Critical Thinking and Learning

Reflective judgment plays an important role in today′s complex world. It follows that the goals of ′critical thinking′ and ′life–long′ learning would appear with such frequency in the rhetoric of educational reform in many global societies. But what are the discourses that produced such lofty educational aims? And what societal, cultural, and educational issues arose from those discourses? Today′s teachers are routinely expected to employ classroom strategies that encourage students to think critically and ask critical questions. But what do these concepts really mean? By inviting critical consideration of these timely issues, Critical Thinking and Learning challenges some of the basic underpinnings of our notions of thinking critically. We see how many of the dominant concepts in educational reform are informed by ′western′ values – and what happens when they are observed from a variety of historical and cultural perspectives. Contributing scholars pose some fascinating new questions that have arisen from current debates in the field: Does rationality transcend particular cultures? Are there different kinds of thinking, different styles of reasoning – especially between ′East/West′ cultures? What is the relationship between critical thinking and learning? And how does the moral domain overlap with some of these pedagogical issues? Illuminating and reflective, Critical Thinking and Learning will challenge some of the prevailing viewpoints of our educational systems and provide valuable new insights into the ways we think and learn.

Foreword (Michael A. Peters, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign). 1. Critical Thinking and Learning (Mark Mason, University of Hong Kong). 2. Kinds of Thinking, Styles of Reasoning (Michael A. Peters, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign). 3. Culture, Cognitive Pluralism and Rationality (Colin Evers, University of Hong Kong). 4. Is there a Geography of Thought for East–West Differences? Why or Why Not? (Ho Mun Chan, City University of Hong Kong and Hektor K. T. Yan, City University of Hong Kong). 5. False Dichotomy? ′Western′ and ′Eastern′ Concepts of Scholarship and Learning (Janette Ryan, Monash University and Kam Louie, University of Hong Kong). 6. Learning, Empowerment and Judgement (Michael Luntley, University of Warwick). 7. Is Popper′s Falsificationist Heuristic a Helpful Resource for Developing Critical Thinking? (Chi–Ming Lam, University of Hong Kong). 8. Critical Thinking as a Source of Respect for Persons: A Critique (Christine Doddington, University of Cambridge). 9. Re–Conceptualizing Critical Thinking for Moral Education in Culturally Plural Societies (Duck–Joo Kwak, Konkuk University). Index.

Mark Mason is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Educational Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, where he is also Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC). He is the co–author of a variety of articles and books in the field, most recently Changing Education: Leadership, Innovation and Development in a Globalizing Asia Pacific .