S-17 Questioning Deeply: Raising and Pursuing Root or Significant Questions Principle: Critical thinkers can pursue an issue in depth, covering various aspects in an extended process of t n reading a passage, they look claims expressed. They come to their own understanding of the details they learn, placing them in the larger framework of the subject and their overall perspectives. They contemplate the significant issues and questions underlying subjects or problems studied. They can move between basic underlying ideas and specific details When pursuing a line of thought, they are not continually dragged off the subject. They use important issues to organize their thought and are not bound by the organization given by another Each of the various subject areas has been developed to clarify and settle questions peculiar to itself. For example history: How did the world come to be the way it is now? ) The teacher can use such questions to organize and unify details covered in each subject Perhaps more important are basic questions everyone faces about what people are like, the nature of right and wrong how we know things, and so on. Both general and subject-specific basic questions should be repeatedly raised and used as a framework for organizing details children are leaning S-18 Analyzing or Evaluating Arguments, Interpretations, Beliefs, or Theories Principle: Rather than carelessly agreeing or disagreeing with a conclusion based on their preconceptions of whatis true, critical thinkers use analytic tools to understand the reasoning behind it and determine its relative strengths and weaknesses. When analyzing arguments, critical thinkers recognize the importance of asking for reasons and considering other views hey are especially sensitive to possible strengths of arguments that they disagree with, recognizing the tendency to ignore, oversimplify, distort, or otherwise unfairly dismiss them Critical thinkers analyze questions and place conflicting arguments, interpretations, and theories in opposition to one another, as a means of highlighting key concepts, assumptions, implications, etc When giving or being given an interpretation, critical thinkers, recognizing the difference between evidence and interpretation, explore the assumptions on which interpretations are based and propose and evaluate alternative interpretations for their relative strength. Autonomous thinkers consider competing theories and develop their own theories S-19 Generating or Assessing Solutions Principle: Critical problem-solvers use everything available to them to find the best solution they can They evaluate solutions, not independently of, but in relation to one another ( since best implies a comparison) They take the time to formulate problems clearly, accurately, and fairly, rather than offering a sloppy half-baked, or self-serving description ("Susie's mean !""This isn 't going well, how can we do it better?) and then immediately leaping to solutions. They examine the causes of the problem atlength They reflect on such questions as, "What makes some solutions better than others? What does the solution to this problem require? What solutions have been tried for this and similar problems? With what esults? "But alternative solutions are often not given, they must be generated or thought up Critical thinkers must be creative thinkers as well, generating possible solutions in order to find the best one Very often a problem persists, not because we can t tell which available solution is best, but because the best solution has not yet been made available-no one has thought of it yet.S-17 Questioning Deeply: Raising and Pursuing Root or Significant Questions Principle: Critical thinkers can pursue an issue in depth, covering various aspects in an extended process of thought or discussion. When reading a passage, they look for issues and concepts underlying the claims expressed. They come to their own understanding of the details they learn, placing them in the larger framework of the subject and their overall perspectives. They contemplate the significant issues and questions underlying subjects or problems studied. They can move between basic underlying ideas and specific details. When pursuing a line of thought, they are not continually dragged off the subject. They use important issues to organize their thought and are not bound by the organization given by another. Each of the various subject areas has been developed to clarify and settle questions peculiar to itself. (For example, history: How did the world come to be the way it is now?) The teacher can use such questions to organize and unify details covered in each subject. Perhaps more important are basic questions everyone faces about what people are like, the nature of right and wrong, how we know things, and so on. Both general and subject-specific basic questions should be repeatedly raised and used as a framework for organizing details children are learning S-18 Analyzing or Evaluating Arguments, Interpretations, Beliefs, or Theories Principle: Rather than carelessly agreeing or disagreeing with a conclusion based on their preconceptions of what is true, critical thinkers use analytic tools to understand the reasoning behind it and determine its relative strengths and weaknesses. When analyzing arguments, critical thinkers recognize the importance of asking for reasons and considering other views. They are especially sensitive to possible strengths of arguments that they disagree with, recognizing the tendency to ignore, oversimplify, distort, or otherwise unfairly dismiss them. Critical thinkers analyze questions and place conflicting arguments, interpretations, and theories in opposition to one another, as a means of highlighting key concepts, assumptions, implications, etc. When giving or being given an interpretation, critical thinkers, recognizing the difference between evidence and interpretation, explore the assumptions on which interpretations are based and propose and evaluate alternative interpretations for their relative strength. Autonomous thinkers consider competing theories and develop their own theories. S-19 Generating or Assessing Solutions Principle: Critical problem-solvers use everything available to them to find the best solution they can. They evaluate solutions, not independently of, but in relation to one another (since 'best' implies a comparison). They take the time to formulate problems clearly, accurately, and fairly, rather than offering a sloppy, half-baked, or self-serving description ("Susie's mean!" "This isn't going well, how can we do it better?") and then immediately leaping to solutions. They examine the causes of the problem at length. They reflect on such questions as, "What makes some solutions better than others? What does the solution to this problem require? What solutions have been tried for this and similar problems? With what results?" But alternative solutions are often not given, they must be generated or thought up. Critical thinkers must be creative thinkers as well, generating possible solutions in order to find the best one. Very often a problem persists, not because we can't tell which available solution is best, but because the best solution has not yet been made available-no one has thought of it yet