Critical thinking has been used and debated since the time of great philosophers such as Plato and Socrates. Its real origin is deeply rooted in the logic and questioning process used by these early philosophers. In recent times many scholars and researchers have conducted studies concerning the benefits and effects of critical thinking skills in…

The first grade unit described here, Inspiring Americans, is a collaborative project between the authors, a first-grade classroom teacher and a librarian. The unit supports the four dimensions of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, which guides the way students explore, interact, and learn about their world. The C3 Framework…

This article suggests that philosophy courses could play a key role in teacher education courses as a means of developing the critical thinking skills teachers need in the 21st-century classroom. The authors focus on: (1) Shifts in Education Standards; (2) The Value of Philosophy; and (3) Paths to Implementation. Five paths to implementation…

The article discusses two versions of a complex role-playing exercise in undergraduate courses on Buddhism. The pedagogical exercise demonstrated how imagination cultivated through creative writing could be used to enhance learning about history, culture, and religion. Students were also challenged to generate an understanding of religious…

While critical rationality is an explicit goal of Catholic education, its practice in confessional Catholic religious education can be problematic for epistemological reasons: the prevailing Catholic religious epistemology may not be conducive to critical thinking in the RE classroom. A survey among 1068 teachers conducted in fifteen Catholic…

The intention of this paper is to unsettle our habits of scholarly writing and reading, from within the grids of intelligibility of Western, rationalist materiality, so as to make visible what we/I no longer often see: the academic writing and publishing constraints that discipline our assemblages of knowledge. Taking poststructuralist…

Over the past seven years, we have offered a psychology book club to undergraduate and graduate students in our department. We suggest the book club provides an informal opportunity for student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction, and offers a way to engage students in critical thinking about popular psychological issues. In this…

This review essay explores the complexities and challenges involved in addressing controversial issues in the K-12 public school classroom, drawing from two recent books: Noddings and Brooks's "Teaching Controversial Issues: The Case for Critical Thinking and Moral Commitment in the Classroom" and Zimmerman and Robertson's "The Case…

Recent educational initiatives have emphasised the importance of fostering critical thinking skills in today's students in order to provide strategies for becoming successful problem solvers throughout life. Other scholars advocate the use of critical thinking skills on the grounds that such tools can be used effectively when considering social…

Many philosophers argue that religious schools are guilty of indoctrinatory harm. I think they are right to be worried about that. But in this article, I will postulate that there are other harms for many individuals that are more severe outside the religious school. Accordingly the full scope of harm should be taken into account when evaluating…

To combat the spread of fake news, researchers and academics point to the importance of historical thinking. While generally researched in terms of formal education, historical thinking is also being considered in history museums. This research study examined the ways in which children demonstrate historical thinking in history museums' hands-on…

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of self-directed learning readiness on critical thinking and general self-efficacy among the students of the School of Physical Education and Sports. In line with this aim, the research sample consisted of 419 students who were randomly selected from the School of Physical Education and Sports in…

Much of what makes geography exciting and relevant is the fact that the "field" surrounds us: Our homes, neighborhoods, cities, states, and world each provide spaces, places, and landscapes to read and analyze. The space around us offers a multitude of opportunities to "do" geography. Fieldwork is arguably a cornerstone of the…

Tomorrow's agricultural workforce will face challenges in the form of complex problems that transcend disciplinary boundaries, including food security. Addressing these complex issues requires professionals to work within and across disciplines in ways that may not have been required in previous generations. Teaching using an interdisciplinary…

The challenges of contemporary society require pupils to make informed decisions and take responsible actions on problems related to science and technology. This work provides guidelines to support teachers in the design of learning scenarios that enable achievement of these goals. Two classroom examples based on contemporary news events explain…