Welcoming Criticism Flaws And Challenges

According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is

When I look at the word failure I didn’t see success. But that slowly changed as I read the book What the Best College Students Do by Ken Bain Chapter four. Bain, for me and I’m sure many other, have changed our view point on failure being a bad thing. He instead expressed failure as an “opportunity to learn something.” (121) As infants we grow and develop, we learn to walk by falling down a couple hundred times, and we learn to speak by babbling. By trying to walk, and trying to talk, we may fail at first. As an infant, you cannot give up when you are face to face with failure. You must get up and try again to learn. In the book, What the Best College Students Do by Ken Bain he uses people’s experiences and research to explain why failure is an opportunity to learn something new, rather than seeing failure as something bad. He asserts “people who become highly creative and productive learn to acknowledge failures, even to embrace them, and to explore and learn from them.” (100) Failure is important. If we did not get up and try again as infants, we would not be where we are today.

“The idea of trying and still failing - of leaving yourself without excuses - is the worst fear within the fixed mindset” (Dweck, 2016, p. 42). At least with a growth mindset a failure means one tried. There is nothing wrong with failure as long as the effort was present. In order to achieve maximum effort it can consist of one’s ability, drive, and any additional help an individual is willing to take.

There are two different mindsets that help to shape our lives, fixed and growth. In Mindset by Carol Dweck, these two methods are compared in how they affect the lives of individuals. Dweck focuses around the growth mindset being a better alternative to the fixed mindset, with the following reasons: Challenges - Fixed mindset tends to avoid challenges while a growth mindset embraces them. Obstacles - A fixed mindset tends to give up easily while a growth mindset tends to persist, regardless of any setbacks. Effort - A fixed mindset perceives effort as something pointless while a growth mindset perceives effort as a way to achieve mastery Criticism - A fixed mindset tends to ignore any feedback that is negative while a growth mindset tries to learn from criticism received Success of others - A fixed mindset feels threatened by the success of others while a growth mindset gets inspired and tries to

Failing is a very important part of success. When one has failed, they then realize why succeeding was important. If never failed, one will always think life is easy and not value success. As an example of failing, one can take Michael Jordan and research his life story.

Fixed mindset people challenges, when not successful, tend to be seen as a set-back and a failure. This, naturally, can hinder forward momentum to completion of a task or learning event. Often, fix mindset people will avoid challenges or risks if there is the risk of revealing errors or perceived inadequacies.

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

Criticism is something that is a part of everyday life. Criticism is defined as the expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes. Criticism is inevitable. All people are different so some people may be more critical than others. Some people may have a sharper tongue than others but either way criticism, both positive and negative, is something that you must learn to accept. Depending on how you take it, criticism can either cause low self-esteem and aggression, or you can use it as a way to improve. Asking questions and making comments afterward are helpful for you to get a clearer understand of the root of the issue and then start the critical thinking process of how can you improve.

In the article “Critical Thinking: What Is It and Why It Counts” written by Peter A. Facione goes in depth on the topic of critical thinking, and reasons why it can be a beneficial in our everyday lives. Although one may think, “What does critical thinking have to do with my life?” the answer is simple. Critical thinking is thinking that has a purpose, liking proving a point, or an interpretation of an idea or thought, and solving problems. Now, all successful critical thinkers have these six abilities at the core for thinking skills: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation. The first three skills usually try to identify, and comprehend the issue or idea at hand. The next three make a conclusion,

Over the course of the last six weeks, I have come to realize that critical thinking is an important asset as I continue my journey in life. I have found this course to be both challenging and rewarding. Most importantly, I find myself viewing problems and conversations in a completely different light. While I would not consider myself an expert at critical thinking, I would assess myself in as a Beginner Thinker. Paul and Elder point out in the beginning thinker stage an individual actively begins to take command of their thinking process across multiple facets of their life (Paul and Elder, 2012). Furthermore, we recognize that there are problems in the way we think and begin to consciously attempt to better understand we can improve our thinking.

Critical thinking brings clarity, growth, and understanding; a critical spirit divides and destroys. The following are the distinctions and connections between them. Critical thinkers ask question such as why, what, how, when, where to evaluate evidence. While, the critical spirits make critical statements. Critical thinking aims at verifying, however, critical spirit is to disagree. Critical thinking brings growth, yet critical spirits ends in flaws. Since critical thinkers examine all the possible evidence before drawing conclusions, it will produce growth and understanding ultimately. However, critical spirits want to win, it will result in flaws. Critical thinking focus on comprehensive structure; critical spirits pick on defects and errors.

Criticism is an expression with destructive consequences. It damages our relationships with friends, family and colleagues. It damages pride, sense of importance and in the end it increases feelings of resentment the injured party has towards us.

What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.

Critical thinking is something I don’t do very often, sometimes I just judge from looking or listening to what I see or hear but this is something I will learn with time. To learn critical thinking I will follow the steps that are required because critical thinking is something we have to learn because we are not born critical thinking. One is identifying what we are talking about. Then we have to gather information about the theme that we are talking about. The next step is to look for evidence and consider alternatives or other people points of view. Sometimes we do not want to accept what other peoples opinion is about something and that is wrong because we might learn from them. Finally we choose the best possible alternative after we have gone thru all this. Using critical thinking will allow you to make better decisions not only in the work place but also in our day to day lives. Maybe one day you will have to make a life changing decision in your job.

The word “failure”, by definition, is the condition of not achieving the desired end or ends. However, this standard definition does not come close to summing up the countless other meanings of failure. Every person, regardless of status, color, or sex, has had to deal with this issue at least once in their lifetime. Even so, each person’s definition of it can vary depending on their personal experiences. The interpretations of failure may differ, but failure itself involves not putting forth effort, being a disappointment, or not succeeding in a task.