Critical Thinking: Skill or Process?

After scanning the definitions we developed surrounding “critical thinking”, I do believe that I possess the skills involved in being a critical thinker. I believe these skills lead to me to my graduate studies and allow me to continue to learn and develop in this higher educational setting. I have always felt as though critical thinking is one of my strengths. As I continue in my M.Ed., I am learning that critical thinking can be judged based on a continuum.  Yes, I am a critical thinker, probably more so than the average person. Can I always reflect, evaluate, and synthesize more? Of course.

       This new understanding of the levels of critical thinking has developed into a new personal strength. By evaluating my own level of critical thinking, I am recognizing that I can continue to develop these skills in various areas with focused reflection and analysis. Another strength I have is that I learn from the critical perspectives of others by reflecting on those ideas to reevaluate my own.  However, an area I would like to improve is challenging those perspectives from various angles in order to enhance my own learning as well as my peers. It is easy to accept a well-developed statement as an idea or perspective that was not considered by yourself; it is much more difficult, and purposeful, to reexamine that statement as well as the subject being discussed. Critical thinking is not only a skill to develop; it is a process in which I continue to work at in order to strengthen my intellect.