Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaba
I agree with the view held by cognitive psychologists and others that all forms of human behavior are skills and that all skills are learned.
It is my thought that critical thinking, like teaching, is a skill that can be viewed in two complimentary ways. - Critical thinking can be viewed as a domain of knowledge--a skill set--unto itself. This skill set can be applied to any situation.
- Or, critical thinking can be viewed as a subset within a domain of knowledge--such as carpentry. In this configuration, the skill set can be applied to develop innovative solutions to existing problems or to develop solutions to novel problems.
|
I don't know that I believe all forms of human behavior are skills, as much as they are talent. You have to have talent before you can learn/acquire a skill. We all start out with different types and quantity of talent. Some people do not have the talent to learn the skill of critical thinking. I agree with what most have been getting at in this thread - that there are many more people who have the ability to learn how to think critically, but do not.
In hindsight, I can relate to what dennisw said about college students. Like many others at that stage in life, my priorities were not in line.
Great thread.