The ethics of critical thinking

There are many compelling reasons to teach and develop critical thinking. Most schools and employers agree that it's an important goal, but there's often a lack of clarity about what it really is and how to effectively nurture it. This can be a problem when we try to understand why critical thinking is so important.

In part because of this definitional confusion, people often focus more on using critical thinking for making decisions and creating knowledge and less on the ethical reasons for teaching it. Ethically, critical thinking helps promote personal empowerment, independence, active citizenship, social harmon, and a commitment to seeking the truth. But if we teach it without proper care and understanding, it can be misused. This might lead to people using critical thinking to harm others, undermine teamwork, fall into thinking that all opinions are equally valid (relativism), or create unfair situations where some voices are ignored or excluded.

In this talk, Dr Peter Ellerton will explain what critical thinking is and how its teaching and development is a strong ethical concern. He will also discuss how an ethical approach to critical thinking can improve the way we teach it across different settings, and highlight common mistakes in teaching critical thinking and offer suggestions on how to avoid them.

More information about the event can be found here.

About Dr Peter Ellerton

Peter Ellerton is Curriculum Director of the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project, Senior Lecturer in the school of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry and the School of Education. Peter’s areas of focus include Public Reasoning, Science Communication, Argumentation and Critical Thinking in education. Peter has been a teacher educator and a syllabus designer for the International Baccalaureate Organisation, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Peter was one of a small group of academics who developed V9.0 of the ACARA critical and creative thinking general capability and is on the working committee for the National Assessment Program in Scientific Literacy.

He has consulted and produced papers for a variety of organisations, including the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the NSW Department of Education, the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Institute of Police Management, the office of the NSW Ombudsman and many private and public schools. He has delivered professional development in Teaching for Thinking throughout Australia and internationally and has been invited to deliver programs at the University of California Los Angeles, Pepperdine University Los Angeles and Simon Fraser University in Canada. Peters’ passion is working with educators to enable a teaching for Thinking focus across all contexts. 

This event is free and open to the public – registration is essential. Parking on-site is limited, and we encourage you to consider using public transportation. 

This event will be live streamed, and attendees can choose to register for an in person or live stream only ticket. All attendees will receive a link to re-watch the event after the session.