Critical Thinking attacked in Iowa HS
EducationFeb 8, 2012
A high school in Iowa is at the center of a communism versus capitalism dispute after a teacher handed out a worksheet on the Cold War in a social studies class. Or that is what the media would like the public to think. The real controversy is about denying students opportunities to think critically by extending to them the necessity of entering into multiple points of view when reasoning. Critical thinking, which requires students to develop intellectual empathy and reason from premises they might not agree with to conclusions so they may develop their own independent thinking is simply not heralded in today’s capitalist schooling. Unfortunately, it is rarely mentioned in debates over ‘standards’ either. This is unfortunate for it is precisely reasoning that we want our students to engage in so they can develop their own critical judgment.
Roosevelt High School inDes Moines,Iowahas been has been taken to task recently for a social studies lesson which opponents say ‘promoted communism.’ At issue was a worksheet handed out to