Mission and Values
‘Enable everyone to think critically.’
Definition of Critical Thinking
‘Thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do, requiring reasoned judgement.’
Critical Thinking Skills
The outcome of a critical thinking process is to produce one’s own argument for one’s own
conclusion. The four skills which are required for this are as follows:
Interpretation
Categorising information; decoding conventions; clarifying meaning.
Analysis
Detecting and analysing arguments to identify their structure, conclusion, premises (and missing premises) and logical relations; sorting out irrelevant material.
Evaluation
Judging the truth of statements, the credibility of sources and the strength/validity of arguments; anticipating objections and how additional information might affect an argument.
Argument Creation
Supporting premises; formal and informal reasoning; presenting arguments and drawing conclusions; considering alternatives; justifying methods.
Critical Thinking Values
We believe in the values of critical thinking.
Intellectual Honesty
Critical thinking is firstly concerned with finding the truth.
Fair-Mindedness
Making, changing or suspending beliefs according to the evidence; evaluating one’s own arguments with the same level of scrutiny as others’.
Inquisitiveness
Being curious and questioning; taking care to be generally well-informed; being willing to consider alternatives.
Open-Mindedness
Being willing to give the other side a fair hearing; being open to divergent world views; being honest and self-critical in facing one’s own biases.
Intellectual Boldness
Evaluating and challenging received opinions; believing in one’s ability to reason.