Critical Thinking

The construct of critical thinking has been widely embraced as a core cognitive skill that should be nurtured and emphasized throughout educational curricula at every grade level. A multitude of definitions have been suggested to describe critical thinking. The general consensus is that critical thinking involves metacognition, or thinking about thinking, to maintain awareness and to reflect and manage one’s own thoughts. Moreover, scholars emphasize the importance of recognizing one’s own biases and being willing to evaluate the validity of arguments that oppose one’s beliefs. Having this willingness implies that a person would have to accept that there is uncertainty [Page 429]about a belief or a solution to a problem and that the person is motivated to examine multiple perspectives or solutions. This entry begins ...