critical thinking skills and religion

May 1, 2012

How Critical Thinkers Lose Their Faith in God

Religious belief drops when analytical thinking rises

By Daisy Grewal

Why are some people more religious than others? Answers to this question often focus on the role of culture or upbringing.  While these influences are important, new research suggests that whether we believe may also have to do with how much we rely on intuition versus analytical thinking. In 2011 Amitai Shenhav, David Rand and Joshua Greene of Harvard University published a paper showing that people who have a tendency to rely on their intuition are more likely to believe in God.  They also showed that encouraging people to think intuitively increased people’s belief in God. Building on these findings, in a recent paper published in Science , Will Gervais and Ara Norenzayan of the University of British Columbia found that encouraging people to think analytically reduced their tendency to believe in God. Together these findings suggest that belief may at least partly stem from our thinking styles.

Gervais and Norenzayan’s research is based on the idea that we possess two different ways of thinking that are distinct yet related. Understanding these two ways, which are often referred to as System 1 and System 2, may be important for understanding our tendency towards having religious faith. System 1 thinking relies on shortcuts and other rules-of-thumb while System 2 relies on analytic thinking and tends to be slower and require more effort. Solving logical and analytical problems may require that we override our System 1 thinking processes in order to engage System 2. Psychologists have developed a number of clever techniques that encourage us to do this. Using some of these techniques, Gervais and Norenzayan examined whether engaging System 2 leads people away from believing in God and religion.

For example, they had participants view images of artwork that are associated with reflective thinking (Rodin’s The Thinker) or more neutral images (Discobulus of Myron). Participants who viewed The Thinker reported weaker religious beliefs on a subsequent survey. However, Gervais and Norenzayan wondered if showing people artwork might have made the connection between thinking and religion too obvious. In their next two studies, they created a task that more subtly primed analytic thinking. Participants received sets of five randomly arranged words (e.g. “high winds the flies plane”) and were asked to drop one word and rearrange the others in order to create a more meaningful sentence (e.g. “the plane flies high”). Some of their participants were given scrambled sentences containing words associated with analytic thinking (e.g. “analyze,” “reason”) and other participants were given sentences that featured neutral words (e.g. “hammer,” “shoes”). After unscrambling the sentences, participants filled out a survey about their religious beliefs. In both studies, this subtle reminder of analytic thinking caused participants to express less belief in God and religion. The researchers found no relationship between participants’ prior religious beliefs and their performance in the study. Analytic thinking reduced religious belief regardless of how religious people were to begin with.

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In a final study, Gervais and Norenzayan used an even more subtle way of activating analytic thinking: by having participants fill out a survey measuring their religious beliefs that was printed in either clear font or font that was difficult to read. Prior research has shown that difficult-to-read font promotes analytic thinking by forcing participants to slow down and think more carefully about the meaning of what they are reading. The researchers found that participants who filled out a survey that was printed in unclear font expressed less belief as compared to those who filled out the same survey in the clear font.

These studies demonstrate yet another way in which our thinking tendencies, many of which may be innate, have contributed to religious faith. It may also help explain why the vast majority of Americans tend to believe in God. Since System 2 thinking requires a lot of effort , the majority of us tend to rely on our System 1 thinking processes when possible. Evidence suggests that the majority of us are more prone to believing than being skeptical. According to a 2005 poll by Gallup, 3 out of every 4 Americans hold at least one belief in the paranormal. The most popular of these beliefs are extrasensory perception (ESP), haunted houses, and ghosts. In addition, the results help explain why some of us are more prone to believe that others. Previous research has found that people differ in their tendency to see intentions and causes in the world. These differences in thinking styles could help explain why some of us are more likely to become believers.

Why and how might analytic thinking reduce religious belief? Although more research is needed to answer this question, Gervais and Norenzayan speculate on a few possibilities. For example, analytic thinking may inhibit our natural intuition to believe in supernatural agents that influence the world. Alternatively, analytic thinking may simply cause us to override our intuition to believe and pay less attention to it. It’s important to note that across studies, participants ranged widely in their religious affiliation, gender, and race. None of these variables were found to significantly relate to people’s behavior in the studies.

Gervais and Norenzayan point out that analytic thinking is just one reason out of many why people may or may not hold religious beliefs. In addition, these findings do not say anything about the inherent value or truth of religious beliefs—they simply speak to the psychology of when and why we are prone to believe. Most importantly, they provide evidence that rather than being static, our beliefs can change drastically from situation to situation, without us knowing exactly why.

Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe. He can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.com or Twitter @garethideas .

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Religion and Critical Thinking: How critical thinking impacts religion

The more critical thinking skills you have, the less religious beliefs you have. It has been found that those who think critically are far less religious than those who think intuitively.

While critical thinking skills weaken faith, they are not enough to destroy faith entirely. Therefore, we can encourage critical thinking without worrying about destroying anyone’s faith.

This article discusses the connection between critical thinking and religion.

Rational thinking vs. intuition

Our brains have two modes of thinking: rational thinking and intuition. This is why intelligent people believe in concepts with no proof.

Those who rely more on intuition than rationality are more likely to believe in God. Those who are more likely to stop and reason out their thoughts before they react are less likely to be religious.

Encouraging people to think more intuitively causes people to become more faithful. Conversely, putting people in a critical thinking state of mind discourages faith.

Most people today are intuitive thinkers. That is why the majority of people still believe in God. The way of thinking we have is innate, carried down. It is much more difficult to slow down and think logically rather than rely on rules of thumb and instincts that have been a significant part of our upbringing and culture.

The connection between critical/rational thinking and faith

There is a strong connection between rational thinking and the lack of faith. The tendency to think rationally causes religious doubt. Studies have shown that when people are put in a critical/rational thinking state of mind, they will answer religious survey questions more doubtfully.

Critical thinking and faith are debated between science and religion because faith, or blind acceptance, is the direct opposite of critical reflection. There can never be reconciliation between these two concepts. Science relies on evidence and proof. Faith disregards these, does not allow questions, and ignores contrary evidence and contradictions.

Research has concluded that those who demonstrate high levels of paranormal belief have poor critical thinking skills. Going further with this idea, another study found that high levels of religious orientation can predict poor critical thinking performance (Kirby, Matthew, “The Impact of Religious Schema on Critical Thinking Skills” (2008)).

Research on the brain has found that those with spiritual beliefs suppress their analytical thinking brain network to engage an empathetic thinking network. The opposite is true for non-religious people.

Does critical thinking make you lose faith?

In short, yes. As critical and analytical thinking rises, religious beliefs drop. Rational thinking makes us more prone to skepticism. The same concept applies not only to religious faith, but also belief in ESP and ghosts.

When we think rationally, we start to question basic assumptions. This includes more than just religion. Some critical thinking concepts are not skeptical or doubtful of religious beliefs. Sometimes, thinking critically can give you a better understanding of your religion.

From an analytical, rational point of view, the concept of faith is irrational and illogical. It is only by pushing aside this way of thinking that we can believe in supernatural concepts. Non-believers believe that our knowledge of the world and universe should not be told to us by religion. It is science’s job to inform us about the physical structure of our world and existence.

The majority of believers have been brought up in their religion. It is part of their culture. Analytical thinking causes us to override our intuition and what our upbringing tells us to believe. Our faith and beliefs can change drastically in different situations, even if we don’t understand why.

Critical and rational thinking is not the only thing that causes people to disregard their religious beliefs. Discovering contrary evidence and becoming more informed about religions also causes people to disregard faith.

Becoming informed about religion

It has been found that atheists constitute the majority of those who are best informed about religion. This means that the more you learn about religion, the less faith you’ll have.

Atheists and agnostics (those who neither believe nor disbelieve in God) are more likely to be informed about religion than firm believers. Atheists and agnostics answered more questions correctly on a survey about religion than believers in religion. They are also more knowledgeable about topics other than religion compared to Christians in the United States.

A US Religious Knowledge survey found that atheists and agnostics know more about the Bible than both Protestants and Catholics. This shows that it is not just critical/rational thinking that causes people to disregard faith. Becoming more knowledgeable about religion increases skepticism.

The fact that atheists and agnostics are more educated on religious matters than faithful believers indicates that people believe in religion for social reasons, not because they truly understand what they are taught to believe. It also shows that atheists are an effect of religious knowledge, not a lack of religious knowledge.

Faith vs. Proof

For those who do have faith, lack of proof does not matter. Most religious people do not reflect on their faith from an intellectual point of view. Most believers live with their faith without thinking twice about it.

Despite the studies and research that has been done on religion and the brain patterns of those who believe, nothing can disprove the existence of God. While findings have shown that a certain type of person is more or less likely to believe, these findings could never prove or disprove religious truths.

Overall, critical thinking negatively impacts faith. That is because faith teaches us that we should blindly accept religious concepts without question, while critical thinking teaches us to slow down and think rationally and logically.

The amount of religious believers has been steadily declining for centuries and has reached an all-time low. The most likely reason for this is the increase in education available to the common person and critical thinking skills among the public.

Declining religious rates signify that we are becoming a more modern, mature, sophisticated, and educated society. People today believe that being religious doesn’t make you ethical or righteous. These moral concepts are innate in our minds. They are not taught by religion exclusively. Therefore, we can teach critical thinking skills without worrying about declining rates of religious believers.

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Faith, Reason, and Critical Thinking

It is not unusual to hear discussions of the relationship between faith and reason, or science and religion, cast in terms of the blind acceptance of unquestionable propositions (religion) versus careful, skeptical, and critical rational reflection (science). Indeed, one of the hallmarks of religious faith, at least as commonly depicted in a great deal of our daily public discourse, is that it rests on claims that are “incontestable”—that is, impervious to skeptical scrutiny, empirical or logical analysis, or rational dispute. In contrast, scientific or secular knowledge claims are presumed to rest on “evidence” and the sure foundation of rational and/or empirical demonstration. As Suzanna Sherry (1996) has written, for example, someone operating under the epistemology of faith is “able to ignore contradictions, contrary evidence, and logical implications. Indeed, one test of faith is its capacity to resist the blandishments of rationality; the stronger the rational arguments against a belief, the more faith is needed to adhere to it” (p. 482). In contrast, “secular science and liberal politics, both committed to the primacy of reason, necessarily deny that any truth is incontestable” (p. 479).

Contrary to the naïve assumption that faith and reason must necessarily have a mutually allergic relationship, religious belief can often be strengthened and supported by critical, rational reflection. Indeed, as people of faith, we should always be willing to think critically about all of our beliefs. This does not mean we should approach intellectual questions about doctrines and beliefs with an attitude of scholarly aloofness or dismissive skepticism, nor does it mean that we should adopt a disparaging or fault-finding stance towards religious teachings. Good critical thinkers are not, as is sometimes uncritically assumed, relentless skeptics who—in Nietzsche’s (1967) memorable phrase—“worship the question mark itself as God” (p. 156). Being careful and reflective is not in any way incompatible with also being deeply optimistic and full of hope. Rather, thinking critically means that we look at our assumptions and contrast them with alternatives.

When we think critically, then, we question our basic assumptions in the light of competing or alternative assumptions. This does not necessarily mean we doubt or dismiss our assumptions—that is (again) the flawed fixation of the skeptic. Rather, it means we take them seriously by examining their origins and implications. For example, we might ask, “What does our belief system require of us that a contrasting belief system does not, and why?” Or, we might ask, “If this idea or belief is true, then where does it take me, both logically and practically, if I run with it all the way to its farthest implications?” Such questions are not full of skeptical and paralyzing doubt, but can rather reflect the attempt to more deeply understand (and live) our beliefs. It can also reflect a sincere desire to winnow out the chaff of sloppy thinking or incomplete understanding of our religious faith and spiritual commitments.

When we think critically in this way, we can better understand how our faith (and its assumptions about the world) differs from other perspectives and other beliefs, and what those differences might mean for us. Critical thinking can help us identify, and perhaps even reject, ideas that undermine the core assumptions of our faith. Conversely, it can help us be more open to ideas that do not contradict the core assumptions of our faith, but which at first glance may seem to do so. In short, by learning to think critically, coupled with the guiding influence of spiritual sensitivity, we can become more discerning and thoughtful religious believers. Remember, even Christ, the Son of God, amidst unimaginable suffering and agony upon the cross at Calvary, was willing to ask His Father a deep and troubling question:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).

Now, I assume it is possible that in that moment of utter extremity the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe, and the Savior of all mankind chose to abandon His faith and give in to the temptations of radical skepticism… but I doubt it. There is more than a little irony in Sherry’s claim that for the secularist committed to the primacy of reason no truth claim is incontestable, especially given that such a claim is itself an incontestable truth claim (see, Beckwith, 2015 for a more detailed discussion of this issue).

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Using the pedagogy of thinking skills in Christian studies lessons in primary school years 4–6: the teacher’s perspective

• Published: 09 February 2021
• Volume 69 , pages 145–160, ( 2021 )

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The inclusion of thinking skills in Religious Education as an intentional pedagogical emphasis encourages depth of understanding as students explore theological concepts in the curriculum. The aim of this research was to investigate the ways in which teachers of Years 4–6 incorporate a pedagogy of thinking skills into Christian Studies lessons, and explore their perceptions of the intended and unintended outcomes. Therefore, the literature review focused on research into the nature of thinking skills and their application in the classroom. Using a constructivist paradigm, the investigation involved interviewing four teachers in Australian Lutheran schools about their understanding of the skills involved in thinking, which in turn, provided insights on their practice. Responses to questions were analysed in terms of language specific to pedagogy of thinking skills [skills and strategies]. The findings suggest that teachers found benefits from the intentional inclusion of a pedagogy of thinking skills in Religious Education lessons as a way of building empathy and developing a deeper understanding of the curriculum. Whole school practices and professional development supported the inclusion of these initiatives across key learning areas. The findings in this paper provide an opportunity for collegial discussion and reflection on current teaching practice with the recommendation of intentional use of a pedagogy of thinking skills in Religious Education in a Lutheran setting, with possible application in other contexts.

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Huth, K. Using the pedagogy of thinking skills in Christian studies lessons in primary school years 4–6: the teacher’s perspective. j. relig. educ. 69 , 145–160 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-020-00130-6

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Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a widely accepted educational goal. Its definition is contested, but the competing definitions can be understood as differing conceptions of the same basic concept: careful thinking directed to a goal. Conceptions differ with respect to the scope of such thinking, the type of goal, the criteria and norms for thinking carefully, and the thinking components on which they focus. Its adoption as an educational goal has been recommended on the basis of respect for students’ autonomy and preparing students for success in life and for democratic citizenship. “Critical thinkers” have the dispositions and abilities that lead them to think critically when appropriate. The abilities can be identified directly; the dispositions indirectly, by considering what factors contribute to or impede exercise of the abilities. Standardized tests have been developed to assess the degree to which a person possesses such dispositions and abilities. Educational intervention has been shown experimentally to improve them, particularly when it includes dialogue, anchored instruction, and mentoring. Controversies have arisen over the generalizability of critical thinking across domains, over alleged bias in critical thinking theories and instruction, and over the relationship of critical thinking to other types of thinking.

2.1 Dewey’s Three Main Examples

2.2 dewey’s other examples, 2.3 further examples, 2.4 non-examples, 3. the definition of critical thinking, 4. its value, 5. the process of thinking critically, 6. components of the process, 7. contributory dispositions and abilities, 8.1 initiating dispositions, 8.2 internal dispositions, 9. critical thinking abilities, 10. required knowledge, 11. educational methods, 12.1 the generalizability of critical thinking, 12.2 bias in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, 12.3 relationship of critical thinking to other types of thinking, other internet resources, related entries.

Use of the term ‘critical thinking’ to describe an educational goal goes back to the American philosopher John Dewey (1910), who more commonly called it ‘reflective thinking’. He defined it as

active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends. (Dewey 1910: 6; 1933: 9)

and identified a habit of such consideration with a scientific attitude of mind. His lengthy quotations of Francis Bacon, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill indicate that he was not the first person to propose development of a scientific attitude of mind as an educational goal.

In the 1930s, many of the schools that participated in the Eight-Year Study of the Progressive Education Association (Aikin 1942) adopted critical thinking as an educational goal, for whose achievement the study’s Evaluation Staff developed tests (Smith, Tyler, & Evaluation Staff 1942). Glaser (1941) showed experimentally that it was possible to improve the critical thinking of high school students. Bloom’s influential taxonomy of cognitive educational objectives (Bloom et al. 1956) incorporated critical thinking abilities. Ennis (1962) proposed 12 aspects of critical thinking as a basis for research on the teaching and evaluation of critical thinking ability.

Since 1980, an annual international conference in California on critical thinking and educational reform has attracted tens of thousands of educators from all levels of education and from many parts of the world. Also since 1980, the state university system in California has required all undergraduate students to take a critical thinking course. Since 1983, the Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking has sponsored sessions in conjunction with the divisional meetings of the American Philosophical Association (APA). In 1987, the APA’s Committee on Pre-College Philosophy commissioned a consensus statement on critical thinking for purposes of educational assessment and instruction (Facione 1990a). Researchers have developed standardized tests of critical thinking abilities and dispositions; for details, see the Supplement on Assessment . Educational jurisdictions around the world now include critical thinking in guidelines for curriculum and assessment.

For details on this history, see the Supplement on History .

2. Examples and Non-Examples

Before considering the definition of critical thinking, it will be helpful to have in mind some examples of critical thinking, as well as some examples of kinds of thinking that would apparently not count as critical thinking.

Dewey (1910: 68–71; 1933: 91–94) takes as paradigms of reflective thinking three class papers of students in which they describe their thinking. The examples range from the everyday to the scientific.

Transit : “The other day, when I was down town on 16th Street, a clock caught my eye. I saw that the hands pointed to 12:20. This suggested that I had an engagement at 124th Street, at one o’clock. I reasoned that as it had taken me an hour to come down on a surface car, I should probably be twenty minutes late if I returned the same way. I might save twenty minutes by a subway express. But was there a station near? If not, I might lose more than twenty minutes in looking for one. Then I thought of the elevated, and I saw there was such a line within two blocks. But where was the station? If it were several blocks above or below the street I was on, I should lose time instead of gaining it. My mind went back to the subway express as quicker than the elevated; furthermore, I remembered that it went nearer than the elevated to the part of 124th Street I wished to reach, so that time would be saved at the end of the journey. I concluded in favor of the subway, and reached my destination by one o’clock.” (Dewey 1910: 68–69; 1933: 91–92)

Ferryboat : “Projecting nearly horizontally from the upper deck of the ferryboat on which I daily cross the river is a long white pole, having a gilded ball at its tip. It suggested a flagpole when I first saw it; its color, shape, and gilded ball agreed with this idea, and these reasons seemed to justify me in this belief. But soon difficulties presented themselves. The pole was nearly horizontal, an unusual position for a flagpole; in the next place, there was no pulley, ring, or cord by which to attach a flag; finally, there were elsewhere on the boat two vertical staffs from which flags were occasionally flown. It seemed probable that the pole was not there for flag-flying.

“I then tried to imagine all possible purposes of the pole, and to consider for which of these it was best suited: (a) Possibly it was an ornament. But as all the ferryboats and even the tugboats carried poles, this hypothesis was rejected. (b) Possibly it was the terminal of a wireless telegraph. But the same considerations made this improbable. Besides, the more natural place for such a terminal would be the highest part of the boat, on top of the pilot house. (c) Its purpose might be to point out the direction in which the boat is moving.

“In support of this conclusion, I discovered that the pole was lower than the pilot house, so that the steersman could easily see it. Moreover, the tip was enough higher than the base, so that, from the pilot’s position, it must appear to project far out in front of the boat. Moreover, the pilot being near the front of the boat, he would need some such guide as to its direction. Tugboats would also need poles for such a purpose. This hypothesis was so much more probable than the others that I accepted it. I formed the conclusion that the pole was set up for the purpose of showing the pilot the direction in which the boat pointed, to enable him to steer correctly.” (Dewey 1910: 69–70; 1933: 92–93)

Bubbles : “In washing tumblers in hot soapsuds and placing them mouth downward on a plate, bubbles appeared on the outside of the mouth of the tumblers and then went inside. Why? The presence of bubbles suggests air, which I note must come from inside the tumbler. I see that the soapy water on the plate prevents escape of the air save as it may be caught in bubbles. But why should air leave the tumbler? There was no substance entering to force it out. It must have expanded. It expands by increase of heat, or by decrease of pressure, or both. Could the air have become heated after the tumbler was taken from the hot suds? Clearly not the air that was already entangled in the water. If heated air was the cause, cold air must have entered in transferring the tumblers from the suds to the plate. I test to see if this supposition is true by taking several more tumblers out. Some I shake so as to make sure of entrapping cold air in them. Some I take out holding mouth downward in order to prevent cold air from entering. Bubbles appear on the outside of every one of the former and on none of the latter. I must be right in my inference. Air from the outside must have been expanded by the heat of the tumbler, which explains the appearance of the bubbles on the outside. But why do they then go inside? Cold contracts. The tumbler cooled and also the air inside it. Tension was removed, and hence bubbles appeared inside. To be sure of this, I test by placing a cup of ice on the tumbler while the bubbles are still forming outside. They soon reverse” (Dewey 1910: 70–71; 1933: 93–94).

Dewey (1910, 1933) sprinkles his book with other examples of critical thinking. We will refer to the following.

Weather : A man on a walk notices that it has suddenly become cool, thinks that it is probably going to rain, looks up and sees a dark cloud obscuring the sun, and quickens his steps (1910: 6–10; 1933: 9–13).

Disorder : A man finds his rooms on his return to them in disorder with his belongings thrown about, thinks at first of burglary as an explanation, then thinks of mischievous children as being an alternative explanation, then looks to see whether valuables are missing, and discovers that they are (1910: 82–83; 1933: 166–168).

Typhoid : A physician diagnosing a patient whose conspicuous symptoms suggest typhoid avoids drawing a conclusion until more data are gathered by questioning the patient and by making tests (1910: 85–86; 1933: 170).

Blur : A moving blur catches our eye in the distance, we ask ourselves whether it is a cloud of whirling dust or a tree moving its branches or a man signaling to us, we think of other traits that should be found on each of those possibilities, and we look and see if those traits are found (1910: 102, 108; 1933: 121, 133).

Suction pump : In thinking about the suction pump, the scientist first notes that it will draw water only to a maximum height of 33 feet at sea level and to a lesser maximum height at higher elevations, selects for attention the differing atmospheric pressure at these elevations, sets up experiments in which the air is removed from a vessel containing water (when suction no longer works) and in which the weight of air at various levels is calculated, compares the results of reasoning about the height to which a given weight of air will allow a suction pump to raise water with the observed maximum height at different elevations, and finally assimilates the suction pump to such apparently different phenomena as the siphon and the rising of a balloon (1910: 150–153; 1933: 195–198).

Diamond : A passenger in a car driving in a diamond lane reserved for vehicles with at least one passenger notices that the diamond marks on the pavement are far apart in some places and close together in others. Why? The driver suggests that the reason may be that the diamond marks are not needed where there is a solid double line separating the diamond lane from the adjoining lane, but are needed when there is a dotted single line permitting crossing into the diamond lane. Further observation confirms that the diamonds are close together when a dotted line separates the diamond lane from its neighbour, but otherwise far apart.

Rash : A woman suddenly develops a very itchy red rash on her throat and upper chest. She recently noticed a mark on the back of her right hand, but was not sure whether the mark was a rash or a scrape. She lies down in bed and thinks about what might be causing the rash and what to do about it. About two weeks before, she began taking blood pressure medication that contained a sulfa drug, and the pharmacist had warned her, in view of a previous allergic reaction to a medication containing a sulfa drug, to be on the alert for an allergic reaction; however, she had been taking the medication for two weeks with no such effect. The day before, she began using a new cream on her neck and upper chest; against the new cream as the cause was mark on the back of her hand, which had not been exposed to the cream. She began taking probiotics about a month before. She also recently started new eye drops, but she supposed that manufacturers of eye drops would be careful not to include allergy-causing components in the medication. The rash might be a heat rash, since she recently was sweating profusely from her upper body. Since she is about to go away on a short vacation, where she would not have access to her usual physician, she decides to keep taking the probiotics and using the new eye drops but to discontinue the blood pressure medication and to switch back to the old cream for her neck and upper chest. She forms a plan to consult her regular physician on her return about the blood pressure medication.

Candidate : Although Dewey included no examples of thinking directed at appraising the arguments of others, such thinking has come to be considered a kind of critical thinking. We find an example of such thinking in the performance task on the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+), which its sponsoring organization describes as

a performance-based assessment that provides a measure of an institution’s contribution to the development of critical-thinking and written communication skills of its students. (Council for Aid to Education 2017)

A sample task posted on its website requires the test-taker to write a report for public distribution evaluating a fictional candidate’s policy proposals and their supporting arguments, using supplied background documents, with a recommendation on whether to endorse the candidate.

Immediate acceptance of an idea that suggests itself as a solution to a problem (e.g., a possible explanation of an event or phenomenon, an action that seems likely to produce a desired result) is “uncritical thinking, the minimum of reflection” (Dewey 1910: 13). On-going suspension of judgment in the light of doubt about a possible solution is not critical thinking (Dewey 1910: 108). Critique driven by a dogmatically held political or religious ideology is not critical thinking; thus Paulo Freire (1968 [1970]) is using the term (e.g., at 1970: 71, 81, 100, 146) in a more politically freighted sense that includes not only reflection but also revolutionary action against oppression. Derivation of a conclusion from given data using an algorithm is not critical thinking.

What is critical thinking? There are many definitions. Ennis (2016) lists 14 philosophically oriented scholarly definitions and three dictionary definitions. Following Rawls (1971), who distinguished his conception of justice from a utilitarian conception but regarded them as rival conceptions of the same concept, Ennis maintains that the 17 definitions are different conceptions of the same concept. Rawls articulated the shared concept of justice as

a characteristic set of principles for assigning basic rights and duties and for determining… the proper distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation. (Rawls 1971: 5)

Bailin et al. (1999b) claim that, if one considers what sorts of thinking an educator would take not to be critical thinking and what sorts to be critical thinking, one can conclude that educators typically understand critical thinking to have at least three features.

• It is done for the purpose of making up one’s mind about what to believe or do.
• The person engaging in the thinking is trying to fulfill standards of adequacy and accuracy appropriate to the thinking.
• The thinking fulfills the relevant standards to some threshold level.

One could sum up the core concept that involves these three features by saying that critical thinking is careful goal-directed thinking. This core concept seems to apply to all the examples of critical thinking described in the previous section. As for the non-examples, their exclusion depends on construing careful thinking as excluding jumping immediately to conclusions, suspending judgment no matter how strong the evidence, reasoning from an unquestioned ideological or religious perspective, and routinely using an algorithm to answer a question.

If the core of critical thinking is careful goal-directed thinking, conceptions of it can vary according to its presumed scope, its presumed goal, one’s criteria and threshold for being careful, and the thinking component on which one focuses. As to its scope, some conceptions (e.g., Dewey 1910, 1933) restrict it to constructive thinking on the basis of one’s own observations and experiments, others (e.g., Ennis 1962; Fisher & Scriven 1997; Johnson 1992) to appraisal of the products of such thinking. Ennis (1991) and Bailin et al. (1999b) take it to cover both construction and appraisal. As to its goal, some conceptions restrict it to forming a judgment (Dewey 1910, 1933; Lipman 1987; Facione 1990a). Others allow for actions as well as beliefs as the end point of a process of critical thinking (Ennis 1991; Bailin et al. 1999b). As to the criteria and threshold for being careful, definitions vary in the term used to indicate that critical thinking satisfies certain norms: “intellectually disciplined” (Scriven & Paul 1987), “reasonable” (Ennis 1991), “skillful” (Lipman 1987), “skilled” (Fisher & Scriven 1997), “careful” (Bailin & Battersby 2009). Some definitions specify these norms, referring variously to “consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey 1910, 1933); “the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning” (Glaser 1941); “conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication” (Scriven & Paul 1987); the requirement that “it is sensitive to context, relies on criteria, and is self-correcting” (Lipman 1987); “evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations” (Facione 1990a); and “plus-minus considerations of the product in terms of appropriate standards (or criteria)” (Johnson 1992). Stanovich and Stanovich (2010) propose to ground the concept of critical thinking in the concept of rationality, which they understand as combining epistemic rationality (fitting one’s beliefs to the world) and instrumental rationality (optimizing goal fulfillment); a critical thinker, in their view, is someone with “a propensity to override suboptimal responses from the autonomous mind” (2010: 227). These variant specifications of norms for critical thinking are not necessarily incompatible with one another, and in any case presuppose the core notion of thinking carefully. As to the thinking component singled out, some definitions focus on suspension of judgment during the thinking (Dewey 1910; McPeck 1981), others on inquiry while judgment is suspended (Bailin & Battersby 2009, 2021), others on the resulting judgment (Facione 1990a), and still others on responsiveness to reasons (Siegel 1988). Kuhn (2019) takes critical thinking to be more a dialogic practice of advancing and responding to arguments than an individual ability.

In educational contexts, a definition of critical thinking is a “programmatic definition” (Scheffler 1960: 19). It expresses a practical program for achieving an educational goal. For this purpose, a one-sentence formulaic definition is much less useful than articulation of a critical thinking process, with criteria and standards for the kinds of thinking that the process may involve. The real educational goal is recognition, adoption and implementation by students of those criteria and standards. That adoption and implementation in turn consists in acquiring the knowledge, abilities and dispositions of a critical thinker.

Conceptions of critical thinking generally do not include moral integrity as part of the concept. Dewey, for example, took critical thinking to be the ultimate intellectual goal of education, but distinguished it from the development of social cooperation among school children, which he took to be the central moral goal. Ennis (1996, 2011) added to his previous list of critical thinking dispositions a group of dispositions to care about the dignity and worth of every person, which he described as a “correlative” (1996) disposition without which critical thinking would be less valuable and perhaps harmful. An educational program that aimed at developing critical thinking but not the correlative disposition to care about the dignity and worth of every person, he asserted, “would be deficient and perhaps dangerous” (Ennis 1996: 172).

Dewey thought that education for reflective thinking would be of value to both the individual and society; recognition in educational practice of the kinship to the scientific attitude of children’s native curiosity, fertile imagination and love of experimental inquiry “would make for individual happiness and the reduction of social waste” (Dewey 1910: iii). Schools participating in the Eight-Year Study took development of the habit of reflective thinking and skill in solving problems as a means to leading young people to understand, appreciate and live the democratic way of life characteristic of the United States (Aikin 1942: 17–18, 81). Harvey Siegel (1988: 55–61) has offered four considerations in support of adopting critical thinking as an educational ideal. (1) Respect for persons requires that schools and teachers honour students’ demands for reasons and explanations, deal with students honestly, and recognize the need to confront students’ independent judgment; these requirements concern the manner in which teachers treat students. (2) Education has the task of preparing children to be successful adults, a task that requires development of their self-sufficiency. (3) Education should initiate children into the rational traditions in such fields as history, science and mathematics. (4) Education should prepare children to become democratic citizens, which requires reasoned procedures and critical talents and attitudes. To supplement these considerations, Siegel (1988: 62–90) responds to two objections: the ideology objection that adoption of any educational ideal requires a prior ideological commitment and the indoctrination objection that cultivation of critical thinking cannot escape being a form of indoctrination.

Despite the diversity of our 11 examples, one can recognize a common pattern. Dewey analyzed it as consisting of five phases:

• suggestions , in which the mind leaps forward to a possible solution;
• an intellectualization of the difficulty or perplexity into a problem to be solved, a question for which the answer must be sought;
• the use of one suggestion after another as a leading idea, or hypothesis , to initiate and guide observation and other operations in collection of factual material;
• the mental elaboration of the idea or supposition as an idea or supposition ( reasoning , in the sense on which reasoning is a part, not the whole, of inference); and
• testing the hypothesis by overt or imaginative action. (Dewey 1933: 106–107; italics in original)

The process of reflective thinking consisting of these phases would be preceded by a perplexed, troubled or confused situation and followed by a cleared-up, unified, resolved situation (Dewey 1933: 106). The term ‘phases’ replaced the term ‘steps’ (Dewey 1910: 72), thus removing the earlier suggestion of an invariant sequence. Variants of the above analysis appeared in (Dewey 1916: 177) and (Dewey 1938: 101–119).

The variant formulations indicate the difficulty of giving a single logical analysis of such a varied process. The process of critical thinking may have a spiral pattern, with the problem being redefined in the light of obstacles to solving it as originally formulated. For example, the person in Transit might have concluded that getting to the appointment at the scheduled time was impossible and have reformulated the problem as that of rescheduling the appointment for a mutually convenient time. Further, defining a problem does not always follow after or lead immediately to an idea of a suggested solution. Nor should it do so, as Dewey himself recognized in describing the physician in Typhoid as avoiding any strong preference for this or that conclusion before getting further information (Dewey 1910: 85; 1933: 170). People with a hypothesis in mind, even one to which they have a very weak commitment, have a so-called “confirmation bias” (Nickerson 1998): they are likely to pay attention to evidence that confirms the hypothesis and to ignore evidence that counts against it or for some competing hypothesis. Detectives, intelligence agencies, and investigators of airplane accidents are well advised to gather relevant evidence systematically and to postpone even tentative adoption of an explanatory hypothesis until the collected evidence rules out with the appropriate degree of certainty all but one explanation. Dewey’s analysis of the critical thinking process can be faulted as well for requiring acceptance or rejection of a possible solution to a defined problem, with no allowance for deciding in the light of the available evidence to suspend judgment. Further, given the great variety of kinds of problems for which reflection is appropriate, there is likely to be variation in its component events. Perhaps the best way to conceptualize the critical thinking process is as a checklist whose component events can occur in a variety of orders, selectively, and more than once. These component events might include (1) noticing a difficulty, (2) defining the problem, (3) dividing the problem into manageable sub-problems, (4) formulating a variety of possible solutions to the problem or sub-problem, (5) determining what evidence is relevant to deciding among possible solutions to the problem or sub-problem, (6) devising a plan of systematic observation or experiment that will uncover the relevant evidence, (7) carrying out the plan of systematic observation or experimentation, (8) noting the results of the systematic observation or experiment, (9) gathering relevant testimony and information from others, (10) judging the credibility of testimony and information gathered from others, (11) drawing conclusions from gathered evidence and accepted testimony, and (12) accepting a solution that the evidence adequately supports (cf. Hitchcock 2017: 485).

Checklist conceptions of the process of critical thinking are open to the objection that they are too mechanical and procedural to fit the multi-dimensional and emotionally charged issues for which critical thinking is urgently needed (Paul 1984). For such issues, a more dialectical process is advocated, in which competing relevant world views are identified, their implications explored, and some sort of creative synthesis attempted.

If one considers the critical thinking process illustrated by the 11 examples, one can identify distinct kinds of mental acts and mental states that form part of it. To distinguish, label and briefly characterize these components is a useful preliminary to identifying abilities, skills, dispositions, attitudes, habits and the like that contribute causally to thinking critically. Identifying such abilities and habits is in turn a useful preliminary to setting educational goals. Setting the goals is in its turn a useful preliminary to designing strategies for helping learners to achieve the goals and to designing ways of measuring the extent to which learners have done so. Such measures provide both feedback to learners on their achievement and a basis for experimental research on the effectiveness of various strategies for educating people to think critically. Let us begin, then, by distinguishing the kinds of mental acts and mental events that can occur in a critical thinking process.

• Observing : One notices something in one’s immediate environment (sudden cooling of temperature in Weather , bubbles forming outside a glass and then going inside in Bubbles , a moving blur in the distance in Blur , a rash in Rash ). Or one notes the results of an experiment or systematic observation (valuables missing in Disorder , no suction without air pressure in Suction pump )
• Feeling : One feels puzzled or uncertain about something (how to get to an appointment on time in Transit , why the diamonds vary in spacing in Diamond ). One wants to resolve this perplexity. One feels satisfaction once one has worked out an answer (to take the subway express in Transit , diamonds closer when needed as a warning in Diamond ).
• Wondering : One formulates a question to be addressed (why bubbles form outside a tumbler taken from hot water in Bubbles , how suction pumps work in Suction pump , what caused the rash in Rash ).
• Imagining : One thinks of possible answers (bus or subway or elevated in Transit , flagpole or ornament or wireless communication aid or direction indicator in Ferryboat , allergic reaction or heat rash in Rash ).
• Inferring : One works out what would be the case if a possible answer were assumed (valuables missing if there has been a burglary in Disorder , earlier start to the rash if it is an allergic reaction to a sulfa drug in Rash ). Or one draws a conclusion once sufficient relevant evidence is gathered (take the subway in Transit , burglary in Disorder , discontinue blood pressure medication and new cream in Rash ).
• Knowledge : One uses stored knowledge of the subject-matter to generate possible answers or to infer what would be expected on the assumption of a particular answer (knowledge of a city’s public transit system in Transit , of the requirements for a flagpole in Ferryboat , of Boyle’s law in Bubbles , of allergic reactions in Rash ).
• Experimenting : One designs and carries out an experiment or a systematic observation to find out whether the results deduced from a possible answer will occur (looking at the location of the flagpole in relation to the pilot’s position in Ferryboat , putting an ice cube on top of a tumbler taken from hot water in Bubbles , measuring the height to which a suction pump will draw water at different elevations in Suction pump , noticing the spacing of diamonds when movement to or from a diamond lane is allowed in Diamond ).
• Consulting : One finds a source of information, gets the information from the source, and makes a judgment on whether to accept it. None of our 11 examples include searching for sources of information. In this respect they are unrepresentative, since most people nowadays have almost instant access to information relevant to answering any question, including many of those illustrated by the examples. However, Candidate includes the activities of extracting information from sources and evaluating its credibility.
• Identifying and analyzing arguments : One notices an argument and works out its structure and content as a preliminary to evaluating its strength. This activity is central to Candidate . It is an important part of a critical thinking process in which one surveys arguments for various positions on an issue.
• Judging : One makes a judgment on the basis of accumulated evidence and reasoning, such as the judgment in Ferryboat that the purpose of the pole is to provide direction to the pilot.
• Deciding : One makes a decision on what to do or on what policy to adopt, as in the decision in Transit to take the subway.

By definition, a person who does something voluntarily is both willing and able to do that thing at that time. Both the willingness and the ability contribute causally to the person’s action, in the sense that the voluntary action would not occur if either (or both) of these were lacking. For example, suppose that one is standing with one’s arms at one’s sides and one voluntarily lifts one’s right arm to an extended horizontal position. One would not do so if one were unable to lift one’s arm, if for example one’s right side was paralyzed as the result of a stroke. Nor would one do so if one were unwilling to lift one’s arm, if for example one were participating in a street demonstration at which a white supremacist was urging the crowd to lift their right arm in a Nazi salute and one were unwilling to express support in this way for the racist Nazi ideology. The same analysis applies to a voluntary mental process of thinking critically. It requires both willingness and ability to think critically, including willingness and ability to perform each of the mental acts that compose the process and to coordinate those acts in a sequence that is directed at resolving the initiating perplexity.

Consider willingness first. We can identify causal contributors to willingness to think critically by considering factors that would cause a person who was able to think critically about an issue nevertheless not to do so (Hamby 2014). For each factor, the opposite condition thus contributes causally to willingness to think critically on a particular occasion. For example, people who habitually jump to conclusions without considering alternatives will not think critically about issues that arise, even if they have the required abilities. The contrary condition of willingness to suspend judgment is thus a causal contributor to thinking critically.

Now consider ability. In contrast to the ability to move one’s arm, which can be completely absent because a stroke has left the arm paralyzed, the ability to think critically is a developed ability, whose absence is not a complete absence of ability to think but absence of ability to think well. We can identify the ability to think well directly, in terms of the norms and standards for good thinking. In general, to be able do well the thinking activities that can be components of a critical thinking process, one needs to know the concepts and principles that characterize their good performance, to recognize in particular cases that the concepts and principles apply, and to apply them. The knowledge, recognition and application may be procedural rather than declarative. It may be domain-specific rather than widely applicable, and in either case may need subject-matter knowledge, sometimes of a deep kind.

Reflections of the sort illustrated by the previous two paragraphs have led scholars to identify the knowledge, abilities and dispositions of a “critical thinker”, i.e., someone who thinks critically whenever it is appropriate to do so. We turn now to these three types of causal contributors to thinking critically. We start with dispositions, since arguably these are the most powerful contributors to being a critical thinker, can be fostered at an early stage of a child’s development, and are susceptible to general improvement (Glaser 1941: 175)

8. Critical Thinking Dispositions

Educational researchers use the term ‘dispositions’ broadly for the habits of mind and attitudes that contribute causally to being a critical thinker. Some writers (e.g., Paul & Elder 2006; Hamby 2014; Bailin & Battersby 2016a) propose to use the term ‘virtues’ for this dimension of a critical thinker. The virtues in question, although they are virtues of character, concern the person’s ways of thinking rather than the person’s ways of behaving towards others. They are not moral virtues but intellectual virtues, of the sort articulated by Zagzebski (1996) and discussed by Turri, Alfano, and Greco (2017).

On a realistic conception, thinking dispositions or intellectual virtues are real properties of thinkers. They are general tendencies, propensities, or inclinations to think in particular ways in particular circumstances, and can be genuinely explanatory (Siegel 1999). Sceptics argue that there is no evidence for a specific mental basis for the habits of mind that contribute to thinking critically, and that it is pedagogically misleading to posit such a basis (Bailin et al. 1999a). Whatever their status, critical thinking dispositions need motivation for their initial formation in a child—motivation that may be external or internal. As children develop, the force of habit will gradually become important in sustaining the disposition (Nieto & Valenzuela 2012). Mere force of habit, however, is unlikely to sustain critical thinking dispositions. Critical thinkers must value and enjoy using their knowledge and abilities to think things through for themselves. They must be committed to, and lovers of, inquiry.

A person may have a critical thinking disposition with respect to only some kinds of issues. For example, one could be open-minded about scientific issues but not about religious issues. Similarly, one could be confident in one’s ability to reason about the theological implications of the existence of evil in the world but not in one’s ability to reason about the best design for a guided ballistic missile.

Facione (1990a: 25) divides “affective dispositions” of critical thinking into approaches to life and living in general and approaches to specific issues, questions or problems. Adapting this distinction, one can usefully divide critical thinking dispositions into initiating dispositions (those that contribute causally to starting to think critically about an issue) and internal dispositions (those that contribute causally to doing a good job of thinking critically once one has started). The two categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, open-mindedness, in the sense of willingness to consider alternative points of view to one’s own, is both an initiating and an internal disposition.

Using the strategy of considering factors that would block people with the ability to think critically from doing so, we can identify as initiating dispositions for thinking critically attentiveness, a habit of inquiry, self-confidence, courage, open-mindedness, willingness to suspend judgment, trust in reason, wanting evidence for one’s beliefs, and seeking the truth. We consider briefly what each of these dispositions amounts to, in each case citing sources that acknowledge them.

• Attentiveness : One will not think critically if one fails to recognize an issue that needs to be thought through. For example, the pedestrian in Weather would not have looked up if he had not noticed that the air was suddenly cooler. To be a critical thinker, then, one needs to be habitually attentive to one’s surroundings, noticing not only what one senses but also sources of perplexity in messages received and in one’s own beliefs and attitudes (Facione 1990a: 25; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001).
• Habit of inquiry : Inquiry is effortful, and one needs an internal push to engage in it. For example, the student in Bubbles could easily have stopped at idle wondering about the cause of the bubbles rather than reasoning to a hypothesis, then designing and executing an experiment to test it. Thus willingness to think critically needs mental energy and initiative. What can supply that energy? Love of inquiry, or perhaps just a habit of inquiry. Hamby (2015) has argued that willingness to inquire is the central critical thinking virtue, one that encompasses all the others. It is recognized as a critical thinking disposition by Dewey (1910: 29; 1933: 35), Glaser (1941: 5), Ennis (1987: 12; 1991: 8), Facione (1990a: 25), Bailin et al. (1999b: 294), Halpern (1998: 452), and Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo (2001).
• Self-confidence : Lack of confidence in one’s abilities can block critical thinking. For example, if the woman in Rash lacked confidence in her ability to figure things out for herself, she might just have assumed that the rash on her chest was the allergic reaction to her medication against which the pharmacist had warned her. Thus willingness to think critically requires confidence in one’s ability to inquire (Facione 1990a: 25; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001).
• Courage : Fear of thinking for oneself can stop one from doing it. Thus willingness to think critically requires intellectual courage (Paul & Elder 2006: 16).
• Open-mindedness : A dogmatic attitude will impede thinking critically. For example, a person who adheres rigidly to a “pro-choice” position on the issue of the legal status of induced abortion is likely to be unwilling to consider seriously the issue of when in its development an unborn child acquires a moral right to life. Thus willingness to think critically requires open-mindedness, in the sense of a willingness to examine questions to which one already accepts an answer but which further evidence or reasoning might cause one to answer differently (Dewey 1933; Facione 1990a; Ennis 1991; Bailin et al. 1999b; Halpern 1998, Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001). Paul (1981) emphasizes open-mindedness about alternative world-views, and recommends a dialectical approach to integrating such views as central to what he calls “strong sense” critical thinking. In three studies, Haran, Ritov, & Mellers (2013) found that actively open-minded thinking, including “the tendency to weigh new evidence against a favored belief, to spend sufficient time on a problem before giving up, and to consider carefully the opinions of others in forming one’s own”, led study participants to acquire information and thus to make accurate estimations.
• Willingness to suspend judgment : Premature closure on an initial solution will block critical thinking. Thus willingness to think critically requires a willingness to suspend judgment while alternatives are explored (Facione 1990a; Ennis 1991; Halpern 1998).
• Trust in reason : Since distrust in the processes of reasoned inquiry will dissuade one from engaging in it, trust in them is an initiating critical thinking disposition (Facione 1990a, 25; Bailin et al. 1999b: 294; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001; Paul & Elder 2006). In reaction to an allegedly exclusive emphasis on reason in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, Thayer-Bacon (2000) argues that intuition, imagination, and emotion have important roles to play in an adequate conception of critical thinking that she calls “constructive thinking”. From her point of view, critical thinking requires trust not only in reason but also in intuition, imagination, and emotion.
• Seeking the truth : If one does not care about the truth but is content to stick with one’s initial bias on an issue, then one will not think critically about it. Seeking the truth is thus an initiating critical thinking disposition (Bailin et al. 1999b: 294; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001). A disposition to seek the truth is implicit in more specific critical thinking dispositions, such as trying to be well-informed, considering seriously points of view other than one’s own, looking for alternatives, suspending judgment when the evidence is insufficient, and adopting a position when the evidence supporting it is sufficient.

Some of the initiating dispositions, such as open-mindedness and willingness to suspend judgment, are also internal critical thinking dispositions, in the sense of mental habits or attitudes that contribute causally to doing a good job of critical thinking once one starts the process. But there are many other internal critical thinking dispositions. Some of them are parasitic on one’s conception of good thinking. For example, it is constitutive of good thinking about an issue to formulate the issue clearly and to maintain focus on it. For this purpose, one needs not only the corresponding ability but also the corresponding disposition. Ennis (1991: 8) describes it as the disposition “to determine and maintain focus on the conclusion or question”, Facione (1990a: 25) as “clarity in stating the question or concern”. Other internal dispositions are motivators to continue or adjust the critical thinking process, such as willingness to persist in a complex task and willingness to abandon nonproductive strategies in an attempt to self-correct (Halpern 1998: 452). For a list of identified internal critical thinking dispositions, see the Supplement on Internal Critical Thinking Dispositions .

Some theorists postulate skills, i.e., acquired abilities, as operative in critical thinking. It is not obvious, however, that a good mental act is the exercise of a generic acquired skill. Inferring an expected time of arrival, as in Transit , has some generic components but also uses non-generic subject-matter knowledge. Bailin et al. (1999a) argue against viewing critical thinking skills as generic and discrete, on the ground that skilled performance at a critical thinking task cannot be separated from knowledge of concepts and from domain-specific principles of good thinking. Talk of skills, they concede, is unproblematic if it means merely that a person with critical thinking skills is capable of intelligent performance.

Despite such scepticism, theorists of critical thinking have listed as general contributors to critical thinking what they variously call abilities (Glaser 1941; Ennis 1962, 1991), skills (Facione 1990a; Halpern 1998) or competencies (Fisher & Scriven 1997). Amalgamating these lists would produce a confusing and chaotic cornucopia of more than 50 possible educational objectives, with only partial overlap among them. It makes sense instead to try to understand the reasons for the multiplicity and diversity, and to make a selection according to one’s own reasons for singling out abilities to be developed in a critical thinking curriculum. Two reasons for diversity among lists of critical thinking abilities are the underlying conception of critical thinking and the envisaged educational level. Appraisal-only conceptions, for example, involve a different suite of abilities than constructive-only conceptions. Some lists, such as those in (Glaser 1941), are put forward as educational objectives for secondary school students, whereas others are proposed as objectives for college students (e.g., Facione 1990a).

The abilities described in the remaining paragraphs of this section emerge from reflection on the general abilities needed to do well the thinking activities identified in section 6 as components of the critical thinking process described in section 5 . The derivation of each collection of abilities is accompanied by citation of sources that list such abilities and of standardized tests that claim to test them.

Observational abilities : Careful and accurate observation sometimes requires specialist expertise and practice, as in the case of observing birds and observing accident scenes. However, there are general abilities of noticing what one’s senses are picking up from one’s environment and of being able to articulate clearly and accurately to oneself and others what one has observed. It helps in exercising them to be able to recognize and take into account factors that make one’s observation less trustworthy, such as prior framing of the situation, inadequate time, deficient senses, poor observation conditions, and the like. It helps as well to be skilled at taking steps to make one’s observation more trustworthy, such as moving closer to get a better look, measuring something three times and taking the average, and checking what one thinks one is observing with someone else who is in a good position to observe it. It also helps to be skilled at recognizing respects in which one’s report of one’s observation involves inference rather than direct observation, so that one can then consider whether the inference is justified. These abilities come into play as well when one thinks about whether and with what degree of confidence to accept an observation report, for example in the study of history or in a criminal investigation or in assessing news reports. Observational abilities show up in some lists of critical thinking abilities (Ennis 1962: 90; Facione 1990a: 16; Ennis 1991: 9). There are items testing a person’s ability to judge the credibility of observation reports in the Cornell Critical Thinking Tests, Levels X and Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005). Norris and King (1983, 1985, 1990a, 1990b) is a test of ability to appraise observation reports.

Emotional abilities : The emotions that drive a critical thinking process are perplexity or puzzlement, a wish to resolve it, and satisfaction at achieving the desired resolution. Children experience these emotions at an early age, without being trained to do so. Education that takes critical thinking as a goal needs only to channel these emotions and to make sure not to stifle them. Collaborative critical thinking benefits from ability to recognize one’s own and others’ emotional commitments and reactions.

Questioning abilities : A critical thinking process needs transformation of an inchoate sense of perplexity into a clear question. Formulating a question well requires not building in questionable assumptions, not prejudging the issue, and using language that in context is unambiguous and precise enough (Ennis 1962: 97; 1991: 9).

Imaginative abilities : Thinking directed at finding the correct causal explanation of a general phenomenon or particular event requires an ability to imagine possible explanations. Thinking about what policy or plan of action to adopt requires generation of options and consideration of possible consequences of each option. Domain knowledge is required for such creative activity, but a general ability to imagine alternatives is helpful and can be nurtured so as to become easier, quicker, more extensive, and deeper (Dewey 1910: 34–39; 1933: 40–47). Facione (1990a) and Halpern (1998) include the ability to imagine alternatives as a critical thinking ability.

Inferential abilities : The ability to draw conclusions from given information, and to recognize with what degree of certainty one’s own or others’ conclusions follow, is universally recognized as a general critical thinking ability. All 11 examples in section 2 of this article include inferences, some from hypotheses or options (as in Transit , Ferryboat and Disorder ), others from something observed (as in Weather and Rash ). None of these inferences is formally valid. Rather, they are licensed by general, sometimes qualified substantive rules of inference (Toulmin 1958) that rest on domain knowledge—that a bus trip takes about the same time in each direction, that the terminal of a wireless telegraph would be located on the highest possible place, that sudden cooling is often followed by rain, that an allergic reaction to a sulfa drug generally shows up soon after one starts taking it. It is a matter of controversy to what extent the specialized ability to deduce conclusions from premisses using formal rules of inference is needed for critical thinking. Dewey (1933) locates logical forms in setting out the products of reflection rather than in the process of reflection. Ennis (1981a), on the other hand, maintains that a liberally-educated person should have the following abilities: to translate natural-language statements into statements using the standard logical operators, to use appropriately the language of necessary and sufficient conditions, to deal with argument forms and arguments containing symbols, to determine whether in virtue of an argument’s form its conclusion follows necessarily from its premisses, to reason with logically complex propositions, and to apply the rules and procedures of deductive logic. Inferential abilities are recognized as critical thinking abilities by Glaser (1941: 6), Facione (1990a: 9), Ennis (1991: 9), Fisher & Scriven (1997: 99, 111), and Halpern (1998: 452). Items testing inferential abilities constitute two of the five subtests of the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (Watson & Glaser 1980a, 1980b, 1994), two of the four sections in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005), three of the seven sections in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005), 11 of the 34 items on Forms A and B of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (Facione 1990b, 1992), and a high but variable proportion of the 25 selected-response questions in the Collegiate Learning Assessment (Council for Aid to Education 2017).

Experimenting abilities : Knowing how to design and execute an experiment is important not just in scientific research but also in everyday life, as in Rash . Dewey devoted a whole chapter of his How We Think (1910: 145–156; 1933: 190–202) to the superiority of experimentation over observation in advancing knowledge. Experimenting abilities come into play at one remove in appraising reports of scientific studies. Skill in designing and executing experiments includes the acknowledged abilities to appraise evidence (Glaser 1941: 6), to carry out experiments and to apply appropriate statistical inference techniques (Facione 1990a: 9), to judge inductions to an explanatory hypothesis (Ennis 1991: 9), and to recognize the need for an adequately large sample size (Halpern 1998). The Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005) includes four items (out of 52) on experimental design. The Collegiate Learning Assessment (Council for Aid to Education 2017) makes room for appraisal of study design in both its performance task and its selected-response questions.

Consulting abilities : Skill at consulting sources of information comes into play when one seeks information to help resolve a problem, as in Candidate . Ability to find and appraise information includes ability to gather and marshal pertinent information (Glaser 1941: 6), to judge whether a statement made by an alleged authority is acceptable (Ennis 1962: 84), to plan a search for desired information (Facione 1990a: 9), and to judge the credibility of a source (Ennis 1991: 9). Ability to judge the credibility of statements is tested by 24 items (out of 76) in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005) and by four items (out of 52) in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005). The College Learning Assessment’s performance task requires evaluation of whether information in documents is credible or unreliable (Council for Aid to Education 2017).

Argument analysis abilities : The ability to identify and analyze arguments contributes to the process of surveying arguments on an issue in order to form one’s own reasoned judgment, as in Candidate . The ability to detect and analyze arguments is recognized as a critical thinking skill by Facione (1990a: 7–8), Ennis (1991: 9) and Halpern (1998). Five items (out of 34) on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (Facione 1990b, 1992) test skill at argument analysis. The College Learning Assessment (Council for Aid to Education 2017) incorporates argument analysis in its selected-response tests of critical reading and evaluation and of critiquing an argument.

Judging skills and deciding skills : Skill at judging and deciding is skill at recognizing what judgment or decision the available evidence and argument supports, and with what degree of confidence. It is thus a component of the inferential skills already discussed.

Lists and tests of critical thinking abilities often include two more abilities: identifying assumptions and constructing and evaluating definitions.

In addition to dispositions and abilities, critical thinking needs knowledge: of critical thinking concepts, of critical thinking principles, and of the subject-matter of the thinking.

We can derive a short list of concepts whose understanding contributes to critical thinking from the critical thinking abilities described in the preceding section. Observational abilities require an understanding of the difference between observation and inference. Questioning abilities require an understanding of the concepts of ambiguity and vagueness. Inferential abilities require an understanding of the difference between conclusive and defeasible inference (traditionally, between deduction and induction), as well as of the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions. Experimenting abilities require an understanding of the concepts of hypothesis, null hypothesis, assumption and prediction, as well as of the concept of statistical significance and of its difference from importance. They also require an understanding of the difference between an experiment and an observational study, and in particular of the difference between a randomized controlled trial, a prospective correlational study and a retrospective (case-control) study. Argument analysis abilities require an understanding of the concepts of argument, premiss, assumption, conclusion and counter-consideration. Additional critical thinking concepts are proposed by Bailin et al. (1999b: 293), Fisher & Scriven (1997: 105–106), Black (2012), and Blair (2021).

According to Glaser (1941: 25), ability to think critically requires knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning. If we review the list of abilities in the preceding section, however, we can see that some of them can be acquired and exercised merely through practice, possibly guided in an educational setting, followed by feedback. Searching intelligently for a causal explanation of some phenomenon or event requires that one consider a full range of possible causal contributors, but it seems more important that one implements this principle in one’s practice than that one is able to articulate it. What is important is “operational knowledge” of the standards and principles of good thinking (Bailin et al. 1999b: 291–293). But the development of such critical thinking abilities as designing an experiment or constructing an operational definition can benefit from learning their underlying theory. Further, explicit knowledge of quirks of human thinking seems useful as a cautionary guide. Human memory is not just fallible about details, as people learn from their own experiences of misremembering, but is so malleable that a detailed, clear and vivid recollection of an event can be a total fabrication (Loftus 2017). People seek or interpret evidence in ways that are partial to their existing beliefs and expectations, often unconscious of their “confirmation bias” (Nickerson 1998). Not only are people subject to this and other cognitive biases (Kahneman 2011), of which they are typically unaware, but it may be counter-productive for one to make oneself aware of them and try consciously to counteract them or to counteract social biases such as racial or sexual stereotypes (Kenyon & Beaulac 2014). It is helpful to be aware of these facts and of the superior effectiveness of blocking the operation of biases—for example, by making an immediate record of one’s observations, refraining from forming a preliminary explanatory hypothesis, blind refereeing, double-blind randomized trials, and blind grading of students’ work. It is also helpful to be aware of the prevalence of “noise” (unwanted unsystematic variability of judgments), of how to detect noise (through a noise audit), and of how to reduce noise: make accuracy the goal, think statistically, break a process of arriving at a judgment into independent tasks, resist premature intuitions, in a group get independent judgments first, favour comparative judgments and scales (Kahneman, Sibony, & Sunstein 2021). It is helpful as well to be aware of the concept of “bounded rationality” in decision-making and of the related distinction between “satisficing” and optimizing (Simon 1956; Gigerenzer 2001).

Critical thinking about an issue requires substantive knowledge of the domain to which the issue belongs. Critical thinking abilities are not a magic elixir that can be applied to any issue whatever by somebody who has no knowledge of the facts relevant to exploring that issue. For example, the student in Bubbles needed to know that gases do not penetrate solid objects like a glass, that air expands when heated, that the volume of an enclosed gas varies directly with its temperature and inversely with its pressure, and that hot objects will spontaneously cool down to the ambient temperature of their surroundings unless kept hot by insulation or a source of heat. Critical thinkers thus need a rich fund of subject-matter knowledge relevant to the variety of situations they encounter. This fact is recognized in the inclusion among critical thinking dispositions of a concern to become and remain generally well informed.

Experimental educational interventions, with control groups, have shown that education can improve critical thinking skills and dispositions, as measured by standardized tests. For information about these tests, see the Supplement on Assessment .

What educational methods are most effective at developing the dispositions, abilities and knowledge of a critical thinker? In a comprehensive meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies of strategies for teaching students to think critically, Abrami et al. (2015) found that dialogue, anchored instruction, and mentoring each increased the effectiveness of the educational intervention, and that they were most effective when combined. They also found that in these studies a combination of separate instruction in critical thinking with subject-matter instruction in which students are encouraged to think critically was more effective than either by itself. However, the difference was not statistically significant; that is, it might have arisen by chance.

Most of these studies lack the longitudinal follow-up required to determine whether the observed differential improvements in critical thinking abilities or dispositions continue over time, for example until high school or college graduation. For details on studies of methods of developing critical thinking skills and dispositions, see the Supplement on Educational Methods .

12. Controversies

Scholars have denied the generalizability of critical thinking abilities across subject domains, have alleged bias in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, and have investigated the relationship of critical thinking to other kinds of thinking.

McPeck (1981) attacked the thinking skills movement of the 1970s, including the critical thinking movement. He argued that there are no general thinking skills, since thinking is always thinking about some subject-matter. It is futile, he claimed, for schools and colleges to teach thinking as if it were a separate subject. Rather, teachers should lead their pupils to become autonomous thinkers by teaching school subjects in a way that brings out their cognitive structure and that encourages and rewards discussion and argument. As some of his critics (e.g., Paul 1985; Siegel 1985) pointed out, McPeck’s central argument needs elaboration, since it has obvious counter-examples in writing and speaking, for which (up to a certain level of complexity) there are teachable general abilities even though they are always about some subject-matter. To make his argument convincing, McPeck needs to explain how thinking differs from writing and speaking in a way that does not permit useful abstraction of its components from the subject-matters with which it deals. He has not done so. Nevertheless, his position that the dispositions and abilities of a critical thinker are best developed in the context of subject-matter instruction is shared by many theorists of critical thinking, including Dewey (1910, 1933), Glaser (1941), Passmore (1980), Weinstein (1990), Bailin et al. (1999b), and Willingham (2019).

McPeck’s challenge prompted reflection on the extent to which critical thinking is subject-specific. McPeck argued for a strong subject-specificity thesis, according to which it is a conceptual truth that all critical thinking abilities are specific to a subject. (He did not however extend his subject-specificity thesis to critical thinking dispositions. In particular, he took the disposition to suspend judgment in situations of cognitive dissonance to be a general disposition.) Conceptual subject-specificity is subject to obvious counter-examples, such as the general ability to recognize confusion of necessary and sufficient conditions. A more modest thesis, also endorsed by McPeck, is epistemological subject-specificity, according to which the norms of good thinking vary from one field to another. Epistemological subject-specificity clearly holds to a certain extent; for example, the principles in accordance with which one solves a differential equation are quite different from the principles in accordance with which one determines whether a painting is a genuine Picasso. But the thesis suffers, as Ennis (1989) points out, from vagueness of the concept of a field or subject and from the obvious existence of inter-field principles, however broadly the concept of a field is construed. For example, the principles of hypothetico-deductive reasoning hold for all the varied fields in which such reasoning occurs. A third kind of subject-specificity is empirical subject-specificity, according to which as a matter of empirically observable fact a person with the abilities and dispositions of a critical thinker in one area of investigation will not necessarily have them in another area of investigation.

The thesis of empirical subject-specificity raises the general problem of transfer. If critical thinking abilities and dispositions have to be developed independently in each school subject, how are they of any use in dealing with the problems of everyday life and the political and social issues of contemporary society, most of which do not fit into the framework of a traditional school subject? Proponents of empirical subject-specificity tend to argue that transfer is more likely to occur if there is critical thinking instruction in a variety of domains, with explicit attention to dispositions and abilities that cut across domains. But evidence for this claim is scanty. There is a need for well-designed empirical studies that investigate the conditions that make transfer more likely.

It is common ground in debates about the generality or subject-specificity of critical thinking dispositions and abilities that critical thinking about any topic requires background knowledge about the topic. For example, the most sophisticated understanding of the principles of hypothetico-deductive reasoning is of no help unless accompanied by some knowledge of what might be plausible explanations of some phenomenon under investigation.

Critics have objected to bias in the theory, pedagogy and practice of critical thinking. Commentators (e.g., Alston 1995; Ennis 1998) have noted that anyone who takes a position has a bias in the neutral sense of being inclined in one direction rather than others. The critics, however, are objecting to bias in the pejorative sense of an unjustified favoring of certain ways of knowing over others, frequently alleging that the unjustly favoured ways are those of a dominant sex or culture (Bailin 1995). These ways favour:

• reinforcement of egocentric and sociocentric biases over dialectical engagement with opposing world-views (Paul 1981, 1984; Warren 1998)
• distancing from the object of inquiry over closeness to it (Martin 1992; Thayer-Bacon 1992)
• indifference to the situation of others over care for them (Martin 1992)
• orientation to thought over orientation to action (Martin 1992)
• being reasonable over caring to understand people’s ideas (Thayer-Bacon 1993)
• being neutral and objective over being embodied and situated (Thayer-Bacon 1995a)
• doubting over believing (Thayer-Bacon 1995b)
• reason over emotion, imagination and intuition (Thayer-Bacon 2000)
• solitary thinking over collaborative thinking (Thayer-Bacon 2000)
• written and spoken assignments over other forms of expression (Alston 2001)
• attention to written and spoken communications over attention to human problems (Alston 2001)
• winning debates in the public sphere over making and understanding meaning (Alston 2001)

A common thread in this smorgasbord of accusations is dissatisfaction with focusing on the logical analysis and evaluation of reasoning and arguments. While these authors acknowledge that such analysis and evaluation is part of critical thinking and should be part of its conceptualization and pedagogy, they insist that it is only a part. Paul (1981), for example, bemoans the tendency of atomistic teaching of methods of analyzing and evaluating arguments to turn students into more able sophists, adept at finding fault with positions and arguments with which they disagree but even more entrenched in the egocentric and sociocentric biases with which they began. Martin (1992) and Thayer-Bacon (1992) cite with approval the self-reported intimacy with their subject-matter of leading researchers in biology and medicine, an intimacy that conflicts with the distancing allegedly recommended in standard conceptions and pedagogy of critical thinking. Thayer-Bacon (2000) contrasts the embodied and socially embedded learning of her elementary school students in a Montessori school, who used their imagination, intuition and emotions as well as their reason, with conceptions of critical thinking as

thinking that is used to critique arguments, offer justifications, and make judgments about what are the good reasons, or the right answers. (Thayer-Bacon 2000: 127–128)

Alston (2001) reports that her students in a women’s studies class were able to see the flaws in the Cinderella myth that pervades much romantic fiction but in their own romantic relationships still acted as if all failures were the woman’s fault and still accepted the notions of love at first sight and living happily ever after. Students, she writes, should

be able to connect their intellectual critique to a more affective, somatic, and ethical account of making risky choices that have sexist, racist, classist, familial, sexual, or other consequences for themselves and those both near and far… critical thinking that reads arguments, texts, or practices merely on the surface without connections to feeling/desiring/doing or action lacks an ethical depth that should infuse the difference between mere cognitive activity and something we want to call critical thinking. (Alston 2001: 34)

Some critics portray such biases as unfair to women. Thayer-Bacon (1992), for example, has charged modern critical thinking theory with being sexist, on the ground that it separates the self from the object and causes one to lose touch with one’s inner voice, and thus stigmatizes women, who (she asserts) link self to object and listen to their inner voice. Her charge does not imply that women as a group are on average less able than men to analyze and evaluate arguments. Facione (1990c) found no difference by sex in performance on his California Critical Thinking Skills Test. Kuhn (1991: 280–281) found no difference by sex in either the disposition or the competence to engage in argumentative thinking.

The critics propose a variety of remedies for the biases that they allege. In general, they do not propose to eliminate or downplay critical thinking as an educational goal. Rather, they propose to conceptualize critical thinking differently and to change its pedagogy accordingly. Their pedagogical proposals arise logically from their objections. They can be summarized as follows:

• Focus on argument networks with dialectical exchanges reflecting contesting points of view rather than on atomic arguments, so as to develop “strong sense” critical thinking that transcends egocentric and sociocentric biases (Paul 1981, 1984).
• Foster closeness to the subject-matter and feeling connected to others in order to inform a humane democracy (Martin 1992).
• Develop “constructive thinking” as a social activity in a community of physically embodied and socially embedded inquirers with personal voices who value not only reason but also imagination, intuition and emotion (Thayer-Bacon 2000).
• In developing critical thinking in school subjects, treat as important neither skills nor dispositions but opening worlds of meaning (Alston 2001).
• Attend to the development of critical thinking dispositions as well as skills, and adopt the “critical pedagogy” practised and advocated by Freire (1968 [1970]) and hooks (1994) (Dalgleish, Girard, & Davies 2017).

A common thread in these proposals is treatment of critical thinking as a social, interactive, personally engaged activity like that of a quilting bee or a barn-raising (Thayer-Bacon 2000) rather than as an individual, solitary, distanced activity symbolized by Rodin’s The Thinker . One can get a vivid description of education with the former type of goal from the writings of bell hooks (1994, 2010). Critical thinking for her is open-minded dialectical exchange across opposing standpoints and from multiple perspectives, a conception similar to Paul’s “strong sense” critical thinking (Paul 1981). She abandons the structure of domination in the traditional classroom. In an introductory course on black women writers, for example, she assigns students to write an autobiographical paragraph about an early racial memory, then to read it aloud as the others listen, thus affirming the uniqueness and value of each voice and creating a communal awareness of the diversity of the group’s experiences (hooks 1994: 84). Her “engaged pedagogy” is thus similar to the “freedom under guidance” implemented in John Dewey’s Laboratory School of Chicago in the late 1890s and early 1900s. It incorporates the dialogue, anchored instruction, and mentoring that Abrami (2015) found to be most effective in improving critical thinking skills and dispositions.

What is the relationship of critical thinking to problem solving, decision-making, higher-order thinking, creative thinking, and other recognized types of thinking? One’s answer to this question obviously depends on how one defines the terms used in the question. If critical thinking is conceived broadly to cover any careful thinking about any topic for any purpose, then problem solving and decision making will be kinds of critical thinking, if they are done carefully. Historically, ‘critical thinking’ and ‘problem solving’ were two names for the same thing. If critical thinking is conceived more narrowly as consisting solely of appraisal of intellectual products, then it will be disjoint with problem solving and decision making, which are constructive.

Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives used the phrase “intellectual abilities and skills” for what had been labeled “critical thinking” by some, “reflective thinking” by Dewey and others, and “problem solving” by still others (Bloom et al. 1956: 38). Thus, the so-called “higher-order thinking skills” at the taxonomy’s top levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation are just critical thinking skills, although they do not come with general criteria for their assessment (Ennis 1981b). The revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy (Anderson et al. 2001) likewise treats critical thinking as cutting across those types of cognitive process that involve more than remembering (Anderson et al. 2001: 269–270). For details, see the Supplement on History .

As to creative thinking, it overlaps with critical thinking (Bailin 1987, 1988). Thinking about the explanation of some phenomenon or event, as in Ferryboat , requires creative imagination in constructing plausible explanatory hypotheses. Likewise, thinking about a policy question, as in Candidate , requires creativity in coming up with options. Conversely, creativity in any field needs to be balanced by critical appraisal of the draft painting or novel or mathematical theory.

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May 07 2024

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Teaching the Moral Traditions of Others

Critical thinking and teaching the religious traditions of others.

by Steven Benko, Meredith College

Introduction

Has an instructor ever said that they were not teaching critical thinking? What is an alternative, but still acceptable, answer to the question, “Are you teaching your students to be critical thinkers?” It would not be acceptable to say that we want nothing more from our students than to be passive receptacles of information that they will then repeat on a test. It would not be acceptable to kick the critical-thinking can down the road and say that the responsibility of teaching critical thinking is spread out among multiple classes and faculty and that students graduate from our programs and colleges as critical thinkers. The only acceptable answer to the question of whether instructors are teaching their students to be critical thinkers is “yes, of course we are.”

Learning about the religious traditions of others seems to invite critical thinking. Students are learning new things! Students are getting more accurate and relevant information about religious beliefs and traditions! Misinformation is being corrected, and biases and prejudices are being left behind for tolerance and acceptance! Students are learning more about their own beliefs and values by comparing them to others! A critical thinker is someone who evaluates the soundness of their thinking by considering how evidence, point of view, built-in biases and assumptions, and outcomes inform thinking. In order to assist our students in becoming better critical thinkers, it is necessary to craft assignments that practice critical-thinking skills.

“Are we teaching our students to be critical thinkers?” is the wrong question because it is a conversation stopper. A better question is “How do we know that we are teaching our students to be critical thinkers?” Do students leave the class with an understanding of the principles and concepts that shape religious studies? Can students make connections between the concepts used in one class with material in another class? These questions invite reflection and get instructors to think about their assumptions, to consider evidence, and to articulate meaningful outcomes that would support an affirmative answer to the question “Are our students critical thinkers?” To put it another way, in order to determine whether our students are critical thinkers, we need to think critically about critical thinking: asking what critical thinking is and what counts as evidence of critical thinking are two good ways to begin a conversation about development of student critical thinking skills.

Fundamental and Powerful Concepts

One challenge to the development of students’ critical-thinking skills is confusion between learning and thinking. This distinction is made clear in how students approach terms and concepts used in the classroom and in textbooks. There are too many terms for a student to master in one semester. Think back to the first world religions class you took as an undergraduate. Which terms stand out? Our students are faced with textbooks that list, for example, thirty-five terms that are “key” or “essential” or “useful.” If there are thirteen chapters in the textbook, that is approximately 450 terms. How are students to know which terms are more important than others? If they memorize as many as possible, how many do they truly understand? The volume of terms and concepts that a student must learn over the course of a semester prevents them from connecting and comparing subsequent ideas. Overwhelming students with vocabulary prevents them from getting a sense of what the academic study of religion prioritizes and what defines it as a distinct discipline. This is not to say that students are unable to extend their vocabulary or that they cannot use terms in a sophisticated and nuanced way. It means that courses and assignments must be organized to encourage the kind of reflective reading and writing that develops student critical thinking skills. One way to foster development of student critical thinking skills is to organize the class around the fundamental and powerful concepts and the essential questions of the discipline.

I have started organizing several of my classes around the idea of a “fundamental and powerful concept.” Nosich (2005) defines a fundamental concept as one that grounds other concepts. Other concepts in the course can be understood through the fundamental concept, and for that reason Nosich describes fundamental and powerful concepts as ones that can be used to think about and reason through a large number of questions, problems, and information. Class lecture, impromptu writing assignments, semester-long writing assignments, and questions on the final exam evoke a concept or an idea that students invoke in order to understand another term or idea we are discussing. What I have found is that students retain more information, gain confidence, and make more meaningful comparisons between ideas, concepts, practices, and traditions if they have a common term that they approach the topic through. 

How does this aid in teaching the religious traditions of others? In a way, we are always teaching the religious traditions of others. Unless instructors share a religious tradition with their students, then they are teaching the traditions of others. That makes the teaching of religion an inherently comparative enterprise. But what is comparison? What is a meaningful comparison? As Decosimo (2010) points out, all things can be compared but not all comparisons are interesting or meaningful. In my class, I used the Blackboard journal tool to ask students to spend the semester writing about comparison. The journal tool was useful because it collected all of their submissions in one place and allowed them to see their past submissions. I asked students to define comparison and to explain what makes a good and meaningful comparison. For every subsequent unit, I asked students to compare at least two things. Students had to explain similarities and differences, and explain why the comparison they had made was meaningful. At the end of the journal entry they had to redefine comparison and explain how and why their definition changed or remained the same.

Increased Understanding, Increased Confidence

I have been using this assignment for several semesters, tweaking it around the edges, but the general format has remained the same. The results are encouraging: students left the class with a much more developed understanding of comparison and what comparison entailed, and they gained a deeper sense of one aspect of the academic study of religion. Nosich says that one benefit of the fundamental and powerful concept is that because the concept is fundamental to a discipline, students get a chance to do the kind of thinking that defines the discipline. This is particularly valuable for students who are not majors and who may otherwise be practicing thinking like an accountant, chemist, or interior designer. For a semester, though, they are thinking like a religionist and leave the class with a better understanding of the practices, issues, and concerns that shape the discipline.

Another positive result is that students used a wider variety of terms and concepts, and at the end of the semester they were still referencing readings, lectures, and ideas from the beginning of the class. This project allowed them to make connections to the various learning units and to assume more control over their learning as they were the ones picking the terms to compare. Because the students were choosing the terms of comparison and evaluating them, their voices became more confident: they were constantly refining their assertions and making better arguments. As a result, their voices became more credible and articulate.

One concern with this assignment is that students will not have had sufficient practice reflecting on their own thoughts to express why it is significant that their definition of the fundamental concept remained the same or changed. My experience has been that students can identify similarities and differences, but that it takes several attempts before they can explain them. Presenting examples of student work and working on this activity in class helped students to understand the difference between identification and explanation, and by the end of the semester more students than not were successful at this part of the assignment.

There is no one correct fundamental and powerful concept. Different courses could use different concepts. In an ethics course I teach, I use fairness as a fundamental and powerful concept. In a similarly structured assignment, students are asked to define fairness and then explain how different approaches to moral and ethical decision making are fair and unfair. At the end of each entry, students explain how and why their definition of fairness changed or remained the same. Another concept that would work just as well in this class is empathy: students could write about how each approach to moral and ethical decision making encourages and discourages empathy, and then define and explain their definition of empathy. Keeping fundamental and powerful concepts central to instruction helps students see the big picture.

Nosich, Gerald. 2011. Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum, 4 th Edition . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Decosimo, David. 2010. "Comparison and the Ubiquity of Resemblance." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 78.1: 226–258.

Tags: 

Teaching the Moral Traditions of Others: Editor's Introduction Fred Glennon

Educating Students as Immanent Critics of Religious-Moral Traditions Rosemary B. Kellison

Marriage and Moral Traditions of Others: Teaching Religious Ethics and World Religions Irene Oh

Using Group Work and Case Study to Teach about Islamic Law  Nahed Artoul Zehr

Critical Thinking and Teaching the Religious Traditions of Others Steven Benko

Wider Moral Communities: A Framework for Teaching Comparative Religious Ethics Mark Larrimore

The Personal is Pedagogical: Embracing Moral Debate in the Religious Studies Classroom Elizabeth Barre

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Critical Thinking: How to Teach It?

• Written by  Super User
• THOMAS LICKONA

In "Intellectual Character: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Get It", Harvard's Ron Ritchhart asks, "Does school make kids smarter?"

"No kidding," I said with sincere interest.  "When I was your age, we learned that Columbus discovered America.  Later, schools taught that Leif Erikson and the Vikings discovered America.  How did they decide that the Chinese discovered America?"

"That's what the textbook says," Mark replied.

"Okay, but how do the textbook's authors know the Chinese discovered America?"

"Scientists discovered Chinese artifacts in Georgia," Mark said.

"Hmmm .  .  .  how do they know they were Chinese artifacts," I asked, "and how do they know how old they were?"

"Gee, Dad," Mark said, with obvious frustration, "I can't answer all these questions!"

"I'm just trying to get you to think," I said.  "Don't you ever ask your teachers questions like this?"

Mark replied: "If I asked my teachers questions like this, I'd drive them nuts! They just want you to learn stuff — they don't want you to develop your mind!"

Obviously, no teacher would want students to think, "We don't want you to develop your mind."  Mark's teachers undoubtedly would have been shocked to know he had concluded that.  Virtually all teachers would say that they want to teach students to learn to think — and to think critically .

What One Teacher Does

Our two sons are now fathers, one with 8 kids and the other with 6.  I picked up our oldest grandson Fin after school recently when he was a high school senior.  His last class of the day was American Government, which he said was his favorite course.  I asked him why. 

"The teacher's very smart, and he has a great sense of humor," he said.  I asked, "How does he bring the subject matter to life?"

Well, at the beginning of the course he said that his goal was to teach us to think.  He said he wanted us to know his bias; he's a libertarian and that would probably come through in various ways.  He makes you feel very free to express your own opinion.  The part of the class I like best is when he teaches us about logical fallacies — how to spot them in arguments. 

So here is a teacher who intentionally fosters critical thinking in three ways:

■ He tells his students that his goal is to teach them to think.  ■ He alerts them to his bias and creates an atmosphere of intellectual freedom.  ■ He teaches them a skill of logical thinking — identifying fallacious reasoning. 

A question all of us who teach might ask ourselves: "What are at least three things I do to teach my students to think critically?"

Critical Thinking: Rhetoric or Reality?

To what extent is our professed commitment to critical thinking an "espoused value" rather than an "operative value" that actually shapes what happens in classrooms and impacts students' thinking?  What would we find, for example, if we asked college and high school students:

Rate on a 5-point scale, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, your disagreement or agreement with:

■ My instructor teaches students to think critically by having them evaluate conflicting perspectives on a particular topic or issue, including views contrary to the instructor's. ■ I have grown in my ability to think critically as a result of this course. Schools must treat controversial issues in a way that is fair to diverse perspectives.

A relevant study: New York University sociologist Richard Arum, in his 2011 book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses , reported his four-year study that tracked the development of 2,322 college students from a broad range of 24 U.S.  colleges and universities.

Forty-five percent of students made no significant improvement in their critical thinking, reasoning, or writing skills during the first two years of college.  After four years, 36 percent showed no gains.  Many students graduated without knowing how to differentiate fact from opinion, make a clear written argument, or assess conflicting reports of a situation or event.  Says one college graduate, commenting on the study:

Ideology plays a big part in this.  Any time you have a culture that is completely dominated by one ideology, that ideology will ignore or suppress challenges to its dominance.  Critical thinking is a challenge to ideology in general.

Another lesson from this study: If we aim to teach critical thinking, we should assess to what extent we're achieving that outcome.

What Award-Winning High Schools Do

What do the best high U.S.  schools do to develop critical thinking?

In 2005, our Center for the 4th and 5th Rs published Smart & Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence & Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond .  It reported our 2-year study, carried out by Matthew Davidson ( www.excellenceandethics.com ) and myself, of 24 award-winning high schools — big and small, urban and rural, public and private, secular and religious, in every region of the country — and what they do to foster their students' character development. 

This high school research led us to propose a new conceptual framework for character education.  We defined character as having two sides: moral character (virtues such as honesty, kindness, and respect that enable us to be our best in relationships) and performance character (virtues such as creativity, hard work, and perseverance that enable us to do our best in any area of endeavor). 

We then defined those two sides of character in terms of 8 essential assets — developmental outcomes needed for a flourishing life: (1) critical thinker; (2) diligent and capable performer; (3) socially and emotionally skilled person; (4) ethical thinker; (5) respectful and responsible moral agent; (6) self-disciplined person leading a healthy lifestyle; (7) democratic citizen; and (8) spiritual person engaged in crafting a life of noble purpose.  (Download the full report at www.cortland.edu/character .) In this article, we focus on classroom practices we observed in our study that are designed to develop the first outcome: students' ability to think critically .

Paideia: A Curriculum for Critical Thinking

In Oakland (CA) Technical High School, a large, urban, multi-ethnic public school, we observed a curriculum designed to teach critical thinking: the Paideia program.  Based on a model developed by University of Chicago philosopher-educator Mortimer Adler, Paideia develops thinking and communication skills through Socratic methodology, the integration of English and history, and demanding reading and writing requirements. 

At Oakland Tech, Paideia's 360 students are evenly divided between Caucasian students and students of color from diverse backgrounds.  The version of Paideia developed by this school looks like this:

10th grade: World Lit.  & World History

11th grade: American Lit.  & American History

12th grade: English IV; Political Theory; American Government; Economics.

As one example of course content, the 11th-grade American History syllabus covers the following themes:

1. the philosophical and religious underpinnings of the nation 2. the development of our political system 3. the cultural heritage/changes America has experienced 4. the territorial growth of the nation 5. the fissures the American system has experienced 6. the exploitation of America's minorities, women, and the poor 7. the nation's technological development 8. the role of the U.S.  in world affairs 9. issues confronting America today.

Maryann Wolfe, the Paideia teacher we interviewed, showed us the reading lists for this course and other Paideia courses — readings that would be daunting for many college students.  She explained how the American Government course develops critical thinking:

In senior American Government, we recently did a unit on the impact of money on politics.  We began by having students read a variety of pieces that laid out the basic arguments.  One author argued for doing away with political action committees (PACS) — seeming to show that this money got that result.  Another argued that people should be able to spend their money as they choose; it's a form of free speech.  When we discuss the readings as a class, we always move through a series of questions for each article:

■ What is the author's main thesis? ■ What evidence does the author provide to support his or her thesis? ■ What bias, if any, do you see? 

We keep a running list of all the arguments and evidence on each side of the issue.  I really emphasize evidence.  When students speak in discussion, I always ask, "What is your evidence?  This argument isn't going anywhere without evidence."  We always devote time to solutions.  First, I'll ask them, "How do you think this problem could be solved?" Then, for homework, they read articles that offer different ways of alleviating the problem.  We come back and discuss those:

■ How do the solutions proposed in the readings compare with the ones we came up with in class?  ■ Are some solutions better than others? 

We're reaching for much more than just passing the AP exam.  The exam doesn't ask them for solutions to anything.  I want them to look for solutions to social problems.  I want them to be part of those solutions.

Discussions often run longer than I plan because there's so much intensity in the room.  At times it can go for 20 minutes without my saying anything. 

Is there a capstone project?

Their major senior project is a University of Michigan-style debate.  They choose controversial issues — gun control, same-sex marriage, and the like.  We tell them it's best to do the side you do not believe in.  To prepare, they must do research using the Internet, magazines, and books — a certain amount from each source.

At this school, 100% of the Paideia graduates go to four-year colleges and score well above the national average on Advanced Placement exams. 

The National Paideia Center ( www.paideia.org ) supports Paideia educators through staff development and publications. 

See Teaching Critical Thinking by Terry Roberts and Laura Billings

Teaching Controversial Issues

Since controversy is a fact of our public life, teaching students to make reasoned judgments about controversial issues and to be able to discuss them rationally is an essential part of the school's civic mission: educating for citizenship in a democratic society. 

A Critical Thinker…  1. Seeks truth.  2. Asks questions and looks for evidence ("How do we know?").  3. Reasons logically.  4. Considers conflicting views; evaluates arguments and bias.  5. Sees connections.  6. Generates multiple solutions.  7. Can think about own thinking.  8. Has intellectual humility; is open to being challenged and willing to admit mistakes.  9. Has intellectual courage; is able to take and defend a position regardless of its popularity.

Fairness must characterize the school's approach to controversial issues — whether the issue is immigration policy, same-sex marriage, conscience-based objections to a particular policy or law, the nature of gender, sex education, abortion, the death penalty, doctor-assisted suicide, U.S.  wars, or hot-button issues in the local community.  Out of respect for the diverse views on such issues held by students, school staff, parents, and other community members, public schools must take great care to treat a controversial issue in a way that's fair to diverse perspectives — or not treat it at all.

For example: Prior to the U.S.  invasion of Iraq in the first Gulf War, students at one high school asked permission to perform "Lysistrata," Aristophanes's anti-war play in which women vow to abstain from sex until men abstain from war. 

The principal agreed to allow the play — on the condition that it be followed by a panel discussion including persons who supported military action in Iraq.  After the panel, students said they had learned the importance of hearing different viewpoints. 

Joyce Briscoe, a world history teacher, said it's not enough for teachers to "just let kids air their feelings."  Regarding Middle East conflicts, she has given students crash lessons on the long-standing hostilities in that region and why they exist.  Students and parents say they welcome her approach.

Structured Controversy

A research-based approach to controversial issues — one that prevents teacher bias from skewing the discussion, maximizes student participation, and reaps the benefits of cooperative learning — is "structured controversy." 

Developed by cooperative learning experts David and Roger Johnson, this model defines controversies as "interesting problems to be solved rather than win-lose situations."  The Johnsons reject the classic debate format in favor of a format in which students work together.  To help students develop the cooperative attitudes and skills needed for structured controversy, students are asked to commit to these rules of discussion:

■ I am critical of ideas, not people. ■ I focus on making the best decision possible, not on "winning." ■ I encourage everyone to participate. ■ I listen to everyone's ideas, even if I do not agree, and restate (paraphrase) what someone said if it is not clear. ■ I try to understand both sides. ■ I change my mind when the evidence clearly indicates that I should do so.

Hydrofracking, the controversial natural gas drilling method, can be used to illustrate structured controversy:

1.  Assignment .  The teacher puts students into groups of 4, comprised of 2-person "advocacy teams."  Within each foursome, one team of two is assigned the position that "hydrofracking is environmentally safe and should be permitted" and the other team, the position that "hydrofracking is environmentally risky and should be prohibited." What the Research Shows: Students who participate in structured controversy:  • Gain in perspective-taking  • Produce higher-quality solutions  • Grow in academic self-esteem  • Demonstrate greater mastery and retention of the subject matter than is true with debate or individual learning. - David and Roger Johnson, " Critical Thinking Through Structured Controversy" 2.  Planning .  During the first class period, the 2-person teams receive materials from the teacher that support their assigned positions.  Their task: "Plan how to present your position so that you and the opposing team in your group will learn your position so well as to find it convincing." 3.  Advocacy .  During the second period, the two teams advocate their positions, rebut the other side, and listen carefully throughout this process to their opponents' arguments so they learn them and will be able to use them during Step 4 (position switch). 4.  Position switch .  Third period: The pro-fracking pairs join a new foursome and now argue the anti-fracking position.  The previously anti-fracking pairs stay in place and now argue for fracking.  5.  Reaching consensus .  During the fourth period, the four group members synthesize what they see as the best information and reasoning from both sides into a consensus solution.  They then write a group report. 6.  Individual accountability .  After the consensus report, each student takes a test on the readings.

A caution: The Johnsons' structured controversy format may not be appropriate for some issues — such as abortion, euthanasia, and sexual behavior — where students' conscience convictions are so strong that it would be uncomfortable for them to argue the opposite of what they truly believe. 

In guiding discussion of a controversial issue, should teachers let their own views be known?  In order to maximize an atmosphere of intellectual freedom that promotes critical thinking, a teacher can say:

The goal is not for you to learn what I think, but for you to understand and evaluate carefully all the arguments and evidence, and come to what you think is the most supportable position.

Should Schools Discuss Abortion?

Abortion is one of our most controversial social issues.  Those who favor abortion rights believe that a woman's right to choose whether to end a pregnancy is a deeply personal decision and is vital to the full participation of women in the economic and political walks of American life.  Those who oppose abortion argue that it is infanticide in the womb, a violent solution to a problem for which life-affirming alternatives exist, and a violation of the most fundamental human right — the right to live.

The ethicist John Noonan observes that not since the Civil War over slavery has the nation been so divided over questions as basic as "Who is a human being?" and "Who shall be accorded human rights?" When some Maryland schools approved "respect for life" as one of 18 ethical values to be taught, teachers weren't sure how to handle questions about abortion, which they expected to come up.  Given the centrality of the abortion issue in American moral and political life, a school may decide it can't be avoided.  The question then becomes, how to do justice to this complex and emotionally charged issue?

Making the Classroom Safe for Diversity

A teacher can create a classroom that encourages students to speak their minds honestly, by saying:

I want everyone to be able to think and speak without fear of intimidation.  Remember, it takes courage to take a minority position, and history often applauds those who did.  Also, there is no shame in changing your mind or in withholding judgment if you're not sure.

Next, the teacher can have students research various opinion polls on abortion — letting students see for themselves the complexity of public sentiment on this issue, as well as areas of agreement that exist.  To take just one recent survey: A January 2015 poll by The Marist Institute for Public Opinion, based on a random national sample of American adults 18 or older, reported these findings:

■ When asked to self-identify as "pro-choice" or "pro-life," Americans divide almost equally: 49% describe themselves as pro-choice, 47% as pro-life.  ■ 84% of Americans believe that abortion should be limited to first three months of pregnancy or allowed only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.  (Editors' note: The 1973 Supreme Court ruled in Roe v.  Wade that abortion is permissible during the second and third trimesters when "necessary to preserve the woman's life or health."  In Doe v.  Bolton , the Court defined "health" as including "all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age.") ■ 84% think laws can exist which "protect both the health and well-being of a woman and the rights of the unborn." 

Students can also be given data that help to break down stereotypes regarding who holds what views of abortion.  A New York Times /CBS poll, for example, found that more women (51%) favored "greater restrictions" on abortion than did men (49%) and that a third of people who self-identified as "politically liberal" wanted to limit abortions to rape, incest, and threats to the mother's' life. 

Feminist groups such the National Abortion Rights Action League ( www.prochoiceamerica.org /) champion abortion rights as essential for women's welfare and equality, but groups such as Feminists for Life ( www.feministsforlife.org ) argue that women are harmed by abortion and that the first American feminists, such as Susan B.  Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, opposed abortion as oppression of the weak by the strong. 

As with other controversial topics, schools tackling abortion will face the formidable challenge of trying to ensure that students gain enough knowledge about the issue to be able to make an informed judgment.  Among the questions meriting investigation:

• What did the 1973 Supreme Court rulings (Roe v.  Wade and Doe v.  Bolton ) say regarding the legality of abortion during each trimester of pregnancy?  What was the Court's reasoning? • How many abortions have been performed in the U.S.  each year since the 1973 Supreme Court decisions? • What abortion restrictions have Congress and state legislatures passed?  How has the Supreme Court ruled on each?  • How do state laws on abortion vary? • What have different opinion polls found regarding Americans' views of the rightness or wrongness of abortion?  Regarding when during pregnancy and for what reasons the law should permit abortion?  • What are the facts of prenatal development?  At what point can the fetus/baby feel pain? • How are the different abortion procedures performed?  What is done to the woman?  To the fetus/baby?  • What does the law require if an abortion results in a live birth?  How often does that happen? • What are the different reasons why women have abortions?  • How do abortion rates vary as a function of age, socioeconomic level, education level, religion, and race or ethnic group?  • What alternatives to abortion are available to women facing unplanned pregnancies? • What social supports do pro-choice and pro-life groups agree are needed for women facing unexpected pregnancies? • Apart from the question of whether abortion should be allowed by law, what arguments have been made concerning whether abortion itself is right or wrong?

Additional Info

• Author: Thomas Lickona

Reprinted with permission. This article is adapted from Educating for Character  and Smart & Good High Schools .  

Excellence & Ethics , published by the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs . It features essays, research, and K-12 best practices that help school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and community members do their best work (performance character) and do the right thing (moral character).

excellence & ethics is published once a year and may be subscribed to, without cost, here .

• Publisher: excellence & ethics
• Related: 11581, 7781

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Home > Student Work > Graduate Studies > Theses and dissertations > 10

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The impact of religious schema on critical thinking skills.

Matthew Kirby , Utah State University

Date of Award:

Document type:, degree name:.

Educational Specialist (EdS)

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Committee chair(s).

Gretchen Gimpel Peacock

Scott Bates

Norman Jones

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between critical thinking and religious schema as represented by religious orientation. Past research has included religious belief within the larger construct of paranormal belief, and demonstrated a correlation between high levels of paranormal belief and poor critical thinking skills. Studies in the psychology of religion suggested that a more complex religious measure based on religious orientation was necessary to understand these correlations. Additionally, schema theory offered a cognitive framework within which to experimentally test the cause of these correlations. This study found that primed religious schema did not account for the relationship between paranormal/religious belief and critical thinking skills. This study did find that poor critical thinking performance was predicted by higher levels of extrinsic religious orientation.

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Kirby, Matthew, "The Impact of Religious Schema on Critical Thinking Skills" (2008). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023 . 10. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/10

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21 Reasons to Reconsider Raising Religious Children

Posted: April 29, 2024 | Last updated: April 29, 2024

Religion can be a tricky subject as we’ve all experienced various degrees of being raised with and without it. Today’s parents are reevaluating where and if religion has a place in the lives of their young families. Let’s examine the reasons why some parents believe the next generation should be raised differently.

Diverse Perspectives

Introducing children to a variety of religious beliefs can broaden their understanding of the world. It encourages them to ask questions and seek their own truths, which can lead to a more tolerant and informed worldview.

Critical Thinking Skills

When children are encouraged to question and explore religious teachings, they develop critical thinking skills. They learn not to accept information at face value, which can be applied to all areas of life.

Cultural Awareness

By learning about religious traditions, children gain a deeper appreciation for the diversity of human experience. This knowledge encourages empathy and respect for people from different backgrounds.

Moral Development

Religious settings often provide moral and ethical frameworks. However, morality also exists outside of religious contexts. Children can learn to develop their own sense of right and wrong based on empathy and understanding.

Community and Belonging

While religious communities offer support and a sense of belonging, it’s important for children to experience diverse communities. They can learn that community comes in many forms, broadening their understanding of social support systems.

Identity Formation

Religious beliefs can play a significant role in a child’s identity, allowing them to see where their beliefs align with or diverge from their family’s traditions. Help them to form a unique identity based on personal conviction and understanding.

Emotional Resilience

Engaging with a variety of religious ideas can help children develop emotional resilience. They learn to navigate and cope with differing beliefs and opinions, allowing them to handle life’s challenges with grace and understanding.

Intellectual Freedom

Questioning religious teachings can lead to a greater sense of intellectual freedom. Children learn that it’s okay to think differently and to seek their own answers, which is important for creative and independent thought.

Flexibility in Thinking

Exposure to multiple viewpoints teaches children flexibility in thinking. They understand that there are many ways to view the world. This adaptability is a key skill in a global society.

Compassion Through Understanding

Learning about various religious traditions can instill a deep sense of compassion in children. They become more understanding of others’ beliefs and practices, leading to a more equitable and just society.

Empowerment Through Choice

Offering children the choice to explore different religions empowers them. It signals trust in their ability to make informed decisions about their beliefs, which promotes independence and self-confidence.

Sense of Wonder

Religious stories and myths can awaken a sense of wonder and curiosity in children. This can be a gateway to exploring the richness of human imagination and creativity. However, distinguishing between metaphorical and literal interpretations can enhance this experience.

Ethical Thinking Without Fear

Teaching children to base their ethical decisions on reason rather than fear of divine punishment leads to more thoughtful moral reasoning. They learn to act rightly because it is just, not simply to avoid negative consequences.

Questioning Authority

Learning to respectfully question religious authority can translate to other areas of life. Children learn the importance of questioning and critically assessing all forms of authority, which is an important part of personal development and societal progress.

Spiritual Diversity

Understanding that spirituality can take many forms beyond organized religion broadens a child’s perspective. They learn that personal peace and fulfillment can come from various sources, making them less judgmental of others’ experiences.

Historical Context

Studying religious texts and stories as historical documents provides insight into human history and culture. Children learn to appreciate these stories while understanding their context, leading to a deeper understanding of history.

Nature of Belief

Discussing the nature of belief itself can be enlightening for children. They learn that beliefs are deeply personal and can evolve over time. This understanding encourages openness to change and growth.

Self-Reflection

Religion often prompts self-reflection and contemplation. Encouraging this practice without dogmatic constraints allows children to explore their own thoughts and feelings more freely.

Community Service

Many religions emphasize the importance of community service and altruism. Teaching children about these values, separate from any religious doctrine, can instill a strong sense of social responsibility.

Respect for Rituals

Understanding the significance of religious rituals in various cultures teaches respect and appreciation for them. Children learn that while they may not share the beliefs behind the rituals, they can respect the practices and the people who observe them.

Life’s Big Questions

Conversations about religion naturally lead to pondering life’s big questions: Why are we here? What happens after we die? Encouraging open dialogue about these questions without the pressure of providing definitive answers encourages a healthy curiosity and a comfort with the unknown.

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