Teacher's Question of the Week

Teacher's Question of the Week

Q: What are the affective dispostions of critical thinking?

A. The APA Delphi Report (1990) produced "Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction", from which the following comes.

In the last question, critical thinking cognitive skills and subskills were listed. In the same report, affective dispostions of those inclined toward critical thinking were listed. Affective means the psychological attitudes and traits exemplified by a critical thinker.

Approaches to life and living in general

inquisitiveness with regard to a wide range of issues
concern to become and remain generally well-informed
alertness to opportunities to use CT
trust in the processes of reasoned inquiry
self-confidence in one's own ability to reason, or learn to reason
open-mindedness regarding divergent world views
flexibility in considering alternatives and opinions
understanding of the opinions of other people
fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning
honesty in facing one's own biases, prejudices, stereotypes, egocentric or sociocentric tendencies
prudence in suspending, making or altering judgments
willingness to reconsider and revise views where honest reflection suggests that change is warranted

Approaches to Specific Issues, Questions, or Problems

clarity in stating the question or concern
orderliness in working with complexity
diligence in seeking relevant information
reasonableness in selecting and applying criteria
care in focusing attention on the concern at hand
persistence though difficulties are encountered
precision to the degree permitted by subject and circumstances

Author: Peter Facione of Santa Clara University. The above list with definitions used to be accessible as ED 315423 (which I can't seem to find anymore). You can write The Institute for Critical Thinking, at Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043, to request copies. Peter Facione's work is also available through Insight Assessment, formerly California Academic Press: <http://www.insightassessment.com/home.html>.

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