Should teach critical thinking in high school

Section/# Teaching Critical Thinking Nearly each and every year, educators and stakeholders within society attempts to redefine the curriculum and approach that is directed towards students. Naturally, this is a corrective and self improving technique that provides for better quality in higher education in most cases. One of the recommendations that has come to be presented in recent years has to do with creating a requirement to specifically critical thinking as core curriculum within college classrooms around the country. As the debate rages, it will be the understanding of this particular analyst that such an approach is unnecessary, wasteful, and counterintuitive. As such, the following analysis will help to detail why this analyst holds such a view regarding critical thinking and its role within college curriculum.
One of the first reasons that can be given with respect to not teaching critical thinking in college has to do with the fact that critical thinking is already included in nearly each and every subject that college students are presented with (Loes et al., 2012). For instance, critical thinking is represented in both science courses and liberal arts courses. Because of this, seeking to dismiss one of these core requirements in lieu of providing a class specifically with respect to critical thinking and developing the skills is both counterintuitive and redundant.
Another reason behind why critical thinking should not be taught as a separate class within college has to do with the inherent nature of critical thinking within the individual. In much the same way that college classes are not focused on improving an individual’s IQ score from a certain baseline to another, it should not be incumbent upon professors to seek to focus their energies upon improving critical thinking as a separate subject from everything else (Pascarella et al., 2013). As has previously been indicated, the inherent nature of critical thinking is either present or it is not. As such, it is not something that professors can affect on a direct level in the same way that they can affect better understanding of mathematics, better sentence construction, and a better appreciation for the way in which the natural world operates (Cotter & Tally, 2009).
The final reason with respect to why critical thinking should not be taught within college has to do with the fact that limited resources already define the educational process up as such, in order to teach critical thinking as a separate class and require all students pass it, this would require a fundamental shift away from current priorities and redirect resources towards accomplishing this particular goal (Laird et al., 2014). Continual needs are represented within the university system and each and every one of these were addressed it would require an unlimited amount of funding to accomplish all of them (Poondej et al., 2013).
As a function of the fact that critical thinking is already inherent, does not lend itself to being taught, and would fundamentally redistribute resources, it is the view of this particular author that it is best left alone. Although this may be seen as something of a cynical view, the fact of the matter is that limited resources define the way in which education is provided and the realities of existing requirements do not allow for further expansion of this time.
References
Cotter, E. M., & Tally, C. (2009). Do Critical Thinking Exercises Improve Critical Thinking Skills?. Educational Research Quarterly, 33(2), 3-14.
Laird, T., Seifert, T. A., Pascarella, E. T., Mayhew, M. J., & Blaich, C. F. (2014). Deeply Affecting First-Year Students Thinking: Deep Approaches to Learning and Three Dimensions of Cognitive Development. Journal Of Higher Education, 85(3), 402-432.
Loes, C., Pascarella, E., & Umbach, P. (2012). Effects of Diversity Experiences on Critical Thinking Skills: Who Benefits?. Journal Of Higher Education, 83(1), 1-25.
Pascarella, E., Wang, J., Trolian, T., & Blaich, C. (2013). How the instructional and learning environments of liberal arts colleges enhance cognitive development. Higher Education, 66(5), 569-583. doi: 10. 1007/s10734-013-9622-z
Poondej, C., Koul, R., & Sujivorakul, C. (2013). Achievement goal orientation and the critical thinking disposition of college students across academic programmes. Journal Of Further & Higher Education, 37(4), 504-518. doi: 10. 1080/0309877X. 2011. 645463