Critical thinking a-level
Critical thinking a-level is an official A-level subject run by OCR. It’s made up of a number of modules, and is broadly a subject about understanding how people think and structure arguments – and helping students win arguments!
What does critical thinking involve?
In 1941, Edward Glaser identified three core characteristics of critical thinking:
- A general “analytical state of mind” that means a person is disposed to questioning and analysing issues
- An understanding of how arguments are structured and how logic works
- Skills in applying these analytical / logical methods
In short, the best critical thinkers are inquisitive people who have a logical mind and analytical skills. Most people are naturally inquisitive, however it requires a certain amount of skill and training to develop up razor sharp logic-based analytical skills.
Why is critical thinking important?
Critical thinking’s important because it allows people to analyse and evaluate thinking (arguments etc.) decreasing the chances of adopting / acting on a false belief.
Practical uses of critical thinking
From a professional perspective, critical thinking is an important skill to have for a whole range of different professions:
- Business managers: allowing them to evaluate their staff’s work
- Business sales people: enhancing the ability to persuade and convince
- Academics: ensuring their theories are rock solid
- Lawyers and Barristers: helping analyse law, and argue a good case in court
- Even a post man: allowing a post man to analyse the best and most efficient route for his post delivery round, and allowing him to argue his case to his manager effectively!
