...1A 9 September 2013 Critical Thinking Democracies are made up of communities and will only thrive if critical thinking and local involvement are key features. Communities are the basis of a democracy and represent citizens at a local level. In a democracy local citizens put forward ideas which percolate up to higher levels of government. Improving citizens ability to become critical thinkers is vital to making a strong democracy. Critical thinking is essential for a democracy to flourish. It's important that citizens of a democracy apply critical thinking to form an unbiased point of view. Education helps people engage in the community and fulfill basic societal expectations of a democratic citizen. To enhance a democratic society the education system must improve. For example, have students write editorials or reviews on current events. This keeps students in touch with whats going on in the world and helps them form opinions on the topic. Also encouraging students to run or elect a student council. Running for student council develops a students leadership skills and promotes democratic thinking. The foundation of a democracy is having the freedom to question the government, access all information, and take action. Democracies are always in a state of development and critical thinking is a key component of finding innovative and progressive solutions to problems that arise in the democratic process. Further, the open aspects of a democratic system, allows participation...
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...Success in a Democratic Iran 2 Abstract As Iran transitions into a democratic nation, there are many changes that will take place. Along with the changes occurring in the country, there are also worldwide changes. New trends for success in the 21st century are emerging and it is necessary that Iran understands the trends needed for success in a newly formed democracy. Decentralization and an emphasis on personal growth and community are two such trends. Along with new trends, are needed attributes to obtain success in the 21st century such as the ability to think critically and set goals for the future. To prepare the younger Iranian generation for success in the newly formed democratic nation, these trends and attributes must be addressed in the classroom through meaningful learning experiences. Along with individual classrooms, school systems should also adopt a more holistic approach to education that encourages content knowledge as well as knowledge of the changing world and the attributes for success in this world.Success in a Democratic Iran 3 Life in a Democratic Iran: A Plan for Success Iran as a newly democratic nation must face many changes. The characteristics of a democratic nation include individual rights and freedoms, voting rights, free elections, as well as more gender equality. These are all elements that will be new for the Iranian people. Along with the changes presented by a new democracy, Iran must also prepare for the changes...
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...PHL/458 August 12, 2013 James Hal Cone and Cornel Ronald West are two individuals famous for using creative thinking to impact society and history. Hal Cone is a black theologian and Cornel West is a philosopher. This paper will focus on each individual’s unique contributions to society, ideas used to solve a specific issue, how the ideas were applied, personal and political background, creative thinking process, and a critique of their thoughts. From religion, oppression, educational segregation, and the Civil Rights movement, Hal Cone and Cornel West made a remarkable amount of progressive contributions to society. The contributions made by Hal Cone and Cornel West are often over-looked by today’s youth. Black American youth and young adults in particular have become somewhat distant form Black history because the way things appears in today’s society. What is overlooked, and should often be recapped is; without the endurance and dedication within the creative minds of these two creative thinkers, it’s possible that oppression and segregation would still remain a part of our society. Many Civil Rights leaders are responsible for the equality growth in our culture, and Hal Cone and Cornel West has been influential in ensuring Blacks continued to advance in America’s society. Both men contributed an important view to Civil Rights, and is known as leaders who changed the way the world worked personally, socially, and politically...
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...Critical Thinking as We See it In her 1999 work, Concepts and Tools in Critical Thinking, Linda Elder offers the following definition of critical thinking: “Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, and empathically. They are keenly aware of inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked. They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and socio- centric tendencies. They use the intellectual tools that critical thinking offers- concepts and principles that enable them to analyze, access, and improve thinking. They work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence in reason.” Critical thinking is taking a thought thinking about it, analyzing it, and then elaborating on it with facts and evidence. Based on Linda Elder’s argument critical thinkers use intellectual tools to improve their thinking through numerous skills. The numerous skills used such as intellectual empathy and rationale allow for critical thinkers to reason at a high level of quality. With Linda Elder’s definition in mind the following texts offer evidence to support her definition. In John Berger’s Ways of Seeing he offers the problem of people being subjective. In...
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...Tutorial C01: What is Critical Thinking and Why is it Important? By: Jonathan Chan C01.1 Introduction Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following Understand the logical connections between ideas Identify, construct and evaluate arguments Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning Solve problems systematically Identify the relevance and importance of ideas Reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values Other definitions of critical thinking have been proposed. See bottom of this page for explanations of critical thinking from other sources. It can be seen that clarity and rationality constitute the common core across the different conceptions on critical thinking. Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking. A critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and he knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of information to inform himself. Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being critical of other people. Although critical thinking skills can be used in exposing fallacies and bad reasoning, critical thinking can also play an important role in cooperative reasoning...
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...complicated question; what is Liberalism? Liberalism can be traced back to the decline of Feudalism in the 18th Century and the revolutions of both France (1789) and the USA (1765) where we saw two states try to shake off the ruling class and enter a new era of enlightenment where there was, generally, consensus ruling. Liberalism then comes to the fore front of Political thinking around the period of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and Europe in the 19th Century which led to many people rising through the ranks and creating a form of social mobility linked with Liberal ideas of self rule and governance. It’s this Industrial Revolution period where we see Liberalism take it’s first form - what we now call classical Liberalism. Classical Liberals believe in the idea of negative freedoms where by each person is able to both thrive and fail in society, this goes hand in hand with the idea of maintaining state intervention to a minimal, laissez faire rule. This idea of negative freedoms caused a rift in Liberal thinking with many prominent minds believing this was not the best way to run a society. This chasm in liberal thinking it was gave birth to the idea of Modern Liberalism, a more refined and fairer system in comparison to the classic view of Liberalism. Modern Liberals believed in the idea of the...
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...and citizen journalism. The stated purpose for doing so is to create a mass media system that informs and empowers all members of society, and enhances democratic values. It is a liberal-democratic approach to media studies that advocates the reformation of the mass media with an emphasis on public service broadcasting and audience participation, through the use of citizen journalism and alternative media channels. A media democracy focuses on using information technologies to both empower individual citizens and promote democratic ideals through the spread of information. Additionally, the media system itself should be democratic in its own construction shying away from private ownership or intense regulation. Media democracy entails that media should be used to promote democracy as well as the conviction that media should be democratic itself; media ownership concentration is not democratic and cannot serve to promote democracy and therefore must be examined critically. The concept, and a social movement promoting it, have grown as a response to the increased corporate domination of mass media and the perceived shrinking of the marketplace of ideas. The term also refers to a modern social movement evident in countries all over the world which attempts to make mainstream media more accountable to the publics they serve and to create more democratic alternatives The concept of a media democracy follows in response to the deregulation of broadcast markets and the concentration...
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...Thinking, according to Kirby and Goodpaster (2007), can be defined as “the activity of the brain that can potentially be expressed in speaking or writing.” This paper will provide an insight of critical thinking, and at the same time an experience will be included proving that critical thinking plays an important role providing benefits in decision making. Critical Thinking The economy, the environment and many things are changing, in other words, the word is changing and has turn in to a more complex place; the necessity of critical thinkers has turn in to a crucial part of survival now a day, and impacts our life in different ways. Critical thinking is interconnected with decision making and problem solving, the Webster´s dictionary (2008), defines critical thinking as “the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion.” Drawing from the definition, it can be said that critical thinking is a reflective, purposeful and independent process; its not about the amount of information an individual is able to hold, but the ability this person possess to deduce consequences from his knowledge and apply it in order to find a solution to problems. Once the critical thinking concept has been defined, and going back to decision making, it’s important to point at it as the main purpose of critical thinking that engages decision making upon accurate information once it has...
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...Running head: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND 1 No Child Left Behind Deanna Nick ENG 122: English Composition II Allison Boldt February 01, 2015 NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND 2 No Child Left Behind In 2002 the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in order to ensure quality education for all students in the public schools of the United States. As a piece of both egalitarian and neo-liberal legislation, its aim was to bring quantitative progress to all school-age youth, especially those in lower-achieving schools. No Child Left Behind Act was to achieve this goal by testing students' proficiency in three subjects: math, reading, and science. Through this standardized testing the government would hold schools accountable for the progress of their students. However, the result has been far from the progress intended. As a result of No Child Left Behind, class time is spent teaching to the test, and the social sciences are being ignored. Not only does the drop in social studies education present a risk for the students in high-stakes testing schools, but it also widens the inequality gap between students and presents a threat to the communities around them; for this reason parents, students, teachers and community members should push for increased emphasis on engaging social studies education in schools. Social Studies and the Test While math, reading, and science are tested by every school in the country, social studies is not. It is easy to test math skills on a standardized...
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...Diversity Education: An Essential Educational Opportunity Diversity education provides educational opportunities that nurture and maintain an inclusive and diverse community, promoting equality for people of all cultures, ethnicities, and religions. The Association of American Colleges and Universities supports higher education faculty and students to partake in programs that advance civic learning and democratic engagement, global learning, and engagement with diversity to prepare students for socially responsible action in today's interdependent but unequal world (AACU). Diversity courses, programs, or interactions in higher education are positively effective in improving students’ understanding and respect of our multicultural society, and are an essential component to educational institutions. Diversity education fosters a broad range of enlightenment and competency, including those of learning and democracy. Learning outcomes include active thinking skills, and intellectual engagement and motivation, while democracy outcomes were not limited to perspective taking, citizenship engagement, racial and cultural understanding, and judgment of the compatibility among different groups (Gurin, P., & Lopez, G.). It is said that personal and social identity develop best in situations during late adolescence and early adulthood, when one is able to experiment with different social roles before making commitments to groups, ideas, and a philosophy of life (Gurin, P.,...
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...Running head: MIDTERM CRITICAL SUMMARY Midterm Critical Summary El Kihal Mohammed Al Akhawayn University 1 MIDTERM CRITICAL SUMMARY 2 The first six chapters discussed in-class included the comparison methodology in political systems, in addition to the political attitudes and behaviors in relation with the ethical foundations of politics. Furthermore, it included an introduction to political ideologies with a focus on the democratic ones. Moreover, it showcased the development of the modern state, along with some key concepts in politics such as constitutions and processes such as pressure groups and social movements. Before engaging in comparing political systems, it is imperative to be aware of the comparison methodology used for this kind of social science. The scientific method used in social sciences is based on the empirical method which includes several steps, of which the most important are: the formulation of the hypotheses after asking curious questions related to a topic of interest - the data collection - the data analysis - the results’ interpretation related to the questions raised. Looking at the political attitudes of people under a specific political system helps to understand the political systems, but what is the reason behind that? Simply because looking at the political attitude of every individual might prove itself to be impossible, so social scientists started analyzing the general trend in the political attitudes of...
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...we can do, for the moment, is to fix two major superstructural “levels”: the one that can be called “civil society”, that is the ensemble of organisms commonly called “private”, and that of “political society” or “the State”. These two levels correspond on the one hand to the function of “hegemony” which the dominant group exercises throughout society and on the other hand to that of “direct domination” or command exercised through the State and “judicial” government. The functions in question are precisely organisational and connective. The intellectuals are the dominant group’s “deputies” exercising the subaltern functions of social hegemony and political government.” →Antonio Gramsci From Gramsci’s prison note books Introduction Hegemony is a concept that has been used to describe and explain the dominance of one social group over another, such that the ruling group or hegemon acquires some degree of consent from the subordinate, as opposed to dominance purely by force. It is used broadly to mean any kind of dominance, and narrowly to refer to specifically cultural and non-military dominance, as opposed to the related notions of empire and suzerainty Gramsci and Hegemony The idea of a ‘third face of power’, or ‘invisible power’ has its roots partly, in Marxist thinking about the pervasive power of ideology, values and beliefs in reproducing class relations and concealing...
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...Ex 1 Using material from the article as well as your own ideas, consider what the priorities of education should be for your country and justify your reason for choosing these priorities. In Singapore, education is more or less a political and social engineering tool that prepares Singaporeans for the workplace of the future. In the 1960s, education was driven by the need for Singapore to survive as a small, independent city state with limited resources. Thus, there was a strong link between education and economic development. Given its history, it’s not surprising that Singapore still values education as part of the nation-building process. The main priority of education in Singapore should be economic growth. Singapore has no natural resources other than its own people. Given this situation, it is imperative that our human capital is completely harnessed and developed for nation building. Education, which allows for the accumulation of knowledge and skills, thus becomes vital for sustained economic growth. In this century, economies all over the world are transformed by globalization, to remain competitive, Singapore needs to transform itself into a global hub of knowledge and innovation driven industries. To achieve this, a world-class workforce that is creative, entrepreneurial and adaptable needs to be cultivated to survive the many challenges of this new century. However, as the article pointed out, education is also a personal right, an entitlement. While the government...
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...Reality TV - unique cultural product In the attempt to fully historicize Reality TV we should always have in mind the format, the social dimensions in which it was created, and its effects. Decades ago it would have been hard to imagine that we would be thinking that our attitudes for defining reality would be mediated by a media format. The complex field of defining reality through the scope of contemporary media is inherently connected to the cultural code of the media imperialism. In our attempts to deconstruct reality through the prism of television erudition we stand upon the challenge to ask what is real today and what will not be real tomorrow? Baudrilard would answer this question in different terms suggesting that reality merely...
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...Critical Thinking Application Paper Augie Ruyle MGT/350 Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making Matthew Swanson University of Phoenix June 6, 2011 This Critical Thinking Application Paper that you are about to read will include a few descriptions of critical thinking, along with a few of the importance and benefits of critical thinking in the decision-making processes, and examples of a personal experience in applying critical thinking to a work related decision. Thank you and enjoy the reading. From the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, is a well known psychological test of critical thinking ability. The authors of this test define critical thinking as: …a composite of attitudes, knowledge, and skills. This composite includes: (1). attitudes of inquiry that involves an ability to recognize the existence of problems and an acceptance of the general need for evidence in support of what is asserted to be true; (2). Knowledge of the nature of valid inferences, abstractions, and generalizations in which the weight or accuracy of different kinds of evidence are logically determined; and (3). Skills in employing and applying the above attitudes and knowledge. Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills will be able to: understand the logical connection between ideas, identify, construct and evaluate arguments, detect...
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