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Whimsical sponsors for critical thinking.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This paper presents a method of addressing critical thinking in the classroom by using fictitious "sponsors" for the class. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an easy to use way to have business students practice critical thinking in the classroom.

Background

This paper had its genesis in Boyce and Borrego's Western Organization and Management Teaching Conference (WOMTC) 2003 session entitled "Reading the world: Applying critical practice in a time of uncertainty" (2003). Boyce and Borrego suggested an approach to teaching critical thinking and practice that involved the use of a problem posing pedagogy, rather than a problem solving one. This pedagogy was placed in an environment fraught with paradox and ambiguity and called for the growing of research questions in three stages: observation or experience; reflection; and question formulation. This pedagogy is particularly important for business schools as the vast majority of business students become practitioners, not theoreticians.

A variety of researchers suggest that it is important to teach using a problem posing pedagogy or to teach critical thinking to both traditional-aged students and to practicing managers. For example, Forbes (2003) suggests that a problem posing pedagogy is important to learning critical thinking and to dealing with the problems of "establishment-based" assumptions. Lingard and Lingard, et.al, extol a problem posing curriculum. (1995, 1997, 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2000, 2002).

Hammerback (2002) and Cunliffe (2002) identify the need to teach critical thinking to managers. Guglielmino and Guglielmino (2001) address the importance of critical thinking in the self-directed learning process. Mingers (2000) emphasizes the importance of a "skeptical" approach to learning for management undergraduates. He draws heavily on Habermas (1978, 1979, 1984, 1993a), who identifies assumptions as a dimension of questioning or skepticism. Some researchers have found that there are barriers to teaching critical thinking. Schlick (1992) found that the quality movement proponents had difficulty teaching critical thinking skills to hourly workers with low literacy levels. Hackett (2001) suggests that reflective practice can only be taught when students are willing to engage in critical thinking. Higginbotham (1996) writes that it is possible to get those with their minds made up to rethink their positions and Smith (2000) discusses the importance of rewarding students who think critically. Perhaps most significant for me and for my readers, Chong (1996) strongly suggests that there is a need to upgrade teaching skills in the area of critical thinking.

The topic of this WOMTC session was of particular interest as the faculty at my university collaboratively identified core values and competencies (CVC's) to be made part of all courses taught at the university. The collaborative process was, in itself, an exercise in critical practice as well as in critical thought. We faculty used appreciative inquiry to identify aspects of our instructional practices that were working. We explicated the practices, identified the CVC's, and articulated them for further amplification in each of our courses.

Critical thinking is one of the...

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