In 1989-1995, my father took a job as a manager of the newspaper Marin Independent Journal company called Gannett. His job required him to have bouts of experience and to be able to solve problems quickly. When a carrier didn’t show up, he needed to quickly come up with a solution to get the mail out. Another problem he faced was how some people’s mail were stolen. His own experience with these issues and critical thinking is what helped him become manager for almost four years. In her article, “Bosses Seek ‘Critical Thinking’, but what is that”, Melissa Korn claims that qualities like critical thinking and problem solving are major assets that young workers may lack. As she explains, critical thinking is something that is hard to describe and can have many different ways of wording it. That, in turn makes it difficult for employers to set this bar. Korn continues to give multiple types of definitions of critical thinking to show exactly how the definitions can differ. She then adds that an incorporation has their candidates work through company assessments to see how they reach their conclusions. This lets them see if their workers are qualified. Korn then proceeds to bring Jerry Houser’s opinion on how schools are encouraging students to focus too much on their social lives. Upon reading Korn’s article, i’ve found that although many parts are agreeable, such as when she talks about how difficult it is to actually describe and prescribe critical thinking, other parts like
According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is
Critical thinking and ethical decision making are crucial for academic success as well as career success. Both critical thinking and ethical choices allow an appreciation of diverse points of view using analytic approaches, create a tolerance for and an appreciation of ambiguity, allow for creative problem-solving, and give the ability to integrate knowledge from diverse viewpoints into unified ideas and strategies. To better understand how critical thinking and ethics impacts our success, we must analyze these skills and how they relate to us academically, and to our future careers.
requires students to develop higher critical thinking skills. Jobs may be on the line if students do
In the article, Colleges and Employers Point Fingers Over Skills Gap, Selingo informs his readers that most employers want future workers with adaptability (Selingo, 2012). Many students will graduate high school and attend college because they are told that a college degree is the only way to get a good job. The problem with this is that many students fail to improve their critical-thinking skills in the first two years (Selingo, 2012). Even though it is said that most employers want future workers with
Public education in America needs reforms to adjust to today's fast paced, technology based society. "Changing Educational Paradigms Animation" by RSA Animate and "Reinventing Education for the 21st Century" by Tony Wanger, prompted me to wonder how does teaching problem solving and critical thinking skills in schools socially and economically benefit students? Both of these videos touched on critical thinking and problem-solving skills and their importance in educating today's work force, but Tony Wanger blew me away with High Tech High, a Sandiego high, middle, and elementary school dedicated to teaching problem solving skills to a wide range of students (Wanger). This school system was an excellent model of students working on their own to create, utilize problem solving skills, and display their hard work. This gave me the idea that we need to shift our education to focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills to better benefit students entering the work force.
self-correcting. Similarly, I believe that critical thinking is judgement, specific to the current situation, that has substance based upon the principles used to critique it. Put another way, critical thinking depends on standards to guide its solution or response; these standards include “clarity, relevance, accuracy, fairness, completeness, precision, depth, breadth, and adequacy.” (Jones, Elizabeth A.|Ratcliff, 1993). I also believe that critical thinking is self-correcting, because it is based in logic and reasoning; vague solutions will always exist, but a sharp critical thinker will always find the correct answer through the precise application of reasoning.
The main concepts presented in the article are the varying definitions of each author on the concept of critical thinking. The information the author uses are definitions which are the opinions of varied authors and are similar in foundation in that to apply critical thinking one must be able to identify a problem, pose a question(s), provide valid supporting evidence, and come to a conclusion. Although the author’s definitions do not identify a problem, questions, evidence, or conclusions, the relationship Petress (2004) shows is that the reader must apply this process themselves as it is not always given. The information used does appear to be relevant, significant, and valid. The references the author listed does provide enough information for me to come to this conclusion. Since this work is a literature review and not a case study, numerical data are not necessary to determine validity of the information.
Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.
Critical thinking, in the context of employability, it is a broad term that encompasses the use of “problem solving, analysis, creative thinking, interpretation, and reasoning.” (Dash, “Why Critical Thinking Skills Are Essential in Business”) In other words, while there are varying definitions for critical thinking, it is generally considered a skill set with specific parameters. One of the necessary conditions within of this definition is that the idea to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is ascribed is a skill set. This is also considered a “key area” of professional development. (Joschik, “Well-Prepared in Their Own Eyes”) Furthermore, critical thinking is necessarily a mental process. This is due to the fact that each of the encompassed terms, such as problem solving and analysis, are mental processes. Finally, if the subject to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is being applied is “the ability to think clearly and rationally,” then the subject possesses the sufficient condition to be considered critical thinking. (Hofmeister, “Critical Thinking and Getting a Job”)
I agree with the authors on the definition and use of critical thinking and decision making skills. The benefits of being a critical thinker are enormous, they include being able to make effective decisions and learning to ask the important show-stopping questions. By using these skills you will be able to probe deeper and get to the heart of the issue. As stated in an earlier paper, the use of critical thinking when making crucial business decisions quite simply makes good business sense. Critical thinking skills are crucial in today's fast paced business world. Once these skills become
Every day as an instructional aide I use my critical thinking skills when deciding whether an impending conflict will escalate to violent behavior, deciding on how to approach a student Everyday many employees of organizations use their critical thinking skills in countless decisions, critical thinking skills are not the only skills used by employees, but they are the most important. As an employee I use my critical thinking skills when applying to the policies and procedures of my organization, making determinations, making predictions and problem solving more so on-the spot decision making, and
Persons who are critical thinkers can make a difference in the companies in which they are employed. Today?s corporations must first recognize that there is a real need for critical thinkers. It is important for both the top management down the line. Critical thinking must be taught and built in to the way the company or organization performs its business. In fact, companies and organizations must embrace the concept of critical thinking. Critical thinking can lead to success story after success story. This type of impact gives any company or organization credibility.
Education plays an imperative role in developing these skills. Young and Warren (2011), in their review of the education literature, stated that a number of cross-sectional research studies have shown that a student’s critical thinking ability can improve while at college. While Parcarella and Terenzini (2005) approximate that a student can improve their critical thinking skills by 63% by the end of their sophomore year. According to Hurt (2007) these skills must be developed consistently, purposefully and rationally over time to enable students to appropriately respond to the intricate issues that the working environment
During the past ten weeks, I have strengthened my concept of what constitutes effective leadership. Importantly, it is a leadership style that maximises the contributions of followers to achieve the desired outcomes for the organisation they represent. As Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy (2014, p.57) explains, effective leaders need to balance the drive to achieve a task with managing relationships. Therefore, it is essential for good leadership to not only focus on the task but develop, motivate and empower team members to strive for the achievement of task goals.
According to Wolpert (2009), “technology plays an important role in our lives; however, skills such as critical thinking and analysis have been declining.” Wolpert further stated that “reading for pleasure, which is one of the things that should help youths in their thinking and imagination has declined.” Students are rarely read books or any form of literature that would have helped to improve their critical thinking skills. Furthermore Kurland (2000) posits that critical thinking speaks to relying on reason rather than emotion; the influence of motives and bias are measured, and all reasonable inferences are evaluated. In addition, the Foundation for Critical Thinking (2011), cited Glaser’s (1941), definition of critical thinking as