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| Gravitas |
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Soliloquy
in pursuit of well-tempered thought
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| Miscellaneous
articles relevant to critical thinking, and the commentary by Hunter
Finch
pertaining to those articles, are examples of aggregated news in the
blogosphere,
which in this case have mostly been posted to the "Critical Thinking in
the News" section of the Foundation for Critical Thinking website
(criticalthinking.org).
It is the FCT's mission to foster critical thinking throughout all
domains
and disciplines of inquiry, discourse and learning in our social
institutions. Leading
research
suggests, and many leading educators believe, critical thinking will
become
a dominant |
force in the world
only when,
and to the extent that, critical societies emerge. Critical societies
are
those for whom fair-minded critical thinking is a social value and thus
routinely cultivated in all citizens and respected in all social
practices.
One contributes to the emergence of critical thought as a social value
by making changes consistent with the integral concepts, standards and
best practices of critical thinking across all domains and disciplines
in one’s daily life. Intellectual integrity arrived at through open,
accurate,
clear, precise, fair and independent thought processes is at the very
core
of a well |
tempered
mind. It is also at the core of the values and character in a critical
society. As media are reflections of our collective values and
character,
they are also potentially significant in helping us shape and alter our
individual views. Thus, a running index to some of the news, discourse
and critique that contextualizes critical thinking in media as they
alter
and illuminate our times follows. Articles and commentary are of mixed
quality and significance and we leave it to the reader to assess them.
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Revisiting
the Stanford Prison Experiment
The Chronicle for Higher Education – March 30, 2007
by Philip G, Zimbardo
”By
the '70s Psychology had shown, that in a group of
strangers,
individuals could be persuaded to believe statements that were
obviously false;
that people are often willing to obey an authority or the ‘group
think,’ even when doing so violates their personal beliefs.
Research
also illustrated the addictiveness of power among such
authorities. Revisiting the Stanford Prison experiment, Zimbardo
outlines how
anonymity
affects those in power as well as the needs and legal implications for
penal
reform throughout society.” --Read
the
Full Article
Commentary
by Hunter Finch
A recent article in
the Chronicle of Higher Education on the classic Zimbardo Experiment
highlights
the need to do a critical analysis of our prision system and the impact
that
punishment has on our society. In a critical society punishment would
be
carefully designed to fit the crime, and returning criminals to a
useful life
in the community would be the major goal. Zimbardo illustrates the
distance we are from this ideal. "If the goals of the criminal system
are
simply to blame and punish individual perpetrators — to get our
pound of
flesh — then focusing almost exclusively on the individual
defendant makes
sense. If, however, the goal is actually to reduce the behavior that we
now
call "criminal" (and its resultant suffering), and to assign
punishments that correspond with culpability, then the criminal-justice
system
is obligated, much as it was in the Stanford prison experiment, to
confront the
situation and our role in creating and perpetuating it.
###
MLA
Grades
Spellings Commission
InsideHigherEd.com --
March 30, 2007
by
Scott Jaschik
Synopsis: These
comments on the Spellings Commission Report from the Executive Council
of the
Modern Language Association of America, this story details the MLA's
critiques
of the Spelllings Comission Report and specifically the lack of focus
on the
humanities. --Read the Full Article
Commentary
by
Hunter Finch
After
months
of deliberation, the Modern Language Association released its
critique of the Spelling Commission's Report on the Future of Higher
Education ... by far the biggest criticism the MLA will offer is that
the panel
appointed by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings ignored the
humanities. But
one of the most controversial parts of the commission’s agenda — its
call for
more assessment of what students learn — is actually endorsed by the
MLA, with
caveats over how that assessment will be carried out ... although the
report
ignores the humanities, the educational skills it emphasizes are
precisely
those that the humanities are credited with developing. A persistent
theme of
the report is the urgent need to produce college graduates who have
mastered
‘critical thinking, writing, and problem solving skills needed in
today’s
workplaces,’ that is, the very skills the humanities teach ... Indeed,
since it
is hard to imagine scientists, engineers, and doctors doing their jobs
competently without a command of critical-thinking, writing, and
problem-solving skills, the humanities are no less crucial than the
sciences to
‘global leadership in key strategic areas.’
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Oregon
Biology
Teacher Fired Over Bible
References
Associated
Press --
March 20, 2007
Sisters, OR-- “During his eight days as a
part-time high school biology
teacher, Kris Helphinstine included Biblical references in material he
provided
to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between
evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood ... That was enough for
the
Sisters School Board, which fired the teacher Monday night for
deviating from
the curriculum on the theory of evolution ... Helphinstine, 27, said in
a phone
interview with The Bulletin newspaper of Bend that he included the
supplemental
material to teach students about bias in sources, and his only agenda
was to
teach critical thinking." -- Read
the
Full Article
Commentary
by
Hunter Finch
Here we see a common
misunderstanding between best intensions and uninformed
expectations. Critical thinking is clearly the foundation of
learning in
all domains and disciplines, including biology. This appears to
be a
classic example of where curriculum, tactics, and purpose are at odds
with
policy.
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