiry as objectively existing realities and given facts. The
primary concern is simply to assess the validity of the logical
connections between premises and conclusions.
It is suggested that to rectify this pitfall, critical thinkers should
think of the objects of inquiry as socially constructed realities,
which are loaded with hypostatized power relations, frozen
ideological configurations, and legitimatized systemic distortions.
Reconstructing of a Framework of Critical
Thinking for Liberal Studies
 To summarize, it seems that the main difference among
the fractions in the controversy is the meanings each
fraction gives to the concept of criticality. There seems
to be at least five different meanings of criticality at
work in these debates and criticisms on the meaning of
critical thinking. These different meanings of criticality
are
Reconstructing of a Framework of Critical
Thinking for Liberal Studies
 Critical means evaluative: To most of the scholars
within the field of critical thinking, to be critical means
to evaluate and assess. Accordingly, critical thinking is
simply discerned as evaluating the logical correctness
of thinking or more specifically argumentative claims.
Critical thinking instruction is simply training of logicaloperational skills.
Reconstructing of a Framework of Critical
Thinking for Liberal Studies
 Criticality means critique on the contextuality and
historicity of thinking: Most of the topics and issues
addressed in social studies and citizenship education
are socio-politically framed issues and phenomena.
Hence, to examined the discursive configuration at
work behind each of these issues is vital in social
studies and citizenship education.
Reconstructing of a Framework of Critical
Thinking for Liberal Studies
 Critique on the subjectivity and the situation of the
thinkers: Participants in the discourse of social and
political issues are "situated", "embodied" and
"interest-bearing" subjects, to reveal and reflect on the
subjectivities of these thinking participants is also vital
in social studies and citizenship education.
Reconstructing of a Framework of Critical
Thinking for Liberal Studies
 Criticality means critique on the objects of inquiry:
Critically thinking about social and political issues in
the teaching of social studies and citizenship education
should advance beyond logical validity of
argumentative claim and penetrate to the power
relations hypostatized, ideological configurations
frozen, and systemic distortions legitimatized
underlying the social and political phenomena in point.
Reconstructing of a Framework of Critical
Thinking for Liberal Studies
 Criticality means critical practice of social "re-writing"
and transforming: The last meaning of criticality in
critical thinking points to the liberating and
transformative potentiality in critical thinking
instruction. Critical thinking instruction should not be
stay at the level of contemplating and it should entail
actions. In social studies and citizenship education, it
signifies initiations of social and participations which
may lead to improvement and transformation of social
and political phenomena in point.
Topic 8
Understanding the Curriculum Aim of Liberal Studies:
How Critical is Critical Thinking?
End