9A; "Out of the Box"

      “The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.” 

― Christopher Hitchens

  “Think outside of the box” and “dig deeper” are phrases we hear commonly when pertaining to education in today’s society. I will never forget my rhetoric teacher assigning us poems during our poetry unit which always had hidden or deeper meanings. Moaning and groaning always came out of the classes' mouths as we looked for clues and finally uncovered the meaning. This exersise was one of many to kick start the essential skill of thinking critically. These phrases mentioned above can be described as “critical thinking”, but what exactly is it?

Critical thinking is simply a way of thinking that occurs independently and includes the ability to think clearly and logically. The difference between someone who is a critical thinker and someone with a good memory is that a critical thinker will take what they learn and be able to analyze, draw conclusions, and apply the information in a unique way. It can be compared to a puzzle in that all of the pieces of reason, logic, analysis, and application fit together to achieve such a level of thinking.

What skills do good critical thinkers entail?

                I think a good critical thinker has such qualities that allow them to interact with others efficiently, pose questions and analyze the many solutions, and strive for understanding. From this, they are people who can take facts and always ask why? Students can easily accomplish this by asking educated questions, actively participating in discussion, offering their ideas, and also thinking about what they have learned after class or an assignment.
Why is critical thinking important?

At Southern, we are required to take two critical thinking based courses our first semester. This proves the movement of incorporating critical thinking more into education as it is becoming a critical part of learning. It goes along with the idea we have been discussing having to deliberate practice. This is because these two courses are setting us up with the necessities to succeed in college and kick start our practice of thinking outside of the box. I think this requirement is a beneficial one in that already, I have learned that memorization is not the way to fully learn new material and that I get more out of learning. It satisfies me to know that I can take an idea and question it to dig a deeper meaning, or be comfortable enough with the material to teach it to someone else or have an educated discussion about it. For example, i have never been a fan of history, but during my college history lecture, I have not only learned important parts of it, but our tests are based on applying the beliefs and ideas of these people or events. It was a skill I had to get used to since it is very different than high school, but I feel like I have gotten used to it and can gradually improve. 

                The concept of critical thinking is hard to wrap your head around at first, but is an important skill to value. It may lead to new ideas, strengthening ideas, and most importantly, the creation of new ideas or creativity. I think this is why universities are now finding it crucial to include in the education to ensure students have an open mindset and are able to synthesize the information they are learning. 

   Besides our courses, what ways can we improve our critical thinking skills? Are critical thinking skills actually important and beneficial to education?