Critical thinking, an ability students need

As a former undergraduate and research graduate, according to supervisors in and outside China, I’ve been an intelligent, self-motivated and diligent student, with profound theoretical knowledge of my majors, though I’m not so competitive in creativity. This is an accurate and typical judgment not only of me, but to most Chinese overseas students.

The education I received is responsible. Being aware of a problem does not mean that we know how to solve it. The question is what causes the absence of creativity?

Cartoons provoke my thinking. I have watched many ‘Qiao Hu (the cute tiger)’ kids series together with Nicole. In every episode there are several sections, such as singing and dancing, story telling, communication with friends, ABCs, family album and so on. In the family album section, normally Qiao Hu will go on a short journey with his family, sometimes they have a simple picnic outside, sometimes go to farmland, and sometimes visit a park, museum or zoo. During the trip, his parents help catch shots of joyful moments. At the end of the section, Qiao Hu will show the lovely pictures and tell what happened in the trip, in a way of narrating his diary. Nicole likes this section so much that whenever the cute tiger starts his story telling, nothing around can distract her attention from it.

This is one of Qiao Hu’s stories:

"It was Sunday today. In the morning, Daddy, Mummy and I went to the park together. There are many trees and flowers in the garden. The trees are green. The flowers are colorful: white, red, and yellow. I saw several birds on a tree. I also saw beautiful butterflies and small bees. They were playing peek-a-boo on the flowers. I also met many old men and ladies. Some were playing Qigong, some were playing chess and some were dancing. Later I was tired and hungry. Then we had a picnic in the park. Mummy prepared bread, ham, fruits and many sweet donuts. The sweet donut is so delicious. Daddy even bought me an ice cream. It is ice cold, sweet. Yummy. In the afternoon, we went back. So much fun today. Daddy told me we could go there next time if I want. I am very happy."

What a wonderful article! There is an event. There are details of his observations. There is also his feeling. It is full of childlike fun and innocence.

The story reminds me of the writing classes when I was a primary school student. At that time I was a pupil in the second grade, and one day our teacher asked us to write a diary, to record a meaningful event during the weekend. I wrote a small article similar to the tiger’s above, which was about where we visited, what happened and how I felt. I clearly remembered that my teacher commented as follows: "Only a record, like a cup of plain water without flavour, and no thoughts inside". Honestly I have no idea about what she meant by 'meaningful' and 'thought', as you know, at the age of eight or nine years old, one wouldn’t think in such a detailed way.

My teacher was a very nice lady, she told me the most important thing was to choose a meaningful topic. Then she showed me how to write an article in a correct way - how to begin the article, how to develop and how to make an ending. Gradually I mastered all the so-called skills and logistics drafting a good composition which will help win good points in exams. I found later there were  "correct" ways in almost all of the subjects I came across.

Looking back now, that is why so called good students like me turn out to lack creativity. My way of thinking has been trapped in an invisible framework. I’ve always been ready to choose a 'fast and correct' way during study, initially introduced by my teachers, while later on being moulded as days go by.

There is another strange phenomenon during our education: what's written in textbooks and taught by teachers is correct. According to this system, a students’ learning process is to master the 'science and truth', while the teacher’s task is to introduce them to students. However, it still remains questionable whether those things we learned with the tag of 'science and truth' are really the correct ones.

This strategy shows us the reality and objectivity but fails in guiding us how to think critically why and how it comes about. Therefore our creativity has been suppressed during the long-term process. One of the most important tasks of education is to develop students' critical thinking. It is one of the most important psychological characteristics of talented people inspiring their creativity. Most important, it is the basis for a rational and democratic society. 

The original blog is: http://blog.chinadaily.com.cn/blog-309597-24557.html