Developing critical thinking skills is vital

EDUCATION is the highest domestic priority for the South African government and has been receiving the most significant portion of its spending.

In 2022, 17% of government expenditure went towards primary, secondary and tertiary education, yet there are still major developmental challenges and a lack of infrastructure and adequate resources in selected institutions.

The right to education for South Africans is outlined in section 29 of our Constitution. It stipulates that everyone has a right to basic education as well as adult basic education and that the government should create accessibility to further education through reasonable measures. Sustainable development goals articulated by the United Nations include the need for quality education globally.

“Quality education” is a term that is loose and can be forever evolving. The perceptions, opinions and definitions of quality education have to be defined within the socio-economic context of South Africa. Opinions over quality education will vary from country to country, but the overall objective is clear.

“A quality education” refers to one that can be of value and relevance and be adequately used to earn a livelihood, primarily aiming to uplift people economically and socially.

Academics and theorists argue that there are many facets to a quality education, but central, in my opinion, is the need to teach and encourage South African students to think critically.

The positive impacts of critical thinking have been evident in postapartheid South Africa. Critical thinking is one of the single reasons why people, society and institutions make changes.

All individuals, however, need to understand the strength of critical thinking and the more considerable holistic impact it can have on one’s life.

Pupils need to be taught at a young age to assess and evaluate information and content they are being fed through the doctrines of institutions. Common examples of lifestyle influences and socialisation processes derive from educational institutions, communities, and religious and social groups.

The basis of critical thinking involves scepticism and objectivity, as well as the capacity to identify biases that are personal or belong to another.

The process should also be about individuals being able to identify or distinguish connections and the lack of connectivity between relevant narratives, ideas, and opinions.

Once this process is mastered and often applied, people can navigate themselves through an argument and have the capacity to differentiate, compare, analyse and systematically problem-solve. Through this skill, they can validate or evaluate information presented to them.

Six dominant skills emerge from an individual who has developed critical thinking skills. These are creating, evaluating, analysing, applying understanding and remembering.

These skills are pertinent to a successful life path for any individual. These skills allow one to make far more appropriate, beneficial, or self-suited decisions that lean towards building logical thinking. Like critical thinking, logical thinking also has a vital role to play.

Logical thinking is about identifying a problem, then studying a scenario or situation objectively and applying a workable solution to the problem.

Similarly, the application of good judgment or sound advice is often referred to as common sense.

The intrinsic link between these three concepts (critical thinking, logical thinking and common sense) is the ability to analyse, think, differentiate, and compare. With the capacity to think critically, one can make a judgement that is more likely to be accurate.

The purpose of applying critical thinking skills is primarily to teach people how to problem solve. This is central to surviving in a country flawed with socio-economic and political instability.

The average entrepreneur or employee encounters numerous problems daily because of circumstances often related to malfunctioning government or municipal services, the lack of organisation skills in all sectors and technological challenges that we need to become more familiar with.

In addition, we are living in a society riddled with criminal and deviant behaviour, which further challenges everyone daily. Critical thinking will allow people to identify the con artists and the thieves and bring to the fore all the flaws presented to them in a discussion or argument. These skills are now becoming essential for thriving in a crime-ridden economy.

The student who has developed a mind that can think critically demonstrates an interest in the subject, searches for the truth and can be rational in their problem-solving and decision-making processes. The apartheid era discouraged South Africans from being critical thinkers.

Information was often fed to people and those who were defiant or in opposition to the principles of this regime were punished or labelled as unlawful citizens. Historically, the minds of South Africans were brainwashed, and the space to be a critical thinker or speaker was not always available.

In a society that aspires to be nondiscriminatory and equitable, we can only continue to apply our critical thinking skills as we approach the national elections in May. These skills will allow us to look at the promises made by political parties during their campaigns, if they are realistic and what has been achieved versus what was pledged by our governing party.

The government needs to realise that poor management and lack of access to basic resources such as water and electricity hinder people from developing themselves further as human beings. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs clearly articulates that further growth of a human cannot take place if basic needs are not met.

If these needs continue to be out of the reach of many South Africans, how will they reach a point where they can learn to think critically, analyse, and improve their economic and social status?

Self-actualisation is the last tier a human can achieve on the pyramid chart of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The base of the pyramid refers to physiological needs such as food, water and shelter. Therefore, can one develop critical thinking skills if their basic needs are not met?

There is a need for a quality education that includes teaching critical thinking skills. This can be achieved through a committed effort to rigorously create a curriculum to develop such skills. This will become achievable once South Africans have their basic physiological needs met.