Beyond Critical Thinking

BeyondCriticalThinking:AFrameworkforDevelopingtheDecision-MakingSkillsofSecondarySchoolStudentsRobinS.GregoryandRobertT.ClemenDecisionResearch,1201OakStreet,Eugene,Oregon97401BeyondCriticalThinking:AFrameworkforDevelopingtheDecision-MakingSkillsofSecondarySchoolStudentsRobinS.GregoryandRobertT.ClemenDecisionResearch,Eugene,OregonI.IntroductionAsAmericaheadstowardthe21stcentury,studentlearningofdecision-makingskillshascometoberecognizedasanessentialelementofaneffectivesecondaryschooleducation.Thisemphasisondecisionmakingcomesfrommanyperspectives.Descriptionsofhigher-orderthinkingskillsconsistentlyincludedecisionmaking(Halpern,1984;Kurfiss,1988),asdocallsforauthenticlearningexperiencesthatcombineproblem-basedlearningwiththeopportunitytoengageincomplexthinkingprocesses(Newmann&Wehlage,1993).Achievingsuccessincooperativeandgrouplearningenvironmentsalsoisacknowledgedtorequireasolidunderstandingofdecision-makingskills(Johnson,Johnson,&Holubec,1986).Unfortunately,itisoftendifficulttoknowjustwhatthisbroadlybasedacknowledgmentofdecisionmakingimpliesforthedevelopmentofsecondary-schoolcurricula.Mosteducators,researchers,andschooladministratorshavesomeintuitionaboutthebenefitsofgoodproblemsolvinganddecisionskills(Resnick,1987).However,thereappearstobelittleconsensusregardingtheidentityordefinitionoftheessentialtechniquesthatarerequiredforsuccessfuldecisionmaking.Inaddition,ithasbeendifficulttodefineasetofskillsthataresufficientlygeneraltoapplyacrossmanyproblemsettingsand,simultaneously,sufficientlyspecifictoassiststudentsindefiningdecisionsandsolvingrelevantproblemsaspartoftheregular,subject-basedcurriculatypicallyfoundinsecondaryschools(Perkins&Salomon,1989).Thispaperdrawsfromthetheoryandpracticeofhumanjudgmentanddecisionmakingtoaddressthesetopics.Inthenextsection,welinkdecisionmakingtoconceptsofcriticalthinking,2thoughtfulness,andproblem-solvingthathavebeendevelopedandwidelydiscussedbyeducationalresearchersandteachers.Wethendescribeseveralspecifictoolsforlearningdecision-makingskillsanddiscussaprocessbywhichtheseskillscanbeintroducedeffectivelyintotheclassroom.Inthefinalsectionofthepaperwereviewourcurrentunderstandingoftheimpactsofadecision-skillscurriculum,basedonourexperienceworkingwithsecondary-schoolteachersfromsixsitesintheEugene,Oregon4-Jschooldistrict.Thediscussioninthispaperemphasizesthreethemes.ThefirstisthatdecisionmakingisofvitalimportancetoAmerica'ssecondary-schoolcurricula.Thesecondisthatgooddecisionmakinginvolvestheintegrationofpersonalandsocialvalueswithfacts:decisionmakingisaskilland,justlikebiologyorbasketball,requiresmasteryofbasicprinciplesandextensivepractice.Thethirdthemeisthatdecision-makingskillscansuccessfullybeintegratedintosubject-basedsecondaryschoolcurriculaaspartofeducators'andpolicymakers'attemptstorestructureandrevitalizeAmerica'sschools.II.CriticalThinking,Thoughtfulness,andDecisionMakingTheconceptsofcriticalthinking,thoughtfulness,andhigher-orderthinkingareallcloselylinkedtopeople'sabilitytothinkcarefullyaboutthedecisionstheywillhavetomake.Eachoftheseconceptsimpliessomethingbeyondrotememorizationorrehersalsoffactandcallsonthestudenttodomore:toseekadditionalinformationwhenitisneeded,torecognizeinconsistenciesinproblemformulation,toevaluatethetruthofclaimsmadeinastatementortext,andtocombineinformationandtechniquesinwaysthatarenotexactparallelsofprevioussituations(Gregory,1991).Ennis(1982)gavethetermcriticalthinkinganimportantboostbyspecifyingtwelvegeneralthoughtactivitiesorcharacteristicsthatjointlydefinecriticalthinking.Sincethen,however,theconcepthasbecomeoneofthemostabusedtermsinthelexiconofeducatorsanditisnowusedtoindicatevirtuallyanyaspectofthinkingbeyondmemorizationandrecall.Someresearchershaveattemptedtoreversethistrendbydevelopingmorespecificstatementsofwhatcriticalthinkingmeans;Beyer(1985),forexample,describesitastheassessingoftheauthenticity,accuracy,and/or3worthofknowledgeclaimsandargumentsandEnnis(1989),morerecently,definescriticalthinkingasreasonablyreflectivethinkingfocusedondecidingwhattobeliveordo.However,thesedescriptionsofcriticalthinkingdonotprescribecurricula-basedtoolsfordevelopingorimplementingtherelevantskills.Asaresult,thecritical-thinkingliteraturelargelyignoresquestionssuchas:Howdoesonelearnwhichofseveralalternativesispreferred?Howdoesonedecidehowmuchreflection,orhowmuchinformation,isneededbeforemakingaharddecision?Howdoesoneassessthecredibilityorauthenticityofanargumentinthefaceofsubstantiallydivergentclaimsorincompatibleresultsfromdifferentstudies?Twootherterms,higher-orderthinkingandthoughtfulness,alsohavebeenusedtodescribeimportantaspectsofdecisionskills.AsdefinedbyNewmann(1990),higher-orderthinkingchallengesthestudenttointerpret,analyse,ormanipulateinformation,becauseaquestiontobeansweredoraproblemtobesolvedcannotberesolvedthroughtheroutineapplicationofpreviouslylearnedknowledge.Solvingproblemsandanalyzinginformationrequirechoicesbetweencompetingstrategiesanddecisionsamongalternativeapproaches.Althoughevidenceofhigher-orderthinkingisthereforeobtainedifastu