Critical Thinking in the System of Higher Education Abroad

Abstract

The article defines the features of understanding critical thinking and the features of its formation. The need for its formation is determined by the requirements of the labor market, the demand for a new type of ‘knowledge’ worker, as well as the criteria and goals of higher education. Successful formation of critical thinking involves specifying its understanding and highlighting its main characteristics. The main lines of understanding critical thinking are defined: critical thinking in the broad and narrow senses; critical thinking in accordance with ‘frontier’ publications; critical thinking depending on the professional field of study and application. Based on a critical analysis of English-language literature, including review articles, the main approaches to understanding critical thinking are identified and systematized: philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, media. The features of each of the approaches are determined. The philosophical approach is focused on the dominance of the logical component of critical thinking. Within the framework of the philosophical approach, the ideal image of a critical thinker is considered. Accordingly, the specific circumstances of solving the problem, the essence of the problem, and the participants are not taken into account. The psychological approach concentrates on identifying specific operations of critical thinking. It takes into account circumstances, behavior, participants, motives, etc. The pedagogical approach is based on empirical data. It aims to address issues related to the definition of specific methods for teaching critical thinking and ways to check the results. In recent decades, the media approach to understanding and the development of critical thinking has been actively developing. It emphasizes such a component of critical thinking as working with information. It has been determined that the best option for understanding critical thinking is the so-called ‘compromise options’, including the ‘Delphi’ report. It integrates cognitive skills and dispositions. The former includes: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, conclusion, explanation, self-reflection and self-examination. The second: the desire for truth, openness of thinking, analytic, systematic thinking.