Reading Questions: (Answer at least two questions) How does Brookfield define the notion of critical thinking? What are specific tools and techniques Brookfield presents to help uncover and check assumptions and biases in the classroom? After reading Teaching for Critical Thinking by Brookfield, I noticed that Brookfield chose to define critical thinking as primarily a way of living that helps oneself stay intact despite who other people, organizations and communities try to get you to act in ways that serve to benefit their own individual needs and demands. In a sense it is seen as a “survival necessity.” Brookfield draws parallels to how critical thinking can be both in and out of the classroom. He primarily suggests that there are several methods to develop someone’s critical thinking skills and suggests that they may not necessarily be confined to the classroom alone. To define this idea, Brookfield describes how critical thinking is a process involving four steps: hunting assumptions, checking assumptions, seeing things from different viewpoints, and taking informed action. Brookfield suggests that humans constantly make mental assumptions to guide and justify our day-to-day actions. Like muscle memory, I find it interesting how Brookfield suggests that humans will continue to have repeated interactions with them if they believe such assumptions will be successful. This process is also checked as we choose to carry them out as well. Brookfield notes

The next step in critical thinking – checking assumptions – involves asking ourselves whether our assumptions valid and reliable guides for taking action. This is a process of appraisal in which we attempt to identify convincing evidence for said assumptions. The evidence could be experiential (actual past occurrence), authoritative (people we trust have informed us of these “truths”), or from