Teaching Kids to Think Critically: Effective Problem-Solving and Better Decisions

185 Pages·2014·0.3 MB·English

by  Clifton Chadwick

Teaching Kids to
Think Critically
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Teaching Kids to
Think Critically
Effective Problem Solving and
Better Decisions
Clifton Chadwick
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
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Published by Rowman & Littlefield
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
16 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BT, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2014 by Clifton Chadwick
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chadwick, Clifton B.
Teaching kids to think critically : effective problem-solving and better decisions
/ Clifton Chadwick.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4758-1065-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4758-1066-0 (pbk. :
alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4758-1067-7 (electronic) 1. Critical thinking—Study
and teaching. 2. Problem solving—Study and teaching. 3. Reasoning—Study
and teaching. I. Title.
LB1590.3.C385 2014
370.15'2—dc23 2014019035
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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To my lovely daughter, Josephine Noor, who is quickly
learning inferences and critical thinking,
And,
To my lovely granddaughter, Florencia, who will
soon start to learn to think critically.
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Contents
Chapter One Introduction 1
Chapter Two Learning and the Structure of Knowledge 19
Chapter Three Developing Skills for Effective Learning 41
Chapter Four Metacognition: Awareness for Thinking 95
Chapter Five Dispositions, Motivation, Attitudes:
Desire to Think 105
Chapter Six Developing and Establishing Intellectual
Standards for Thinking 129
Chapter Seven Problem-Solving Skills 141
Chapter Eight High-Quality Critical Thinking: Wrapping Up 167
Notes 171
About the Author 175
vii
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One
Introduction
Teaching our children how to be effective thinkers should be one of our
highest priorities along with teaching them to be ethically and morally
solid. The modern world requires that people become more and better
thinkers in order to respond to and help shape the information-rich world
in which we live. I think all parents want their children to be high-quality
thinkers (see figure 1.1).
1
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