In the 1980s, Donald Schon wrote extensively about becoming a "reflective practitioner". Since that time, much has been written about critical thinking. You yourself used critical thinking when you reflected upon your teaching philosophy and where it comes from.

What exactly is "critical thinking"?

In its simplest terms, critical thinking is "reasonable reflective thinking which is focused on deciding what to believe or do" (Ennis, 1985). It involves:

• Engaging in internal dialogue to determine how you feel about a given problem.
• The ability to see that problems have multiple solutions.
• An alternative to making decisions by blind acceptance, impulse, or whim.
• The ability to be reflective of actions in everyday life.
• Exploring and imagining alternatives.
• Insight into information and claims that bombard us.
• A process to develop and evaluate our own positions on issues.
• An essential element of problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity.
• Careful examination of our thinking and the thinking of others.

Alfaro-LeFevre (2008) claims that the primary difference between critical thinking and the kind of thinking we engage in most of the time is one of control. Critical thinking is purposeful, and for that reason, is more likely to lead to beneficial results.

Before proceeding further with this topic, it will help you to learn more about this important skill and refine your own critical thinking abilities. To begin, we have selected the following online article for you to read:

As you read this article, please reflect on the following questions:

• In what ways are all teachers both theorists and practitioners?
• Brookfield suggests that reading theory can aid in critical reflection. In what ways have you previously used reading theory to aid in critical reflection of your teaching practice? Would you be willing to try anything new in this regard?
• What is meant by Brookfield's statement that "critical teachers must be critical learners, too."

As you progress through this topic and complete the assigned exercises, we hope you will make an effort to internalize and apply some of Brookfield's recommendations. Critical thinking is crucial, not only for evaluating the educational philosophies you are going to encounter, but for integrating educational theory with your own philosophy of education and teaching practices.