I’ve been doing a lot of recent wondering about the large amount of loud, social media noise that is crowding out more rationale thoughts and ideas. Part of my musing is how the education system should be responding to it in a way that builds a capacity in students to be able to discern truth from fiction — facts from opinions.

Let me go back a few years to my late teens and early 20s.

My undergraduate training in science provided me with an excellent set of tools to understand the world — to find reasons or explanations for a lot of things:

• Why is the world’s climate changing so quickly?
• What happens to our brain when we read?
• What does trauma do to a person’s ability to learn?

Science uses The Scientific Method which, at its heart, is about ‘careful observation coupled with rigorous skepticism‘. Science uses a systematic process of working to disprove a current understanding about something, until the overwhelming evidence points to the truth — to an accepted fact.

I also love that science remains open to being wrong — that it challenges our assumptions and beliefs to ensure that bias is not part of the explanation.

REALITY IS MORE THAN FACTS

Yet, as I’ve grown in my career and throughout life, I’ve also come to understand that the ‘black and white’ world of science is not the complete answer. Reality is a combination of both the facts in front of us, and our personal experiences — experiences that help to create the context surrounding the facts.

Context: The conditions or situations that give meaning to an event.

Context adds the colour to the ‘black and white’ world of facts. The reality that we each experience lies enveloped in our own personal history and context.

• How is one’s own personal history influencing the event of today?
• What inherent biases are people bringing to what they ‘see’ or ‘hear’?

By taking the time to understand the ‘tapestry’ or colour of the situation you can start to forge a deeper understanding of what lies before you — helping you create a better solution to whatever problem or situation exists.

So, what do context and our own history have to do with public education? I’m glad you asked!

CRITICAL THINKING

If a goal of public education is to ‘have educated citizens who thrive in a changing world’, then preparing them to be critical consumers of their world is essential. Students need to be able to understand more than facts — they need to be able to examine the context in which they observe these facts and be aware that a person’s own history and perceptions may be affecting their understanding.

Critical Thinking is an absolute necessity for our students to be the citizens we need in a world filled with fake news, social media bias and opinions camouflaging as fact:

BC Education: Critical … thinking encompasses a set of abilities that students use to examine their own thinking and that of others. This involves making judgments based on reasoning, where students consider options, analyze options using specific criteria, and draw conclusions.

Sounds great. We want students to critically examine the information before them, ask relevant questions and move their understanding forward.

But, can we objectively measure Critical Thinking? Should we even try?

It’s not like you can easily put a number beside Critical Thinking to see if it improves over time. And, because something isn’t easily measured, it doesn’t mean it isn’t important — As examples, Character, Integrity and Honesty are three traits that I would argue are very important but aren’t easily measured.

Several cognitive experts set out to come to an agreed definition of Critical Thinking at a Learning and the Brain conference. And to save you the time of wondering … No agreement was reached. In fact, they disagreed on a number of issues surrounding the concept.

But, here’s some of what they did agree on about Critical Thinking …

• Although we can’t agree on a common definition, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prioritize Critical Thinking in education.
• True critical thinkers aggressively question their own beliefs.
• Teaching to think critically about something should be done as early as Kindergarten.
• Asking questions about a topic is the necessary first step to a deeper understanding.
• Be careful in the assumption that students are not already thinking critically, especially if we know that it can’t be easily measured.
• Critical Thinking is important — but so are Creative Thinking, Interdisciplinary Thinking, Systems Thinking, and Fuzzy Logic to name a few.
• So, don’t start a Critical Thinking Program in schools — that isn’t necessary or reasonable.
• Instead, schools should focus on the importance of Curiosity being present. Being openly curious is the path to understanding.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Here are my top 5 take aways to help students be well prepared in distinguishing reality from what is not reality:

1. Challenge assumptions – don’t assume what you’re observing is accurate,
2. Watch out for opinions that may be misrepresented as facts – social media is flooded with this reality,
3. Be reflective on your personal history and bias – it’s more influential on you than you may think,
4. Be open to being wrong – I’m wrong a lot and admitting it actually helps me move forward, and
5. Always be curious — because curiosity leads to deeper understanding!

That’s a pretty good list.

• Science gives us a foundation;
• Critical Thinking can lead to understanding context and its impact on the facts; and
• Students become better, more informed citizens.

Important concepts in a world of uncertainty, hyperbole and unsubstantiated opinions. And there’s no shortage of that these days.