Since I’ve begun this course I have come to understand how crucial
it is to practice critical thinking. Critical
thinking is not just thinking and this is something that has to be stated
clearly. Until I took this course I did
not understand the deep intricacies of critical thinking. I now understand that critical thinking allows
us to be active listeners instead of passive recipients of information (Nosich, 2012). Before I never understood my own role in the
learning process and that in order to learn and get the most out of our experiences,
we have to practice critical thinking.
I feel that in theory I
understand the steps needed to begin the critical thinking process. I understand the concept of reasoning around
the circle using the eight elements of reasoning. I am knowledgeable about the standards of
critical thinking and how critical thinking applies within a discipline. I even understand how to apply the critical
thinking process to my own field. In my
professional field, I have not had the opportunity to practice critical thinking.
The administrative duties I have on a
daily basis are so overwhelming, that all I can do is to continue my practices
as I’ve been doing in order to get through the day. Trying to incorporate a new way of thinking
and doing things right now is absolutely impossible because of the amount of
work that I have on my plate. There have
been one or two issues that have come up at work where I put my reasoning
skills to work and I tried to apply the standards of critical thinking. For example, in creating instructional emails
for my students I have used the SEE-I system to make sure that my emails were
coherent and easy to follow.
In regards to studying for this course, I have
to admit, it has been a more difficult task. I find it difficult to complete so much work
in a nine week period given all my other responsibilities. In all honesty, I have not been able to apply
much of what we are learning in this course to my own studying habits. I am barely keeping up with the work using my
timeless and probably ineffective methods but cannot find the time to incorporate
new ways of doing things. I keep telling
myself that in the next module I will find the time to practice with the
elements and standards of reasoning and that I will stop and breathe for a
minute to reflect on my own processes, but Sunday sneaks up on me every time. I don’t know if maybe on a subconscious level
I have made any headway or if I have improved my critical thinking skills in
anyway. I haven’t had the time to
reflect on my reflections! I have taken
the time to ask myself how I can improve in this class and how I can manage my
time better so I can apply the practices we are learning. I am conscious of the changes that need to be
made in order to do better I just have not had the time to reason through all
of my options to find a solution.
On a personal level I have become aware my own obstacles to
critical thinking. In fact, I scored the
lowest in this category during the critical-thinking assessment test that we
took in the beginning of the course. I
am aware of my own biases when researching online for information. I have come to realize how I research, where I
research and what I choose to believe is very much reflective of my past
experiences, values and personal desires. In this aspect I have tried to practice more
reflective thinking. For example, I am
prescribed anti-anxiety medicine. Not
for everyday use, but for when I feel it’s necessary. This weekend I went to get a tattoo of my
father who passed away a few years back.
I debated beforehand whether or not I should take my anti-anxiety
medicine. I was definitely very anxious
and emotional. Every ounce of my being
told me to take it, but I also understood the consequences of taking certain
medications before getting tattooed, the most notably being that it could thin
the blood. I decided to conduct my
research. Of course my initial research
was in favor of taking the pill, after all, taking the medication would benefit
me. I found the research to be very
disheartening as most of what I read counseled against taking any medications
unless absolutely necessary. I kept
digging deeper and deeper, trying to find the answer that I wanted to hear. I did not want to believe in the results. Nosich explains that critical thinking has
three parts: asking questions, answering those questions by reasoning them out,
and believing in the results of our reasoning (Nosich, 2012). I believe this last part is critical to the
reasoning process because we have to learn to put aside our biases and past
beliefs in order to make accurate and truthful decisions. We owe it to ourselves to be armed with the
most conclusive information.
I think the only way I can make lasting changes in the way I think
is to re-prioritize things in my life. I
will admit that critical thinking has not been a priority because the actual
process of changing the way I think about things seems so time consuming. I am overwhelmed at this point in my life with
obligations that it’s hard to stop and think. Most of the time I am on autopilot, going
through the motions of life, mindlessly completing tasks and checking off
to-do-lists. I know that if I could just
slow down for a moment and think about how and why I think the way I do, I
would be able to improve my critical thinking skills.
References
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