In the article “The Need for Critical Thinking Skills”, Diane F. Halpern (2003), American psychologist, the author expresses that in a world that is constantly changing into a more detailed and sophisticated reality, 21st Century citizens must become “knowledge workers” in order for them not to fall behind. The author states that the “information explosion”, also called information overload, is a concerning problem in today’s existence; and, as a consequence of this infoxication, people get overwhelmed instead of selecting the appropriate information from this overabundance of data. As Halpern comments, even though we have all the answers out there, we still cannot separate the relevant information from the non-relevant so as to fully understand what these answers convey. The author concludes her text by claiming that everything stems from education. She gives the example of college students lacking learning and thinking skills, and still not being able to comprehend abstract concepts. I totally agree with Halpern, mostly when she states that our future on this planet could depend on how we answer Earl Hunt’s (1995) question “Will be smart enough?”, taking into account that global warming was not such a big thing in 2003 as today is. Still, we, the 21st Century citizens, are not able to answer that question properly. Furthermore, I agree in the sense that for someone to think critically, we should also encourage critical research. We are provided with a huge list of answers, but we cannot choose which one is correct, so we suffer from this “paralysis of analysis”, as Halpern calls it.
Moreover, the author declares, “There has been a tacit assumption that adult students already know how to think.” What she means is the fact that students are not guided in the process of thinking critically. I firmly believe that this process does not magically appear. Instead, it needs to be nourished little by little until we can finally apply it and answer the question by ourselves. In the same line of thought, Brian Oshiro, teacher evaluator, describes in his TEDxXiguan Talk that in order for students to answer correctly without feeling overwhelmed, educators (and sometimes parents) need to move beyond the question that only allows one answer, and to ask “why” questions', “how do you know”, and “how can you solve this issue.” This way, students can think critically for themselves after having analysed the whole situation and answered the questions that help them arrive at a certain conclusion. To conclude, I agree with Halpern in that today, more than ever, abstract thought is an increasing demand. In order for us, citizens of the 21st Century, to keep up with our rapidly changing world, we need to acknowledge the need for new learning and thinking skills.
Argentina