Dispositions and Habits of Mind for Critical Thinking
Сritical thinking
"Сritical thinking is about habits of thoughts and personality dispositions."
Metacognition
"Metacognition is the key habit of mind when it comes to critical thinking. Metacognition means thinking about thinking, and means maintaining an awareness of your thought and any possible biases. Metacognition includes such things as formulating questions for inquiry, self-assessing your own thinking for biases, justifying opinions, as well as reflecting on that process. It is the ongoing attention to your own thoughts, that is one of the best ways to improve critical thinking."
A list of seven critical thinking dispositions
"Inquisitiveness, being systematic, truth-seeking, self-confidence, being analytic, open-mindedness, and maturity."
Inquisitiveness
"Inquisitiveness includes a desire for learning for its own sake, even when the application for the learning is not readily apparent. This knowledge becomes a basis against which we can compare any new information we might encounter. Inquisitiveness also includes a curiosity about one's own field."
Being systematic in your inquiry
"This disposition means being focused, orderly, and diligent in one's inquiry."
Truth-seeking
"Truth-seeking can mean being honest about pursuing your inquiry, even when the findings don't support your original opinions, or if the findings require you to change your mind. It can also mean being courageous about asking questions, and continually evaluating any new information on a subject. Finally, truth-seeking covers being motivated to seek out and find the best knowledge on any particular subject."
Self-confidence
"This self-confidence comes a little later than other dispositions, perhaps after some training when critical thinking occurs. Self-confidence refers to confidence in resolving issues, along with confidence in the judgments you make. This self-confidence must, of course, be balanced, as too much self-confidence might lead to hasty decisions. A lack of self-confidence, however, would mean that no critical thinking occurs at all."
Being analytical
"It is a core disposition for the inquiring mind. Being analytic includes such traits as valuing the use of reason and evidence to resolve issues. It also includes connecting observations and inquiries in existing knowledge base, being alert to any need for intervention, and anticipating any conceptual difficulties or consequences."
Being open-minded
"It is one of the most important disposition. This includes such things as being aware of your own biases, when engaging in inquiry, as this can lead to pre-formed conclusions. Being open-minded can also manifest itself as a willingness to engage with other points of view, and being tolerant and accepting of divergent points of view."
Maturity
"It is described as being judicious with one's decision-making. Maturity, in this case, means understanding that some problems and issues may be poorly structured, which may have implications for your inquiry. Maturity here also means understanding that certainty of conclusions is not always guaranteed, and accommodating this uncertainty into any conclusions. It finally means that some situations might have more than one right answer."
Source
VOCABULARY
metacognition - thinking about thinking.
inquisitive [ɪnˈkwɪzɪtɪv] - interested in a lot of different things and wanting to find out more about them.
bias [ˈbaɪəs] - an opinion about whether a person, group, or idea is good or bad which influences how you deal with it.
disposition - a tendency or willingness to behave in a particular way.
trait [treɪt] - a particular quality in someone's character.
flaw [flɔː] - a mistake, mark, or weakness that makes something an imperfect distortion [dɪsˈtɔːʃən].
ongoing [ˈɒŋˌgəʊɪŋ] - continuing, or continuing to develop.
diligent [ˈdɪlɪʤənt]- a hard-working, careful and thorough person.
self-confident - sure that you can do things well, that people like you, etc.
the habits of mind
hasty [ˈheɪsti]- done in a hurry, especially with bad results. Hasty decisions.
odd - different from what is normal or expected, especially in a way that you disapprove of or cannot understand.
judicious [ʤu(ː)ˈdɪʃəs] - done in a sensible and careful way.