Seeking clarity

When considering the priorities of education, I am moving toward the position that present times argue for an increased focus on critical thinking. There seem few proponents of this position possibly because this capacity is such a general skill it has few specific advocates. There are plenty of folks championing coding for all. There are specific things to be done that these folks can champion – e.g., hour of code, HS programming courses. There is a natural advocacy group – the ACM. STEM is another initiative easily promoted. It seems science, math, and tech advocates can tie their causes to employment, national productivity, and saving the environment. There is also the potential for selling tech toys, professional development, and computers.

My advocacy for developing argumentation as a component of critical thinking lacks some of these advantages. How would the skills of argumentation be introduced into the curriculum? What course or courses would be involved? Is argumentation a natural part of a speech class or a writing skill? Is it part of science? How about learning about the political process? Are educators prepared to develop such skills? If no content area claims the skill, it seems unlikely teachers are systematically prepared to develop this capability.

I see bits and pieces here and there even though most might not appreciate what the subskills can be assembled to offer. I came across this interactive template offered by Eric Curts. Research shows we are pretty good at stating our own perspective, but not so good at being able to concretely state the reasons and evidence advanced by those with whom we disagree. If this is the case, an exercise such as this could be used to work on this deficiency.

College students learning to write persuasively may have used a popular text with the title “They say, I say“.  I am partial to the work of educational researcher Deanna Kuhn and her research on the development of argumentation skills in K12.

My point is that the prioritization of the topics and skills we chose to develop in K12 and higher ed students should be considered carefully. I an not certain that present priorities are actually a good reflection of present needs.