Contextualization

Look at these two pieces of writing below. The first is purely descriptive (i.e. it only summarizes what other people have said, offering no authorial opinion), whereas the second is more analytical

1. Descriptive writing

Fisher and Scriven describe critical thinking as ‘a skilled, active interpretation and evaluation of observations, communications, information, and argumentation’ (1997:20). Russel states that ‘the intelligent are full f doubt’ (2000; 101) argue that without scrutiny, the following type of texts would be common:’ intellectually dishonest (e.g., in the use of data), intolerant (e.g., of opposing ideas), inattentive (e.g., to implications of proposals), haphazard (e.g., procedurally), mistrustful of reason(e.g., hostile toward sound scientific inquiry), indifferent (e.g., toward new findings), and simplistic(e.g., natively dualistic).’Orwell has the following attributed to him:’ During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.’

2. Analytical writing

Critical thinking is a notoriously difficult term to define, although Fisher and Scriven’s classification of it as ‘a skilled, active interpretation and evaluating of observations, communications, information, and argumentation’ (1997:20) captures many of its essential details. Echoing Russell’s truism that ‘the intelligent are full of doubt’ (1998:28), Facione et al. (2000:101) argue that without this doubt, academic study would allow biased, prejudiced and illogical texts to not be scrutinized properly. Although the saying attributed to Orwell that ‘during times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act’ may be little to political for academic context, the idea is still a strong one.

References

Facione, P., Facione, N. and Giancarlo, C. (2000). The disposition toward critical thinking: Character, measurement, and relationship t critical thinking. Informal Logic, 20, 1: 61-84.

Fisher,A and Scriven,M (1997). Critical Thinking: its Definition and Assessment. Norwich: Centre for research in Critical Thinking.

Russel,B.(1998). Morals and Others: Bertrand Russell’s American Essays 1931-1935. London: Routledge.

The word critical

Although the word critical has a purely negative connotation in day –to- day English, in academic language it means ‘evaluative’ or ‘analytical’

‘3 Cs’ are important for critical thinking

1. Challenge: Do not be afraid of questioning what “experts” and scholars have written about a popular topic.

2. Consider: reflect on what you have read, and identify what your position is. As the second text shows, good academic writing is analytical rather than just descriptive (e.g., it says why and how, not just what, when and where).

3. Combine: Having read a range of sources, you need to synthesize your ideas. God academic writing analyzes the issues from all angles and is based on a wide range of evidence and sources.

Critical thinking is more important in the British university system than in many other countries. In some countries it is not considered god practice t challenge the views of authorities and well –respected writers. In the UK, however, a culture of skepticism exists: you are encouraged to test and challenge ideas. Of course, any criticism you make must be supported by evidence: you cannot disagree with somebody without saying why.

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B. Contextualization

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