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You’ve heard of Diane Ravitch, right? While I almost always see merit in her contributions, I found myself quoting her quotation of Frank Breslin on critical thinking in high school. Consider this excerpt that jumped out at me:

It is a rare high-school graduate who can pinpoint 20 different kinds of fallacies while listening to a speaker or reading a book; who can distinguish between fact and opinion, objective account and specious polemic; who can tell the difference between facts, value judgments, explanatory theories, and metaphysical claims; who can argue both sides of a question, anticipate objections, rebut them, and undermine arguments in various ways.

The essence of an education — the ability to think critically and protect oneself against falsehood and lies — is a lost art in America’s high schools today. This is unfortunate for it is precisely this skill that is of transcendent importance for students in defending themselves.

A school should teach its students how to think, not what to think; to question whatever they read, and never to accept any claim blindly; to suspend judgment until they’ve heard all sides of a question; and interrogate whatever claims to be true, since truth can withstand any scrutiny. (source)

There’s a bit more to Breslin’s remarks, but I found these pieces quite powerful. The first is the loss of critical thinking and critical reading in schools. Since schools are reflections of society, we can see the loss of these two habits of mind in society shown in schools. 

A book I read recently, Julie Bogart’s Raising Critical Thinkers, has me thinking about the nature of critical thinking. Bogart’s work, like Breslin, seeks to encourage dispassionate, curious thinkers. Bogart suggests:

Be a witness to the writer. Know that the writer’s perspective exists; know how it exists for the writer. Allow the viewpoint a place alongside your current views. Make tea. Sit patiently. Read. Be curious. Incubate. Grow your understanding first, and later, your critique.

When we make room for dissenting viewpoints, we open understanding. Learn first and then generate insight.

Transcendence. Dispassion. Make space for viewpoints that don’t agree. Hmm…

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Oh my. That suggests some problems for today’s state education agencies.