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Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Every text we interact with, whether it is reading, viewing, listening or writing, contains the bias of the author. The more developed the author in constructing texts, the more difficult it is to recognise the bias of the material.
An author's ability to construct text that appear balanced may be seen as the Creative element of Critical & Creative Thinking.
In order for students to develop an understanding of critical thinking with regards to not only an author's bias, but also their own intrinsic bias towards topics, they need to develop ways to analyse the material.
Critical thinking is a process of considering ideas/concepts from every angle, not simply through the opinions of the individual, nor by simple following others opinions.
This page is focused on developing critical thinking skills through explicit teaching, in order to enable students to develop their understanding of the world around them in a transparent approach, enabling them to acknowledge their own bias on the topic.
HOW?
- Discussion is a key element to critical thinking.
- Unedited thoughts and ideas
- Most IMPORTANTLY - Considering opposing views, especially those you don't agree with, including things such as 'Conspiracy theories'
- DISCUSS the authors bias - EVERY AUTHOR has a bias!
WHY do I discuss things I don't believe in?
The most important aspect of critical thinking is to discuss things you don't believe.
WHY? Things that you are against or do not believe are an indication of your own bias on the topic.
In order to make your text creations powerful, you need to consider all angles in order to hide your own bias. By doing so, your work moves from preaching to persuasion...
In order to persuade / convince, you first need to understand all points of view, so that your work can be manipulated to suit the context of a task -the author's intent.
This is where CREATIVE thinking is utilised, you may not believe a particular element of the topic, but your writing can be so well constructed, creatively, that others may be swayed to your way of thinking while still considering a view point you yourself do not believe.
Texts can be deconstructed and constructed utilising both the Critical and Creative thinking process.
Authors that can hide their own opinion/bias create more persuasive /powerful texts.
Or, in the instance of narrative texts (fiction), understanding bias about subject matter can enable you to create characters that represent different perspectives in a more powerful way...
Your thinking and creating becomes more calculated and precise for your intent...
THE POWER OF QUESTION FORMATS Questions may be constructed in a way that clearly shows the author's bias:
E.G.
1. Prince was a better performer than Michael Jackson. Discuss
OR, they may attempt to hide the authors bias...
2. Was Prince a better performer than Michael Jackson.
Regardless of how the questions are constructed, in order to ensure you avoid simply parroting the beliefs of the person asking the question, for example, the first question construct may lead students to simply agree because, essentially they may not even know who Prince was.
**ALWAYS consider any information supplied to you on balance...Information can be valuable, depending on how you can manipulate it. The sources of information you gather already have their own bias, which means that finding opposing views is essential for YOU to think critically - Critical thinking means to - THINK FOR YOURSELF!
HOW we then manipulate information to create texts is part of the creative thinking process...
Why is Critical Thinking Important
Critical thinking allows you to consider every aspect of a topic, through the process you may either solidify your current beliefs, OR, you may find that your thoughts on the concepts have changed because of the information you have considered.
As a child we read texts and understand them from our own perspective, as we grow and learn new ideas, our understanding of those text change...
Critical thinking is important in developing our view on the world, and our own position in it.
EVIDENCE to support Ideas
Consider ALL the evidence carefully.
What was the authors bias?
Remember, every text is created by another human being, which means that they have their own opinions and ideas, and reasons for creating..., which means every text contains bias in some form...can you find the authors bias?
How well hidden is it?
Freedom of Speech and Critical Thinking
In order to consider critically, all aspects of a topic should be considered, by omitting information, no matter if it is simply an opinion, we are not essentially thinking critically...
Freedom of speech means that topics we don't agree with are discussed. If they are not openly discussed WHO decides what information is right?
Freedom of Speech is what allows for Critical Thinking.
Freedom of Speech may also be a topic you could discuss critically.
Critical thinking, as noted by the Australian Curriculum...
"Critical thinking is at the core of most intellectual activity that involves students learning to recognise or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw reasoned conclusions, and use information to solve problems. Examples of critical thinking skills are interpreting, analysing, evaluating, explaining, sequencing, reasoning, comparing, questioning, inferring, hypothesising, appraising, testing and generalising. "
What is the problem here?
Critical & Creative Thinking and CONTEXT
CONTEXT and Creative & Critical thinking...
CONTEXT and Creative & Critical thinking...
CONTEXT and Creative & Critical thinking...
HOW we analyse a text to understand its content is important.
Often texts we analyse are historical in content...
When CRITICALLY THINKING about elements from the past, we MUST consider the CONTEXT of the time and place, in order to fully understand...
Evaluating elements based on today's society...or even today's society in a particular country in the world today...only considering current accepted norms may lead to misunderstanding and misinformation...
TO BE CRITICAL may mean analysing content in 1970, and evaluating the acceptance of a society that was part of our own past...
N.B. This site will include CONTEXT elements to further understanding around this concept.
SUFFRAGETTES - EQUALITY
CONTEXT and Creative & Critical thinking...
CONTEXT and Creative & Critical thinking...
TOPICS TO CONSIDER:
- Women were not given the right to vote until 1960, at the same time Aboriginal men were also granted the right to vote...
- The Married Women's Property Acts1893 - helped to rectify some of the difficulties that women faced. Once married, prior to this act, women's property rights etc. became the property of their husbands...
- The 1930s would see a spike in policies and laws that discriminated against, even forbade, women to work when they were married. During the Great Depression, discrimination against their employment...History
Movies sometimes reflect reality...
CONTEXT and Creative & Critical thinking...
Movies sometimes reflect reality...
- Life in the 'old days'...how true were the situations depicted in movies?
- BODY FEAR Bodies of dead chimney sweep boys as young as four could still be in Parliament, expert warns ...Labour MP Meg Hillier said the £6billion renovations starting in the 2020s were likely to uncover 'all sorts of things'
- How much do movies influence us? Are movies sometimes used to change the way of a society? **Satire is often used to create this element
- Does a musical lessen the impact of the harsh realities the people of these times suffered? (I'll do anything - Oliver)
- Can movies change people's understanding of history?
Typical Teenagers!
Could TiK ToKs be Satirical?
Movies sometimes reflect reality...
- Teenagers are all the same...
- Teenagers are rude
- It's hard to learn because there's always a student like this...
- How close are stereotype characters like real life teenagers?
- Why CONTEXT understanding is important
- IS Shakespeare important to learn at school?
CONTEXT - without an understanding of David Tennant and Dr Who, you will not understand WHY the audience laughs...
Could TiK ToKs be Satirical?
Could TiK ToKs be Satirical?
Could TiK ToKs be Satirical?
Satire is a tool authors utilise that enables society to recognise issues within it, issues that need change...
Holding up a mirror to society.
Could Tik Toks be seen as a negative reflection of our society?
Could this 'Comical Clip' satirical?
What topics could be covered with this clip?
What elements/issues stand out for you?
Adults Impose their beliefs?
Could TiK ToKs be Satirical?
Could TiK ToKs be Satirical?
A print ad produced by the Toronto office of GREY for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
- How can a gun be allowed but not the book 'little red riding hood'?
- What is the context? (which country does this relate to?) Could it relate to your country? Or is it only relevant for another? What about from an historical perspective?
- Are adults placing too much of their own understanding on what is appropriate for children? **How many children would notice the bottle of wine in Red Riding Hoods basket?
- Why do we need campaigns like this?
- Why is Freedom of speech important?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
Detail your services
Learning A Second Language
Learning A Second Language
News...how biased?
Australia has a history of controversy around news being controlled...
Consider the following article - News In Australia Impartiality and Commercial Influence -
Don't just take the text as being the only text on the topic. How much of it is true?
Sometimes knowing the author / publisher of the work, and their beliefs, can help us recognise the underlying bias...
Regardless of the source -
Consider - what was the bias behind the construction of this document?
For EXAMPLE -
A letter from the front (WW1) is a primary sources of information; however, people all think differently, one situation may lead to different perspectives...so, how valuable is the source when writing about WW1?
There is no argument that this is evidence of the times...
This source may be useful for noting the conditions and emotions of those on the front, but are they of value when discussing the war tactics utilised by generals?
Learning A Second Language
Learning A Second Language
Learning A Second Language
Why is it important to learn a second language?
Why is traditional grammar an important part of learning our native language?
Your response to this question may be 'it's not'...
However, to be fully informed, to be CRITICAL THINKERS, we must explore the concepts further.
We can do this by finding out:
- What are the benefits of learning a second language?
Grammar is the metalanguage we use TO learn other languages...
Display real testimonials
Learning A Second Language
Wild animals and captivity
Questions you may consider:
- Which version is better - The original or the cover version?
- Does the style of music change the impact of the song?
- What is it about music that entertains?
- HOW does music entertain us?
Wild animals and captivity
Children should be children
Wild animals and captivity
Should wild animals be held in captivity?
Perspectives to consider:
- Animals are below us on the evolution scale, so we can do what we like...
- Animals are wild and should be afforded the same freedom as humans... **your response would depend on your perspective - are humans free?
- They are losing their homes **because humans think the world is theirs and cut down their homes***
- Humans have a right to control animals. Animals are on OUR planet **so many arguments/discussion points here...
Although OPINIONS are used here, this is when you need to find EVIDENCE/FACTS to build your understandings...
Children should be children
Children should be children
Children should be children
Mr Squiggle was well known to Australian kids
The show was on television in many formats, between its inception on 1 July 1959 and 1999...
In the 2020's Mr Squiggle even appeared on coins.
Discussion points:
- Context is important - E.G. knowing that the blackboard says 'hurry up! hurry up!' When the teacher impersonates Mr Blackboard they not only show their age, but are referencing things I don't know ***CONTEXT is important to understand
- Kids TV shows today don't allow kids to be kids...
- From a marketing perspective, this show would /would not be popular with kids today...
Video Makes the Radio Star
Children should be children
Children should be children
Music videos began to be widely broadcast on television in the early 1980s, prior to this, musicians were judged on their sound...consider 'The Voice' concept...
How often have you heard a song on the radio and thought it 'okay', only to watch the video and find your opinion changed from okay, to 'fantastic!'
Consider Discussion around:
- Video MAKES the radio star today!
- Video can change your interpretation of a song...
- The look of a performer is more important than their ability to sing...
- Music was better before videos...
Truth in Lies
TRuTH IN LIES
People can't be chipped!
Sugar Conspiracy
Truth in lies...Critical Thinking...
Sometimes false claims/ rumours are started or built on from an initial truth...
What makes it false? Is it just that not every aspect of the rumour is correct?
Can one false element make the whole claim false?
What are initially conspiracy theories because of this, with time may turn out to hold some level of truth...
Sugar Conspiracy
People can't be chipped!
Sugar Conspiracy
An investigative documentary exposes the US sugar industry’s systematic hijacking of scientific study to bury evidence that sugar is, in fact, toxic. For forty years, Big Sugar deflected threats to its multi-billion dollar empire through creative PR and tactics strikingly similar to the way the tobacco industry disguised the fact that its products are addictive and cause fatal illnesses. As obesity rates skyrocket and doctors treat the first generation of children suffering from fatty liver disease, the sugar industry has come under increasing scrutiny from emerging scientific and medical studies. While the industry steps up its advertising spin and lobbying efforts, this film warns that we are sitting on a dietary time bomb.
You can view it on Enhance
People can't be chipped!
People can't be chipped!
People can't be chipped!
PEOPLE WHO ARE "CHIPPED" CAN BE TRACKED BY SATELLITES.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the '90s publication Relevance, with its high quality paper and nice layouts, was “one of the slickest examples of conspiracy theorizing.” Physician Philip O’Halloran, the man behind the publication, wrote in one issue that biochips, implanted under the skin, “will emit low-frequency FM radio waves that can travel great distances, e.g., several miles up into space to an orbiting satellite. The transmission would provide information on the exact location of the ‘chipee.’" A year later, a psychologist writing in a New York newspaper said that mental health professionals who heard someone describing what O'Halloran proposed “might make a diagnosis that the person was suffering from a severe paranoid disorder,” before going on to discuss the origins of these kinds of views.
But O'Halloran's idea was prescient: Just three years later, in 1998, a professor of cybernetics at Reading University in England named Kevin Warwick received a chip implant, which according to a contemporary Independent article “emits a unique identifying signal that a computer can recognise to operate various electronic devices, such as room lights, door locks or lifts.” While that was still a long way off from what O’Halloran was proposing, in 2018 The Atlantic reported on a group that is working on making GPS-enabled chips to track relatives with dementia. In the future, there might be GPS tracking of other groups—something that was dismissed as a paranoid disorder just a few decades ago.
ProHibition
Conspiracy now fact!
People can't be chipped!
Conspiracy: During Prohibition, the government poisoned alcohol to keep people from drinking.
The truth: Manufacturers of industrial alcohol had been mixing their product with dangerous chemicals for years prior to Prohibition.
But between 1926 and 1933, the federal government pushed manufacturers to use stronger poisons to discourage bootleggers from turning the alcohol into moonshine.
That didn’t stop the bootleggers or their customers, and by the end of Prohibition, more than 10,000 Americans had been killed by tainted booze.
Much of the illegal booze was sold in infamous night spots called ‘speakeasies’ – so called from the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police and neighbours. Here are some more examples of words not used much nowadays.
Dead Bodies stolen?
Conspiracy now fact!
Conspiracy now fact!
Conspiracy: The government was stealing dead bodies to do radioactive testing.
The truth: The government was stealing parts of dead bodies. Because they needed young tissue, they recruited a worldwide network of agents to find recently deceased babies and children, and then take samples and even limbs – each collected without notification or permission of the more than 1,500 grieving families.
The world only woke up to the the horrific scientific history of Project Sunshine half a century later. But there are still a lot of unexplained mysteries out there.
Conspiracy now fact!
Conspiracy now fact!
Conspiracy now fact!
Cookies...
WiFi...
Webcams...
Online Purchases...
Microphones...
Location...
Google...
Email...
Internet Service Providers...
Search Engines...
Social Media...
Critical Thinking
The Power of Words
Consider the power of the words on a reader.
What is an authors intent? This may be evident through their word selection.
What might their bias be?
Consider articles that discuss subjects such as "Anti-vaccination protests"
Would the articles intent change if the term 'Pro-choice' was utilised instead?
DISCUSS...
Propaganda
What is Propaganda?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary - Propaganda is:
information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people's opinions:
political/wartime propaganda
At school we were fed communist/right-wing propaganda.
One official dismissed the ceasefire as a mere propaganda exercise.
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
- Is the use of propaganda restricted to historical events only?
- How are the propaganda texts powerful?
- Propaganda uses persuasion to convince the audience...how is this used?
- What situations / events could be seen as using propaganda today?
- CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS are a must!
Propaganda...TO DISCUSS
