14 Anthony Giddens will be more affected by the reach of "americanization." Why might this be? Do you agree with him? How does this fit with the insistence of groups themselves Italian-Americans. Polish-Americans. Mexican-Americans, etc.? 3. There is a very conscious decision not to capitalize the term "americaniza­ tion" in this essay. Why do you think that is? Does it bother you that the lowercase is used? What point might the author be making? 4. This essay refers to the Dallas effect and to international coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial. Use international sources to investigate differences between how the series Dallas was viewed in the United States compared to how it was seen in other parts of the world. What did the O. J. Simpson trial mean to international viewers who may not have been aware of Simpson as a football player? Globalization ANTHONY GIDDENS Anthony Giddens was the director of the London School of Economics from 1997 to 2003. He was born in London in 1938 and was educated at the University of Hull, and Cambridge University. His work has helped to form what is known as the "third way" in politics, something that has influenced a number of world leaders, including Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and President Bill Clinton ofthe United States. The Reith Lectures are delivered each year by a chosen speaker and are funded by a legacy from Lord Reith, the first Director General ofthe British Broadcasting Corporation. Professor Giddens was the speaker in 1999. In this, his first lecture of the series, he explores what globalization is and how it affects nation-states, the economic environment, and established institutions. In the course of the lecture he also assesses America's role as the sole superpower with the new system ofglobalization. -----+----­ Afriend of mine studies village life in central Africa. A few years ago, she paid her first visit to a remote area where she was to carry out her fieldwork. The evening she got there, she was invited to a local home for an evening's entertainment. She expected to find out about the traditional pastimes of this isolated commu­ nity. Instead, the evening turned out to be a viewing of Basic Globalization 15 Instinct on video. The film at that point hadn't even reached the cinemas in London. Such vignettes reveal something about our world. And what they reveal isn't trivial. It isn't just a matter of people adding modern paraphernalia-videos, TVs, personal computers and so forth-to their traditional ways of life. We live in a world of transformations, affecting almost every aspect of what we do. For better or worse, we are being propelled into a global order that no one fully understands, but which is making its effects felt upon all of us. Globalization is the main theme of my lecture tonight and of the lectures as a whole. The term may not be-it isn't-a partic­ ularlyattractive or elegant one. But absolute.

1. 14 Anthony Giddens
will be more affected by the reach of "americanization." Why
might this be? Do
you agree with him? How does this fit with the insistence of
groups
themselves Italian-Americans. Polish-Americans. Mexican-
Americans, etc.?
3. There is a very conscious decision not to capitalize the
term "americaniza-
tion" in this essay. Why do you think that is? Does it bother you
that the
lowercase is used? What point might the author be making?
4. This essay refers to the Dallas effect and to international
coverage of the
O. J. Simpson trial. Use international sources to investigate
differences
between how the series Dallas was viewed in the United States
compared to
how it was seen in other parts of the world. What did the O. J.
Simpson trial
mean to international viewers who may not have been aware of
Simpson as
a football player?
Globalization
ANTHONY GIDDENS
Anthony Giddens was the director of the London School of
Economics from 1997 to 2003. He was born in London in 1938

2. and
was educated at the University of Hull, and Cambridge
University. His work has helped to form what is known as the
"third
way" in politics, something that has influenced a number of
world
leaders, including Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United
Kingdom
and President Bill Clinton ofthe United States. The Reith
Lectures are
delivered each year by a chosen speaker and are funded by a
legacy
from Lord Reith, the first Director General ofthe British
Broadcasting
Corporation. Professor Giddens was the speaker in 1999. In
this, his
first lecture of the series, he explores what globalization is and
how it
affects nation-states, the economic environment, and established
institutions. In the course of the lecture he also assesses
America's
role as the sole superpower with the new system
ofglobalization.
-----+-----
Afriend of mine studies village life in central Africa. A few
years ago, she paid her first visit to a remote area where she
was to
carry out her fieldwork. The evening she got there, she was
invited
to a local home for an evening's entertainment. She expected to
find out about the traditional pastimes of this isolated commu-
nity. Instead, the evening turned out to be a viewing of Basic
Globalization 15

3. Instinct on video. The film at that point hadn't even reached the
cinemas in London.
Such vignettes reveal something about our world. And what
they reveal isn't trivial. It isn't just a matter of people adding
modern paraphernalia-videos, TVs, personal computers and
so forth-to their traditional ways of life. We live in a world of
transformations, affecting almost every aspect of what we do.
For
better or worse, we are being propelled into a global order that
no
one fully understands, but which is making its effects felt upon
all of us.
Globalization is the main theme of my lecture tonight and
of the lectures as a whole. The term may not be-it isn't-a partic-
ularlyattractive or elegant one. But absolutely no-one who
wants
to understand our prospects and possibilities at century's end
can
ignore it. I travel a lot to speak abroad. I haven't been to a
single
country recently where globalization isn't being intensively dis-
cussed. In France, the word is mondialisation. In Spain and
Latin
America, it is globalizacion. The Germans say globalisierung.
The global spread of the term is evidence of the very develop-
ments to which it refers. Every business guru talks about it. No
political speech is complete without reference to it. Yet as little
as
ten years ago the term was hardly used, either in the academic
literature or in everyday language. It has come from nowhere to
be almost everywhere. Given its sudden popularity, we
shouldn't

4. be surprised that the meaning of the notion isn't always clear, or
that an intellectual reaction has set in against it. Globalization
has
something to do with the thesis that we now all live in one
world-but in what ways exactly, and is the idea really valid?
Different thinkers have taken almost completely opposite
views about globalization in debates that have sprung up over
the
past few years. Some dispute the whole thing. I'll call them the
skeptics. According to the skeptics all the talk about
globalization
is only that-just talk. Whatever its benefits, its trials and
tribula-
tions, the global economy isn't especially different from that
which existed at previous periods. The world carries on much
the
same as it has done for many years.
Most countries, the skeptics argue, only gain a small amount
of their income from external trade. Moreover, a good deal of
eco-
nomic exchange is between regions, rather than being truly
world-wide. The countries of the European Union, for example,
mostly trade among themselves. The same is true of the other
main trading blocs, such as those of the Asia Pacific or North
America.
16 Anthony Giddens
Others, however, take a very different position. I'll label them
the radicals. The radicals argue that not only is globalization
very
real, but that its consequences can be felt everywhere. The

5. global
marketplace, they say, is much more developed than even two or
three decades ago, and is indifferent to national borders.
Nations
have lost most of the sovereignty they once had, and politicians
have lost most of their capability to influence events. It isn't
surprising that no one respects political leaders any more, or
has
much interest in what they have to say. The era of the nation
state is over. Nations, as the Japanese business writer Keniche
Ohmae puts it, have become mere "fictions." Authors like
Ohmae
see the economic difficulties of last year and this as demonstrat-
ing the reality of globalization, albeit seen from its disruptive
side.
The skeptics tend to be on the political left, especially the old
left. For if all of this is essentially a myth, governments can
still
intervene in economic life and the welfare state remain intact.
The notion of globalization, according to the skeptics, is an
ideol-
ogy put about by free-marketeers who wish to dismantle welfare
systems and cut back on state expenditures. What has happened
is at most a reversion to how the world was a century ago. In
the
late 19th Century there was already an open global economy,
with
a great deal of trade, including trade in currencies.
Well, who is right in this debate? I think it is the radicals. The
level of world trade today is much higher than it ever was
before,
and involves a much wider range of goods and services. But the
biggest difference is in the level of finance and capital flows.
Geared as it is to electronic money-money that exists only as

6. digits in computers-the current world economy has no parallels
in earlier times. In the new global electronic economy, fund
man-
agers, banks, corporations, as well as millions of individual
investors, can transfer vast amounts of capital from one side of
the world to another at the click of a mouse. As they do so,
can destabilize what might have seemed rock-solid economies-
as happened in East Asia.
The volume of world financial transactions is usually mea-
sured in U.S. dollars. A million dollars is a lot of money for
most
people. Measured as a stack of thousand dollar notes, it would
be eight inches high. A billion dollars-in other words, a million
million-would be over 120 miles high, 20 times higher than
Mount Everest. Yet far more than a trillion dollars is now
turned
over each day on global currency markets, a massive increase
from only ten years ago, let alone the more distant past. The
value
Globalization 17
of whatever money we may have in our pockets, or our bank
accounts, shifts from moment to moment according to fluctua-
tions in such markets. I would have no hesitation, therefore, in
saying that globalization, as we arc experiencing it, is in many
respects not only new, but revolutionary.
However, I don't believe either the skeptics or the radicals
have properly understood either what it is or its implications for
us. Both groups see the phenomenon almost solely in economic
terms. This is a mistake. Globalization is political,
technological
and cultural, as well as economic. It has been influenced above
all by developments in systems of communication, dating back

7. to the late 1960's. In the mid-19th Century, a Massachusetts
portrait painter, Samuel Morse, transmitted the first message,
"What hath god wrought?" by electric telegraph. In so doing,
he initiated a new phase in world history. Never before could a
message be sent without someone somewhere to carry it.
Yet the advent of satellite communications marks every bit as
dramatic a break with the past. The first communications satel-
lite was launched only just over thirty years ago. Now there are
more than two hundred such satellites above the earth, each
carrying a vast range of information. For the first time ever,
instantaneous communication is possible from one side of the
world to the other. Other types of electronic communication,
more and more integrated with satellite transmission, have also
accelerated over the past few years. No dedicated transatlantic
or transpacific cables existed at all until the late 1950s. The
first
held less than one hundred voice paths. Those of today carry
more than a million.
On the first of February 1999, about one hundred and fifty
years after Morse invented his system of dots and dashes, Morse
code finally disappeared from the world stage, discontinued as a
means of communication for the sea. In its place has come a
sys-
tem using satellite technology, whereby any ship in distress can
be
pinpointed immediately. Most countries prepared for the transi-
tion some while before. The French, for example, stopped using
Morse as a distress code in their local waters two years ago,
sign-
ing off with a Gallic flourish: "Calling all. This is our last cry
before our eternal silence."
Instantaneous electronic communication isn't just a way in
which news or information is conveyed more quickly. Its exis-

8. tence alters the very texture of our lives, rich and poor alike.
When the image of Nelson Mandela maybe is more familiar to
us
18 Anthony Giddens
than the face of our next door neighbor, something has changed
in the nature of our everyday experience.
Nelson Mandela is a global celebrity, and celebrity itself is
largely a product of new communications technology. The reach
of media technologies is growing with each wave of innovation.
It
took forty years for radio in the United States to gain an
audience
of fifty million. The same number were using personal
computers
only fifteen years after the PC was introduced. It needed a mere
four years, after it was made available for fifty million
Americans
to be regularly using the Internet.
It is wrong to think of globalization as just concerning the big
systems, like the world financial order. Globalization isn't only
about what is "out there," remote and far away from the individ-
ual. It is an "in here" phenomenon too, influencing intimate and
personal aspects of our lives. The debate about family values,
for
example, that is going on in many countries might seem far
removed from globalizing influences. It isn't. Traditional family
systems are becoming transformed, or are under strain, in many
parts of the world, particularly as women stake claim to greater
equality. There has never before been a society, so far as we
know

9. from the historical record, in which women have been even
approximately equal to men. This is a truly global revolution in
everyday life, whose consequences are being felt around the
world
in spheres from work to politics.
Globalization thus is a complex set of processes, not a sin-
gle one. And these operate in a contradictory or oppositional
fashion. Most people think of it as simply "pulling away" power
or influence from local communities and nations into the global
arena. And indeed this is one of its consequences. Nations do
lose some of the economic power they once had. However, it
also has an opposite effect. Globalization not only pulls
upwards, it pushes downwards, creating new pressures for local
autonomy. The American SOCiologist Daniel Bell expresses
this very well when he says that the nation becomes too small
to solve the big problems, but also too large to solve the
small ones.
Globalization is the reason for the revival of local cultural
identities in different parts of the world. If one asks, for
example,
why the Scots want more independence in the UK, or why there
is
a strong separatist movement in Quebec, the answer is not to be
found only in their cultural history. Local nationalisms spring
up
as a response to globalizing tendencies, as the hold of older
nation-states weakens.
Globalization 19
Globalization also squeezes sideways. It creates new eco-
nomic and cultural zones within and across nations. Examples
are the Hong Kong region, northern Italy, or Silicon Valley in
California. The area around Barcelona in northern Spain extends

10. over into France. Catalonia, where Barcelona is located, is
closely
integrated into the European Union. It is part of Spain, yet also
looks outwards.
The changes are being propelled by a range of factors, some
structural, others more specific and historical. Economic influ-
ences are certainly among the driving forces, especially the
global
financial system. Yet they aren't like forces of nature. They
have
been shaped by technology, and cultural diffusion, as well as by
the decisions of governments to liberalize and deregulate their
national economies.
The collapse of Soviet communism has added further weight
to such developments, since no significant group of countries
any
longer stands outside. That collapse wasn't just something that
happened to occur. Globalization explains both why and how
Soviet communism met its end. The Soviet Union and the East
European countries were comparable to the West in terms of
growth rates until somewhere around the early 1970s. After that
point, they fell rapidly behind. Soviet communism, with its
emphasis upon state-run enterprise and heavy industry, could
not
compete in the global electronic economy. The ideological and
cultural control upon which communist political authority was
based similarly could not survive in an era of global media.
The Soviet and the East European regimes were unable to pre-
vent the reception of western radio and TV broadcasts.
Television
played a direct role in the 1989 revolutions, which have rightly
been called the first "television revolutions." Street protests
taking

11. place in one country were watched by the audiences in others,
large numbers of whom then took to the streets themselves.
Globalization, of course, isn't developing in an even-handed
way, and is by no means wholly benign in its consequences. To
many living outside Europe and North America, it looks uncom-
fortably like Westernization-or, perhaps, Americanization, since
the U.S. is now the sole superpower, with a dominant economic,
cultural and military position in the global order. Many of the
most visible cultural expressions of globalization are American-
Coca-Cola, McDonald's.
Most of giant multinational companies are based in the U.S.
too. Those that aren't all come from the rich countries, not the
poorer areas of the world. A pessimistic view of globalization
20 ll".h",... " Giddens
would consider it largely an affair of the industrial North, in
which
the developing societies of the South play little or no active
part.
It would see it as destroying local cultures, widening world
inequal-
ities and worsening the lot of the impoverished. Globalization,
some argue, creates a world of winners and losers, a few on the
fast
track to prosperity, the majority condemned to a life of misery
and despair.
And indeed the statistics are daunting. The share of the poor-
est fifth of the world's population in global income has dropped
from 2.3% to 1.4% over the past 10 years. The proportion taken
by

12. the richest fifth, on the other hand, has risen from 70% to 85%.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, twenty countries have lower incomes per
head in real terms than they did two decades ago. In many less
developed countries, safety and environmental regulations are
low or virtually non-existent. Some transnational companies sell
goods there that are controlled or banned in the industrial coun-
tries-poor quality medical drugs, destructive pesticides or high
tar and nicotine content cigarettes. As one writer put it recently,
rather than a global village, this is more like global pillage.
Along with ecological risk, to which it is related, expanding
inequality is the most serious problem facing world society. It
will not do, however, merely to blame it on the wealthy. It is
fundamental to my argument that globalization today is only
partly Westernization. Of course the western nations, and more
generally the industrial countries, still have far more influence
over world affairs than do the poorer states. But globalization is
becoming increasingly de-centered-not under the control of
any group of nations, and still less of the large corporations.
Its effects are felt just as much in the western countries as
elsewhere.
This is true of the global financial system, communications
and media, and of changes affecting the nature of government
itself. Examples of "reverse colonization" are becoming more
and
more common. Reverse colonization means that non-western
countries influence developments in the west. Examples
abound-such as the Latinizing of Los Angeles, the emergence of
a globally-oriented high-tech sector in India, or the selling of
Brazilian TV programs to Portugal.
Is globalization a force promoting the general good? The
question can't be answered in simple way, given the complexity
of
the phenomenon. People who ask it, and who blame

13. globalization
for deepening world inequalities, usually have in mind
economic
globalization, and within that, free trade. Now it is surely
obvious
Globalization 21
that free trade is not an unalloyed benefit. This is especially so
as
concerns the less developed countries. Opening up a country, or
regions within it, to free trade can undermine a local
subsistence
economy. An area that becomes dependent upon a few products
sold on world markets is very vulnerable to shifts in prices as
well
as to technological change.
Trade always needs a framework of institutions, as do other
forms of economic development. Markets cannot be created by
purely economic means, and how far a given economy should be
exposed to the world marketplace must depend upon a range of
criteria. Yet to oppose economic globalization, and to opt for
eco-
nomic protectionism, would be a misplaced tactic for rich and
poor nations alike. Protectionism may be a necessat-y strategy
at
some times and in some countries. In my view, for example,
Malaysia was correct to introduce controls in 1998, to stem the
flood of capital from the country. But more permanent forms of
protectionism will not help the development of the poor coun-
tries, and among the rich would lead to warring trade blocs.
The debates about globalization I mentioned at the begin-
ning have concentrated mainly upon its implications for the
nation-state. Are nation-states, and hence national political

14. lead-
ers, still powerful, or are they becoming largely irrelevant to the
forces shaping the world? Nation-states are indeed still
powerful
and political leaders have a large role to play in the world. Yet
at
the same time the nation-state is being reshaped before our
eyes.
National economic policy can't be as effective as it once was.
More importantly, nations have to rethink their identities now
the older forms of geopolitics are becoming obsolete. Although
this is a contentious point, I would say that, following the dis-
solving of the cold war, nations no longer have enemies. Who
are
the enemies of Britain, or France, or Japan? Nations today face
risks and dangers rather than enemies, a massive shift in their
very nature.
It isn't only of the nation that such comments could be made.
Everywhere we look, we see institutions that appear the same
as they used to be from the outside, and carry the same names,
but inside have become quite different. We continue to talk of
the
nation, the family, work, tradition, nature, as if they were all
the
same as in the past. They are not. The outer shell remains, but
inside all is different-and this is happening not only in the U.S.,
Britain, or France, but almost everywhere. They are what I call
shell institutions ... They are institutions that have become inad-
equate to the tasks they are called upon to perform.
22 Anthony Giddens

15. As the changes I have described in this lecture gather weight,
they are creating something that has never existed before,
a global cosmopolitan society. We are the first generation to
live
in this society, whose contours we can as yet only dimly see. It
is
shaking up our existing ways of life, no matter where we happen
to be. This is not-at least at the moment-a global order driven
by collective human will. Instead, it is emerging in an anarchic,
haphazard, fashion, carried along by a mixture of economic,
technological and cultural imperatives.
It is not settled or secure, but fraught with anxieties, as well
as scarred by deep divisions. Many of us feel in the grip of
forces
over which we have no control. Can we re-impose our will upon
them? I believe we can. The powerlessness we experience is not
a
sign of personal failings, but reflects the incapacities of our
insti-
tutions. We need to reconstruct those we have, or create new
ones, in ways appropriate to the global age. We should and we
can
look to achieve greater control over our runaway world. We
shan't
be able to do so if we shirk the challenges, or pretend that all
can
go on as before. For globalization is not incidental to our lives
today. It is a shift in our very life circumstances. It is the way
we
now live.
Questions for Discussion and Writing
1. Professor Giddens states that "Instantaneous electronic
communication isn't

16. just a way in which news or information is conveyed more
quickly. Its exis-
tence alters the very texture of our lives, rich and poor alike."
Do you agree?
How do you think your lives are different, for example, from
those of your
who grew up in a different era? Which aspects of electronic
com-
munication do you use every day?
2. Giddens claims that many of the most successful
companies that benefit
from globalization are based in the United States. Does this
undercut a sense
of global reach and tum it to Americanization? Could
globalization simply be
a cover for American influence and control?
3. What do you think about Giddens' idea that globalization
leads to a growth
of nationalism and a redefinition of a native cultural identity?
4. What is the World Trade Organization? Why are protests
frequently held
against what the WTO represents? Research websites and
publications that
support and dispute the aims of the WTO and explain the role
and purpose
of the organization for a general reader.
5. Find out what percentage of American households have a
personal com-
puter. Compare this to countries in South America, Africa, and
Asia. How does
this access to technology affect the daily lives of world

17. citizenry?
We Are All Americans 23
We Are AU Americans
VICENTE VERDU
This artick is taken from the newspaper EI Pais, published in
Madrid, Spain, on April 27, 2002. Vicente Verda was born in
Eiche,
Spain, in 1942. He was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris and is
a
member of the Nieman Foundation of Harvard University. For
El Pais he has been Opil1ion Editor and Cultural Editor. He has
written books about the relationships between couples and about
the rituals ofsoccer. He is a best-selling author in his home
country.
Verda and his family lived in Haverford, Pennsylvania, from
1993 to
1995. In this article the author is responding to a school
shooting in
Efurt, Germany. An expelled pupil walked into his school
carrying a
pump-action shotgun and a pistol and killed 14 teachers, 2 girls,
a
policeman, and then himself The incident at Nanterre, France,
referred to in this essay cost the lives of 8 people when a
gunman
open.ed at a local council meeting. Verda argues that such
actions are influenced by American culture but that there are
many
more things resulting from American society that should be seen
as
positive. He sees a time when national borders will be
immaterial,
because everyone in the world will be, for good or ill.

18. American.
-----+-----
Years ago, we believed that the Americanization of the world
was due to cultural influence. Now we know that it is because
of a gene. The final phase of capitalism, of which the United
States is decidedly in charge, has ceased to be a system of
mater-
ial production. It has become a civilization, and sooner or later
all
of us will be caught up in it, for better or worse.
The most recent massacre by a young man in a small city in
Germany is a repeat of what happened in April. three years ago,
in
another small city, this one in Colorado, called Littleton. The
shooting then also took place at a school, and in exactly the
same
way: The victims were students and teachers. And the attacker
killed himself afterward.
The American model of life repeats itself like a fractal in the
many different aspects of everyday existence, be it community
life, sex, art, or money. There is an international prototype,
which
coincides with the American model, to be found in painting,
architecture, and even in cyberspace. So why shouldn't there
Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory
Linda Elder with Richard Paul
Though most teachers aspire to make critical thinking a primary

19. objective of their instruction, most also do not realize that, to
develop as thinkers, students must pass through stages of
development in critical thinking. That is, most teachers are
unaware of
the levels of intellectual development that people go through as
they improve as thinkers. We believe that significant gains in
the
intellectual quality of student work will not be achieved except
to the degree that teachers recognize that skilled critical
thinking
develops, only when properly cultivated, and only through
predictable stages.
In this paper we shall set out a stage theory based on the nearly
twenty years of research of the Center for Critical Thinking and
explain some of the theory’s implications for instruction. We
shall be brief, concise, and to the point in our explanation with
minimal theoretical elaboration. Furthermore, we believe that
the “practicality” of the theory we explain here is best tested in
the
classroom and in everyday life. The reader should be expressly
aware that we are approaching the human mind exclusively from
an intellectual standpoint — not from a psychological
standpoint. Each stage of intellectual development will be
explained in
terms of the following variables:
1. Defining Feature
2. Principal Challenge
3. Knowledge of Thinking
4. Skill in Thinking
5. Relevant Intellectual Traits
6. Some Implications for Instruction
Due to space limitations, we have made no attempt to be
exhaustive with respect to any stage, nor to answer the many
questions

20. that might be raised concerning the development, reliability or
validity of the stages. The basic intention is to provide a
practical
organizer for teachers interested in using a conceptual map to
guide student thinking through developmental stages in the
process
of becoming critical thinkers. Once the stages are explained,
and stage-specific recommendations are given, we close with
some
global implications for instruction.
We make the following assumptions: (1) that there are
predictable stages through which every person who develops as
a critical
thinker passes, (2) that passage from one stage to the next is
dependent upon a necessary level of commitment on the part of
an
individual to develop as a critical thinker, is not automatic, and
is unlikely to take place “subconsciously,” (3) that success in
instruction is deeply connected to the intellectual quality of
student learning, and (4) that regression is possible in
development.
Before moving to the stages themselves, a brief overview of
what we mean by critical thinking is in order. Our working
definition is as follows: We define critical thinking as:
the ability and disposition to improve one’s thinking by
systematically subjecting it to intellectual self-assessment.
It is important to recognize that on this view, persons are
critical thinkers, in the fullest sense of the term, only if they
display this
ability and disposition in all, or most, of the dimensions of their
lives (e.g. as a parent, citizen, consumer, lover, friend, learner,
and professional). We exclude from our concept of the critical
thinker those who think critically in only one dimension of their
lives. We do so because the quality of one’s life is dependent
upon high quality reasoning in all domains of one’s life, not
simply

21. in one dimension.
The stages we will lay out are as follows:
Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker
Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker
Stage Six: The Accomplished Thinker
Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker
Defining Feature: Unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of
the determining role that thinking is playing in their lives and
of
the many ways that problems in thinking are causing problems
in their lives. Unreflective thinkers lack the ability to explicitly
assess their thinking and improve it thereby.
Knowledge of Thinking: Unreflective thinkers lack the
knowledge that high quality thinking requires regular practice
in taking
thinking apart, accurately assessing it, and actively improving
it. In fact, unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of thinking
as
such, hence fail to recognize thinking as involving concepts,
assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc.
Unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of the appropriate
standards for the assessment of thinking: clarity, accuracy,
precision,
relevance, logicalness, etc.
Skill in Thinking: Unreflective thinkers may have developed a
variety of skills in thinking without being aware of them.
However, these skills are inconsistently applied because of the
lack of self-monitoring of thought. Prejudices and
misconceptions
often undermine the quality of thought of the unreflective

22. thinker.
Some Implications for Instruction: We must recognize that in
the present mode of instruction it is perfectly possible for
students to graduate from high school, or even college, and still
be largely unreflective thinkers. Though all students think, most
students are largely unaware of how their thinking is structured
or how to assess or improve it. Thus when they experience
problems in thinking, they lack the skills to identify and “fix”
these problems. Most teachers do not seem to be aware of how
unaware most students are of their thinking. Little is being done
at present to help students "discover" their thinking. This
emphasis needs shifting.
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker
Defining Features: Thinkers move to the “challenged” stage
when they become initially aware of the determining role that
thinking is playing in their lives, and of the fact that problems
in their thinking are causing them serious and significant
problems.
Principal Challenge: To become initially aware of the
determining role of thinking in one’s life and of basic problems
that come
from poor thinking.
Knowledge of Thinking: Challenged thinkers, unlike
unreflective thinkers are becoming aware of thinking as such.
They are
becoming aware, at some level, that high quality thinking
requires deliberate reflective thinking about thinking (in order
to
improve thinking). They recognize that their thinking is often
flawed, although they are not able to identify many of these
flaws.
Challenged thinkers may develop an initial awareness of
thinking as involving concepts, assumptions, inferences,
implications,
points of view, etc., and as involving standards for the
assessment of thinking: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance,

23. logicalness,
etc., though they have only an initial grasp of these standards
and what it would take to internalize them. Challenged thinkers
also
develop some understanding of the role of self-deception in
thinking, though their understanding is limited. At this stage the
thinker develops some reflective awareness of how thinking
operates for good or ill.
Skill in Thinking: Most challenged thinkers have very limited
skills in thinking. However like unreflective thinkers, they may
have developed a variety of skills in thinking without being
aware of them, and these skills may (ironically) serve as
barriers to
development. At this stage thinkers with some implicit critical
thinking abilities may more easily deceive themselves into
believing that their thinking is better than it actually is, making
it more difficult to recognize the problems inherent in poor
thinking. To accept the challenge at this level requires that
thinkers gain insight into the fact that whatever intellectual
skills they
have are inconsistently applied across the domains of their
lives.
Relevant Intellectual Trait: The fundamental intellectual trait at
this stage is intellectual humility, in order to see that problems
are inherent in one’s thinking.
Some Implications for Instruction: We must recognize the
importance of challenging our students — in a supportive way
— to
recognize both that they are thinkers and that their thinking
often goes awry. We must lead class discussions about thinking.
We
must explicitly model thinking (e.g., thinking aloud through a
problem). We must design classroom activities that explicitly
require students to think about their thinking. We must have
students examine both poor and sound thinking, talking about
the

24. differences. We must introduce students to the parts of thinking
and the intellectual standards necessary to assess thinking. We
must introduce the idea of intellectual humility to students; that
is, the idea of becoming aware of our own ignorance. Perhaps
children can best understand the importance of this idea through
their concept of the "know-it-all," which comes closest to their
recognition of the need to be intellectually humble.
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker
Defining Feature: Those who move to the beginning thinker
stage are actively taking up the challenge to begin to take
explicit
command of their thinking across multiple domains of their
lives. Thinkers at this stage recognize that they have basic
problems
in their thinking and make initial attempts to better understand
how they can take charge of and improve it. Based on this
initial
understanding, beginning thinkers begin to modify some of their
thinking, but have limited insight into deeper levels of the
trouble inherent in their thinking. Most importantly, they lack a
systematic plan for improving their thinking, hence their efforts
are hit and miss.
Principal Challenge: To begin to see the importance of
developing as a thinker. To begin to seek ways to develop as a
thinker
and to make an intellectual commitment to that end.
Knowledge of Thinking: Beginning thinkers, unlike challenged
thinkers are becoming aware not only of thinking as such, but
also of the role in thinking of concepts, assumptions,
inferences, implications, points of view, etc. Beginning thinkers
are also at
some beginning stage of recognizing not only that there are
standards for the assessment of thinking: clarity, accuracy,

25. precision,
relevance, logicalness, etc., but also that one needs to
internalize them and thus begin using them deliberately in
thinking. They
have a beginning understanding of the role of egocentric
thinking in human life.
Skill in Thinking: Beginning thinkers are able to appreciate a
critique of their powers of thought. Beginning thinkers have
enough skill in thinking to begin to monitor their own thoughts,
though as “beginners” they are sporadic in that monitoring.
They
are beginning to recognize egocentric thinking in themselves
and others.
Relevant Intellectual Traits: The key intellectual trait required
at this stage is some degree of intellectual humility in beginning
to recognize the problems inherent in thinking. In addition,
thinkers must have some degree of intellectual confidence in
reason, a
trait which provides the impetus to take up the challenge and
begin the process of active development as critical thinkers,
despite
limited understanding of what it means to do high quality
reasoning. In addition, beginning thinkers have enough
intellectual
perseverance to struggle with serious problems in thinking
while yet lacking a clear solution to those problems (in other
words, at
this stage thinkers are recognizing more and more problems in
their thinking but have not yet discovered how to systematize
their
efforts to solve them).
Some Implications for Instruction: Once we have persuaded
most of our students that much of their thinking — left to itself
—
is flawed and that they, like all of us, are capable of improving
as thinkers, we must teach in such a way as to help them to see

26. that we all need to regularly practice good thinking to become
good thinkers. Here we can use sporting analogies and analogies
from other skill areas. Most students already know that you can
get good in a sport only if you regularly practice. We must not
only look for opportunities to encourage them to think well, we
must help them to begin to understand what it is to develop
good
HABITS of thinking. What do we need to do regularly in order
to read well? What must we do regularly and habitually if we
are
to listen well? What must we do regularly and habitually if we
are to write well. What must we do regularly and habitually if
we
are to learn well? We must recognize that students are not only
creatures of habit, but like the rest of us, they are largely
unaware
of the habits they are developing. They are largely unaware of
what it is to develop good habits (in general), let alone good
habits
of thinking. If our students are truly “beginning” thinkers, they
will be receptive to the importance of developing sound habits
of
thought. We must emphasize the importance of beginning to
take charge of the parts of thinking and applying intellectual
standards to thinking. We must teach students to begin to
recognize their native egocentrism when it is operating in their
thinking.
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker
Defining Feature: Thinkers at this stage have a sense of the
habits they need to develop to take charge of their thinking.
They not
only recognize that problems exist in their thinking, but they
also recognize the need to attack these problems globally and
systematically. Based on their sense of the need to practice
regularly, they are actively analyzing their thinking in a number
of

27. domains. However, since practicing thinkers are only beginning
to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic
way, they still have limited insight into deeper levels of
thought, and thus into deeper levels of the problems embedded
in
thinking.
Principal Challenge: To begin to develop awareness of the need
for systematic practice in thinking.
Knowledge of Thinking: Practicing thinkers, unlike beginning
thinkers are becoming knowledgeable of what it would take to
systematically monitor the role in their thinking of concepts,
assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc.
Practicing
thinkers are also becoming knowledgeable of what it would take
to regularly assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy,
precision,
relevance, logicalness, etc. Practicing thinkers recognize the
need for systematicity of critical thinking and deep
internalization
into habits. They clearly recognize the natural tendency of the
human mind to engage in egocentric thinking and self-
deception.
Skill in Thinking: Practicing thinkers have enough skill in
thinking to critique their own plan for systematic practice, and
to
construct a realistic critique of their powers of thought.
Furthermore, practicing thinkers have enough skill to begin to
regularly
monitor their own thoughts. Thus they can effectively articulate
the strengths and weaknesses in their thinking. Practicing
thinkers can often recognize their own egocentric thinking as
well as egocentric thinking on the part of others. Furthermore
practicing thinkers actively monitor their thinking to eliminate
egocentric thinking, although they are often unsuccessful.
Relevant Intellectual Traits: The key intellectual trait required
to move to this stage is intellectual perseverance. This

28. characteristic provides the impetus for developing a realistic
plan for systematic practice (with a view to taking greater
command
of one’s thinking). Furthermore, thinkers at this stage have the
intellectual humility required to realize that thinking in all the
domains of their lives must be subject to scrutiny, as they begin
to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic
way.
Some Implications for Instruction: What are the basic features
of thinking that students must command to effectively become
practicing thinkers? What do they need to do to take charge of
their thinking intellectually, with respect to any content? We
must
teach in such a way that students come to understand the power
in knowing that whenever humans reason, they have no choice
but to use certain predictable structures of thought: that
thinking is inevitably driven by the questions, that we seek
answers to
questions for some purpose, that to answer questions, we need
information, that to use information we must interpret it (i.e.,
by
making inferences), and that our inferences, in turn, are based
on assumptions, and have implications, all of which involves
ideas
or concepts within some point of view. We must teach in such a
way as to require students to regularly deal explicitly with these
structures (more on these structure presently).
Students should now be developing the habit — whenever they
are trying to figure something out — of focusing on: purpose,
question, information, inferences, assumptions, concepts, point
of view, and implications. The result of this emphasis in
instruction is that students begin to see connections between all

29. the subject matter they are learning. In studying history, they
learn to focus on historical purposes and questions. When
studying math, they clarify and analyze mathematical goals and
problems. When studying literature, they reflect upon literary
purposes and questions. They notice themselves making
historical,
mathematical, and literary assumptions. They notice themselves
tracing historical, mathematical, and literary implications.
Recognizing the "moves" one makes in thinking well is an
essential part of becoming a practicing thinker.
Students should be encouraged to routinely catch themselves
thinking both egocentrically and sociocentrically. They should
understand, for example, that most of the problems they
experience in learning result from a natural desire to avoid
confusion and
frustration, and that their inability to understand another
person’s point of view is often caused by their tendency to see
the world
exclusively within their own egocentric point of view.
Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker
Defining Feature: Thinkers at this stage have now established
good habits of thought which are “paying off.” Based on these
habits, advanced thinkers not only actively analyze their
thinking in all the significant domains of their lives, but also
have
significant insight into problems at deeper levels of thought.
While advanced thinkers are able to think well across the
important
dimensions of their lives, they are not yet able to think at a
consistently high level across all of these dimensions. Advanced
thinkers have good general command over their egocentric
nature. They continually strive to be fair-minded. Of course,
they
sometimes lapse into egocentrism and reason in a one-sided
way.

30. Principal Challenge: To begin to develop depth of
understanding not only of the need for systematic practice in
thinking, but
also insight into deep levels of problems in thought: consistent
recognition, for example, of egocentric and sociocentric thought
in
one’s thinking, ability to identify areas of significant ignorance
and prejudice, and ability to actually develop new fundamental
habits of thought based on deep values to which one has
committed oneself.
Knowledge of Thinking: Advanced thinkers are actively and
successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in
their
thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications,
points of view, etc., and hence have excellent knowledge of that
enterprise. Advanced thinkers are also knowledgeable of what it
takes to regularly assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy,
precision, relevance, logicalness, etc. Advanced thinkers value
the deep and systematic internalization of critical thinking into
their daily habits. Advanced thinkers have keen insight into the
role of egocentrism and sociocentrism in thinking, as well as the
relationship between thoughts, feelings and desires.
They have a deep understanding of the powerful role that
thinking plays in the quality of their lives. They understand that
egocentric thinking will always play a role in their thinking, but
that they can control the power that egocentrism has over their
thinking and their lives.
Skill in Thinking: Advanced thinkers regularly critique their
own plan for systematic practice, and improve it thereby.
Practicing
thinkers regularly monitor their own thoughts. They insightfully
articulate the strengths and weaknesses in their thinking. They
possess outstanding knowledge of the qualities of their thinking.
Advanced thinkers are consistently able to identify when their
thinking is driven by their native egocentrism; and they

31. effectively use a number of strategies to reduce the power of
their
egocentric thoughts.
Relevant Intellectual Traits: The key intellectual trait required
at this stage is a high degree of intellectual humility in
recognizing egocentric and sociocentric thought in one’s life as
well as areas of significant ignorance and prejudice. In addition
the thinker at this level needs: a) the intellectual insight and
perseverance to actually develop new fundamental habits of
thought
based on deep values to which one has committed oneself, b)
the intellectual integrity to recognize areas of inconsistency and
contradiction in one’s life, c) the intellectual empathy necessary
to put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely
understand them, d) the intellectual courage to face and fairly
address ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints toward which one has
strong
negative emotions, e) the fair-mindedness necessary to approach
all viewpoints without prejudice, without reference to one’s
own
feelings or vested interests. In the advanced thinker these traits
are emerging, but may not be manifested at the highest level or
in
the deepest dimensions of thought.
Some Implications for Instruction: For the foreseeable future
most of our students will not become advanced thinkers — if at
all — until college or beyond. Nevertheless, it is important that
they learn what it would be to become an advanced thinker. It is
important that they see it as an important goal. We can help
students move in this direction by fostering their awareness of
egocentrism and sociocentrism in their thinking, by leading
discussions on intellectual perseverance, intellectual integrity,
intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, and fair-mindedness.
If we can graduate students who are practicing thinkers, we will
have achieved a major break-through in schooling. However
intelligent our graduates may be, most of them are largely

32. unreflective as thinkers, and are unaware of the disciplined
habits of thought they need to develop to grow intellectually as
a
thinker.
Stage Six: The Accomplished Thinker
Defining Feature: Accomplished thinkers not only have
systematically taken charge of their thinking, but are also
continually
monitoring, revising, and re-thinking strategies for continual
improvement of their thinking. They have deeply internalized
the
basic skills of thought, so that critical thinking is, for them,
both conscious and highly intuitive. As Piaget would put it, they
regularly raise their thinking to the level of conscious
realization. Through extensive experience and practice in
engaging in self-
assessment, accomplished thinkers are not only actively
analyzing their thinking in all the significant domains of their
lives, but
are also continually developing new insights into problems at
deeper levels of thought. Accomplished thinkers are deeply
committed to fair-minded thinking, and have a high level of, but
not perfect, control over their egocentric nature.
Principal Challenge: To make the highest levels of critical
thinking intuitive in every domain of one’s life. To internalize
highly
effective critical thinking in an interdisciplinary and practical
way.
Knowledge of Thinking: Accomplished thinkers are not only
actively and successfully engaged in systematically monitoring
the
role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences,
implications, points of view, etc., but are also regularly

33. improving that
practice. Accomplished thinkers have not only a high degree of
knowledge of thinking, but a high degree of practical insight as
well. Accomplished thinkers intuitively assess their thinking for
clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc.
Accomplished thinkers have deep insights into the systematic
internalization of critical thinking into their habits.
Accomplished
thinkers deeply understand the role that egocentric and
sociocentric thinking plays in the lives of human beings, as well
as the
complex relationship between thoughts, emotions, drives and
behavior.
Skill in Thinking: Accomplished thinkers regularly, effectively,
and insightfully critique their own use of thinking in their lives,
and improve it thereby. Accomplished thinkers consistently
monitor their own thoughts. They effectively and insightfully
articulate the strengths and weaknesses inherent in their
thinking. Their knowledge of the qualities of their thinking is
outstanding. Although, as humans they know they will always
be fallible (because they must always battle their egocentrism,
to
some extent), they consistently perform effectively in every
domain of their lives. People of good sense seek out master
thinkers,
for they recognize and value the ability of master thinkers to
think through complex issues with judgment and insight.
Relevant Intellectual Traits: Naturally inherent in master
thinkers are all the essential intellectual characteristics, deeply
integrated. Accomplished thinkers have a high degree of
intellectual humility, intellectual integrity, intellectual
perseverance,
intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, intellectual
autonomy, intellectual responsibility and fair-mindedness.
Egocentric and
sociocentric thought is quite uncommon in the accomplished

34. thinker, especially with respect to matters of importance. There
is a
high degree of integration of basic values, beliefs, desires,
emotions, and action.
Some implications for Instruction: For the foreseeable future
the vast majority of our students will never become
accomplished
thinkers — any more than most high school basketball players
will develop the skills or abilities of a professional basketball
player or student writers the writing skills of a published
novelist. Nevertheless, it is important that they learn what it
would be to
become an accomplished thinker. It is important that they see it
as a real possibility, if practicing skills of thinking becomes a
characteristic of how they use their minds day to day.
General Implications for Instruction
We believe that the thinking of students will remain "invisible"
to them unless they are supportively challenged to discover the
problems in their thinking. This is not possible unless they
receive careful introduction into the intellectual workings of the
human mind.. Thus it is vital that an intellectual vocabulary for
talking about the mind be established for teachers; and that
teachers lead discussions in class designed to teach students,
from the point of view of intellectual quality, how their minds
work,
including how they can improve as thinkers.
Of course, teachers need to take students through stages of
intellectual development. For example, in elementary school an
essential objective would be that students become "beginning"
thinkers, that is, that they will be taught so that they discover
that
they are thinkers and that their thinking, like a house, can be
well or poorly constructed. This "discovery" stage--the coming
to

35. awareness that all of us are thinkers--needs to be given the
highest priority. Middle school and High School, on this model,
would
aim at helping all students become, at least, "practicing"
thinkers. Of course, students discover thinking only by
discovering that
thinking has "parts." Like learning what "Legos" are, we learn
as we come to discover that there are various parts to thinking
and
those parts can be put together in various ways. Unlike Legos,
of course, thinking well requires that we learn to check how the
parts of thinking are working together to make sure they are
working properly: For example, have we checked the accuracy
of
information? Have we clarified the question?
We are not advocating here that teachers withdraw from
academic content. Rather we are suggesting that critical
thinking
provides a way of deeply embracing content intellectually.
Within this view students come to take intellectual command of
how
they think, act, and react while they are learning...history,
biology, geography, literature, etc., how they think, act, and
react as a
reader, writer, speaker, and listener, how they think, act, and
react as a student, brother, friend, child, shopper, consumer of
the
media, etc.
For example if we teach all courses with emphasis on the parts,
or intellectual elements of thinking, we can help students
discover content as a mode of thinking at the same time they are

36. discovering their minds as thinkers. In fact, to effectively learn
any subject in an intellectually meaningful way presupposes a
certain level of command over one’s thinking, which in turn
presupposes understanding of the mind’s processes.
Discovering Thinking
Discovering the Parts of Thinking
What are the basic features of thinking that students need to
know to effectively take charge of their thinking intellectually,
with
respect to any content? First, they must come to realize that
whenever humans reason, they have no choice but to use certain
elements, without which their thinking would be intellectually
unintelligible. Consider.
Thinking is inevitably driven by the questions we seek to
answer, and those questions we seek to answer for some
purpose. To
answer questions, we need information which is in fact
meaningful to us only if we interpret it (i.e., by making
inferences). Our
inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions and require that
we use ideas or concepts to organize the information in some
way
from some point of view. Last but not least, our thinking not
only begins somewhere intellectually (in certain assumptions),
it
also goes somewhere---that is, has implications and
consequences.
Thus whenever we reason through any problem, issue, or
content we are well advised to take command of these
intellectual
structures: purpose, question, information, inferences,
assumptions, concepts, point of view, and implications. By
explicitly
teaching students how to take command of the elements of

37. reasoning we not only help them take command of their thinking
in a
general way; we also provide a vehicle which effectively
enables them to critically think through the content of their
classes,
seeing connections between all of what they are learning.
Of course, we are not implying that elementary school teachers
would introduce all of these ideas simultaneously. Not at all.
This
vocabulary for talking about thinking needs to be learned slowly
and progressively. And the process is the perfectly natural one
of helping students to think better in context. For example,
children come to school with their own goals and purposes and
we as
teachers have ours. For school to work, children have to enter
into goals and purposes that they don’t come to school with.
Young children do not come to school with the goal of learning
numbers and letters, arithmetic, spelling, and reading. But they,
like us, accomplish more when they know what they are trying
to accomplish. The general goal of "figuring things out" is the
essential goal intellectually. To become a good learner we have
to learn how to figure things out: first numbers and letters and
simple stories, and then eventually history, and novels and
mathematical formulas. Whatever the "content" to be learned is,
they
need to learn to approach it in the spirit of "I can figure this
out," "I can use my mind and thinking to understand this."
One way to begin to teach content as a mode of thinking is to
recognize the fact that all content areas presuppose not only a
particular purposes, but those purposes are connected to
organized ways of figuring things out. If students understand
the purpose
of history, the purpose of literature, the purpose of government,

38. etc., they can begin to learn that there are different things which
we as learner try to figure out. Furthermore, they learn that
when we want to figure something out, we have to ask particular
questions about it. Hence, all subjects presuppose certain
fundamental questions which guide thinking within a content
area.
From the earliest stages of parenting and teaching, we can
emphasize with our children what we are wanting them to figure
out.
We can focus instruction on key fundamental questions and
make those questions explicit. When information is required, we
can
elicit student help in assembling that information. When it is
appropriate to take the step of interpreting information, we can
help
students make their inferences explicit. When students make
questionable inferences, we can call that to their attention and
ask
them what other inferences might be made. If they are making a
questionable assumption, we can help them recognize that. We
can emphasize the importance of their thinking through
implications and consequences. We can introduce diverse point
of view
and make explicit we are doing that. We can help them to role
play different ways of looking at things (using different
characters
in stories, etc.). There are many, many ways--almost endlessly
different ways--to encourage students to discover and take
command of their thinking. The central point is this, there are
distinct advantages to helping students to discover thinking and
begin to take charge of it. Let look at this in a broad and
general way.
The Advantages of Critical Thinking
When teachers become advocates of quality thinking and
learning, in keeping with this stage theory, they teach in such a

39. way that
students are regularly required to:
1) state and explain goals and purposes,
2) clarify the questions they need to answer and the problems
they need to solve,
3) gather and organize information and data,
4) explicitly assess the meaning and significance of information
you give them,
5) demonstrate that they understand concepts,
6) identify assumptions,
7) consider implications and consequences,
8) examine things from more than one point of view,
9) state what they say clearly,
10) test and check for accuracy,
11) stick to questions, issues, or problems; and not wander in
their thinking,
12) express themselves precisely and exactly,
13) deal with complexities in problems and issues,
14) consider the point of view of others,
15) express their thinking logically,
16) distinguish significant matters from insignificant ones,
And as a result of such instruction, the students (in general):
1) learn content at a deeper and more permanent level
2) are better able to explain and apply what they learn,
3) are better able to connect what they are learning in one class
with what they are learning in other classes,
4) ask more and better questions in class,
5) understand the textbook better,
6) follow directions better,
7) understand more of what you present in class,
8) write better,
9) apply more of what they are learning to their everyday life,
10) become more motivated learners in general,

40. 11) become progressively easier to teach.
Closing
There are many ways to teach content so that students progress
as thinkers. However if we are to do so, we must explicitly
focus
on the mind intellectually and grasp the stages that students
must progress through. We and our students must recognize that
we
all develop incrementally as thinkers, and that the progress of
any one of us is directly dependent on our level of intellectual
knowledge and commitment. Put another way, if I am to develop
my critical thinking ability I must both "discover" my thinking
and must intellectually take charge of it. To do this I must make
a deep commitment to this end.
Why is this so important? Precisely because the human mind,
left to its own, pursues that which is immediately easy, that
which
is comfortable, and that which serves its selfish interests. At the
same time, it naturally resists that which is difficult to
understand, that which involves complexity, that which requires
entering the thinking and predicaments of others.
For these reasons, it is crucial that we as teachers and educators
discover our own "thinking," the thinking we do in the
classroom
and outside the classroom, the thinking that gets us into trouble
and the thinking that enables us to grow. As educators we must
treat thinking--quality thinking--as our highest priority. It is the
fundamental determinant of the quality of our lives. It is the
fundamental determinant of the quality of the lives of our
students. We are at some stage in our development as thinkers.
Our
students are at some stage in the development of theirs. When
we learn together as developing thinkers, when we all of us seek
to
raise our thinking to the next level, and then to the next after

41. that, everyone benefits, and schooling then becomes what it was
meant to be, a place to discover the power of lifelong learning.
This should be a central goal for all our students--irrespective
of
their favored mode of intelligence or learning style. It is in all
of our interest to accept the challenge: to begin, to practice, to
advance as thinkers.
{Elder, L. with Paul R. (2010). At website
www.criticalthinking.org}
Are We Living in a Cave?
Constructing a Life Philosophy, 2002
Plato (427-347 b.c.) lived and taught philosophy in ancient
Athens. In the following viewpoint, Plato asks
his audience to imagine prisoners living in a cave. The people
face a wall where shadows of various
objects dance back and forth. The prisoners cannot turn their
heads to discover the true nature of the
shadows. Further, the prisoners cannot leave the cave to
discover what the reality creating the shadows is
like. Plato uses this story to illustrate his belief that we are
trapped by our imperfect, subjective
impressions of the world. Plato believes that people too quickly
accept the first appearance of things.
What people experience as reality is really a distorted
reflection, or shadow, of the true reality. Plato
believed that humans (in the present life) will never completely
understand the world. Thus, Plato

42. challenges his listeners to carefully use reason as a tool to
examine all their beliefs.
As you read, consider the following questions:
1.According to Plato, humans sometimes find it hard to face
reality. Why is this?
2.What is the nature of personal growth and education? Is Plato
correct in suggesting that teachers often
need to push students in order for them to face the truth?
3.What does Plato tell us about first impressions and prejudice?
"Next, then," I said, "take the following parable of education
and ignorance as a picture of the condition
of our nature. Imagine mankind as dwelling in an underground
cave with a long entrance open to the light
across the whole width of the cave; in this they have been from
childhood, with necks and legs fettered,
so they have to stay where they are. They cannot move their
heads round because of the fetters, and they
can only look forward, but light comes to them from fire
burning behind them higher up at a distance.
Between the fire and the prisoners is a road above their level,
and along it imagine a low wall has been
built, as puppet showmen have screens in front of their people
over which they work their puppets." "I
see," he said.
The Bearers and Things Carried
"See, then, bearers carrying along this wall all sorts of articles
which they hold projecting above the wall,
statues of men and other living things,1 made of stone or wood
and all kinds of stuff, some of the bearers
speaking and some silent, as you might expect."

43. "What a remarkable, image," he said, "and what remarkable
prisoners!"
"Just like ourselves," I said. "For, first of all, tell me this: What
do you think such people would have seen
of themselves and each other except their shadows, which the
fire cast on the opposite wall of the cave?"
"I don't see how they could see anything else," said he, "if they
were compelled to keep their heads
unmoving all their lives!"
"Very well, what of the things being carried along? Would not
this be the same?"
"Of course it would."
"Suppose the prisoners were able to talk together, don't you
think that when they named the shadows
which they saw passing they would believe they were naming
things?"2
"Necessarily."
"Then if their prison had an echo from the opposite wall,
whenever one of the passing bearers uttered a
sound, would they not suppose that the passing shadow must be
making the sound? Don't you think so?"
"Indeed I do," he said.
"If so," said I, "such persons would certainly believe that there
were no realities except those shadows of

44. handmade things."3
"So it must be," said he.
Removal of the Fetters
"Now consider," said I, "what their release would be like, and
their cure from these fetters and their folly;
let us imagine whether it might naturally be something like this.
One might be released, and compelled
suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round, and to walk and
look towards the firelight; all this would
hurt him, and he would be too much dazzled to see distinctly
those things whose shadows he had seen
before. What do you think he would say, if someone told him
that what he saw before was foolery, but
now he saw more rightly, being a bit nearer reality, and turned
towards what was a little more real? What
if he were shown each of the passing things, and compelled by
questions to answer what each one was?
Don't you think he would be puzzled, and believe what he saw
before was more true than what was
shown to him now?"
"Far more," he said.
"Then suppose he were compelled to look towards the real light,
it would hurt his eyes, and he would
escape by turning them away to the things which he was able to
look at, and these he would believe to be
clearer than what was being shown to him."
"Just so," said he.

45. Leaving the Cave
"Suppose, now," said I, "that someone should drag him thence
by force, up the rough ascent, the steep
way up, and never stop until he could drag him out into the light
of the sun, would he not be distressed
and furious at being dragged; and when he came into the light,
the brilliance would fill his eyes and he
would not be able to see even one of the things now called
real?"4
"That he would not," said he, "all of a sudden."
"He would have to get used to it, surely, I think, if he is to see
the things above. First he would most
easily look at shadows, after that images of mankind and the
rest in water, lastly the things themselves.
After this he would find it easier to survey by night the heavens
themselves and all that is in them, gazing
at the light of the stars and moon, rather than by day the sun
and the sun's light."
"Of course."
"Last of all, I suppose, the sun; he could look on the sun itself
by itself in its own place, and see what it is
like, not reflections of it in water or as it appears in some alien
setting."
"Necessarily," said he.
"And only after all this he might reason about it, how this is he

46. who provides seasons and years, and is set
over all there is in the visible region, and he is in a manner the
cause of all things which they saw."
"Yes, it is clear," said he, "that after all that, he would come to
this last."
"Very good. Let him be reminded of his first habitation, and
what was wisdom in that place, and of his
fellow-prisoners there; don't you think he would bless himself
for the change, and pity them?"
"Yes, indeed."
"And if there were honours and praises among them and prizes
for the one who saw the passing things
most sharply and remembered best which of them used to come
before and which after and which
together, and from these was best able to prophesy accordingly
what was going to come—do you believe
he would set his desire on that, and envy those who were
honoured men or potentates among them?
Would he not feel as Homer says,5 and heartily desire rather to
be serf of some landless man on earth and
to endure anything in the world, rather than to opine as they did
and to live in that way?"
"Yes, indeed," said he, "he would rather accept anything than
live like that."
Returning to the Cave
"Then again," I said, "just consider; if such a one should go

47. down again and sit on his old seat, would he
not get his eyes full of darkness coming in suddenly out of the
sun?"
"Very much so," said he.
"And if he should have to compete with those who had been
always prisoners, by laying down the law
about those shadows while he was blinking before his eyes were
settled down—and it would take a good
long time to get used to things—wouldn't they all laugh at him
and say he had spoiled his eyesight by
going up there, and it was not worthwhile so much as to try to
go up? And would they not kill anyone
who tried to release them and take them up, if they could
somehow lay hands on him and kill him?"6
"That they would!" said he.
Conclusion
"Then we must apply this image, my dear Glaucon," said I, "to
all we have been saying. The world of our
sight is like the habitation in prison, the firelight there to the
sunlight here, the ascent and the view of the
upper world is the rising of the soul into the world of mind; put
it so and you will not be far from my own
surmise, since that is what you want to hear; but God knows if
it is really true. At least, what appears to
me is, that in the world of known, last of all,7 the idea of the
good, and with what toil to be seen! And
seen, this must be inferred to be the cause of all right and
beautiful things for all, which gives birth to
light and the king of light in the world of sight, and, in the
world of mind, herself the queen produces
truth and reason; and she must be seen by one who is to act with

48. reason publicly or privately."
Footnotes
1. Including models of trees, etc.
2. Which they had never seen. They would say "tree" when it
was only a shadow of the model of a tree.
3. Shadows of artificial things, not even the shadow of a
growing tree: another stage from reality.
4. To the next stage of knowledge: the real thing, not the
artificial puppet.
5. Odyssey xi
6. Plato probably alludes to the death of Socrates. See Apology.
7. The end of our search