Montclair conception of critical thinking as judgment supported by disciplinary canons¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The Institute for Critical Thinking at Montclair State College defines critical thinking through its concern with judgment: students should see course content within a nexus of justification and application, learning content in relation to the methodological and substantive principles that make it justifiable. The editors state that 'critical thinking constitutes the ability and willingness to identify and apply the set of principles that support judgment through the best available reasons,' with those reasons typically found in the canons of the disciplines. The account builds on the editors' attribution to Matthew Lipman of an analysis in which critical thinking rests on criteria for judgment applied with sensitivity to context and a commitment to self-correction.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Judgment must rest on good reasons, identified through the canons of the various disciplines

Constraints¶

• The editors hold that disciplinary canons are not unchanging and are not tied to one perspective, but have a history that enables them to change in the light of reason and practice

Target Learners¶

• undergraduate students

Target Learning Objectives¶

• justifying course content through methodological and substantive principles
• linking knowledge to domains of meaningful application

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Siegel's reasons conception: critical thinking as being appropriately moved by reasons
• The univocal language of inquiry: the language of reasons across disciplines

Examples¶

• Teach undergraduate content within a nexus of justification and application

Key Sources¶

• Weinstein, Mark, Ed.; Oxman-Michelli, Wendy, Ed. (1989). Critical Thinking: Language and Inquiry across the Disciplines. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Institute for Critical Thinking (Upper Montclair, New Jersey, 1988). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED351305