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National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking 197 Resources and Events • Proceedings of The Twelfth Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform .t\.ugust.9-12, 1992- • Henry Steele Commager Dean ofAmerican Historians Under the auspices of the Centerfor Critical Thinking and Moral Critique Addressing the First International Conference Sonoma State University on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform. '.: From Previous Conferences Ed Glaser Neil Postman Delores Gallo David Perkins Table of Contents Art Costa About the Center for Critical Thinking iii Introduction 1 Conference History 9 Philosophy ofthe Conference 13 Matthew Lipman Conference Theme 17 Conference Scheduling How to Find the Sessions You Want to Attend 29 Conference Schedul~ 31 Some Sessions Grouped by Interest 45 Special Interest Group Meetings 65 Frances Moore Lappe Conference Abstracts Session Abstracts 69 Presenters' Addresses 183 National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking 197 Resources and Events Regional Workshops 209 Nicholas Michelli Videotape Resources 211 Books 222 Important Infonnation Sonoma State University Map Key to Audience Codes & Important Phone Numbers facing inside pages Thomas Jackson Sonoma State University Central Area Map Inside Back Cover i About The Center John Chaffee Judith Collison Michael Scriven William Dorman About the Center Vincent Ruggiero About the Center for Critical Thinking The Center conducts advanced research and disseminates information on critical thinking and moral critique. It has been working closely with the Foundation for Critical Thinking, The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction, the California State Department of Education, the College Board, numerous school districts, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the National Education Association, and the U. S. State Department of Education to facilitate implementation of high standards of critical thinking instruction from kindergarten through college. Robert Swartz Its major work includes: International Conferences on Critical Thinking Each summer, in em:ly August, the Center hosts the oldest and largestcritical thinking conference with registrartts from virtually every state of the union and numerous foreign countries. Over 300 distinguished experts in the field present more than 300 sessions on critical thinking and critical thinking instruction over four days. These sessions are designed to meet the needs of the widest variety of educational levels and concerns from kindergarten through graduate school. A variety of subject matters and academic fields are used as examples Wendy Oxman-Michelli of critical thinking infusion. The two days preceding the conference are used for intensive sessions that lay a foundation for the conference and for critical thinking instruction. Staff Development Services The Center provides staff development services at every level of education from kindergarten through graduate school (see following pages). Staff development programs emphasize the critique and redesign of instruction to Ralph Johnson infuse critical thinking principles into subject matter instruction. For more information, contact: The Center for Critical Thinking & Moral Critique Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, cA 94928 (707) 664-2940 Sharon Bailin ~------------------------------ Research and Inservice Team . RICHARD W. PAUL, Director ofThe Center for GERALD NOSICH is a noted authority on critical Critical Thinking, is an internationally recognized thinking and the author ofReasons and Arguments. A authority on critical thinking, with five books and regular presenter at international conferences on over 40 articles published on the subject. Professor critical thinking, he has also given many lectures and Paul has given lectures on critical thinking at many workshops on critical thinking across the country. universities in both the United States and abroad, Professor Nosich is presently working on a book on including Harvard, the University ofChicago, The critical thinking across the curriculum. His ability to University ofIllinois, and The Universities ofPuerto give subject-specific examples of critical thinking has Rico,.Costa ~~, Toronto, and Amsterdam. He has been regularly given him high credibility when working with subject-matter instructors te~chm? begmnmg and advanced courses in critical thinking at the and teachers. His commitment as a classroom teacherand command of umverslty for over 14 years. His workshops have been attended by diverse teaching strategies and his ability to exp!ess himself in non­ thousands ofeducators, both K-12 and university. He is highly sought as technical language ha,ve made bim a popular staff development leader. a keynote speaker at conferences. DAN WElL is the Center's inservice specialist in ALEC FISHER is the leading British educator in the critical thinking in the elementary school as well as critical thinking movement He organized the First in multi-cultural education, K-12. He has taught British National Conference on Critical Thinking, in kindergarten, first, and second grades for four years; 1988, and is establishing the first Center for Critical has lived in Central America for three years; and is Thinking at the University ofEast Anglia. Professor fluent in Spanish. He has conducted many inservices Fisher has been active in bringing critical thinking in the United States as well as in Mexico. In and the art oflearning how to learn into every level addition, Dr. Well has experience working with ... of B~tish education. Working with Cambridge remedial .earners and, as a bar-certified attorney, has a keen awareness Umverslty, he IS developmg a national higher studies test. His book on of why we should teach students the art ofdisciplined reasoning. He is critical thinking, The Logic ofReal Arguments, illustrates his acutely aware of the concerns of classroom teachers and is skilled at commitment to redesigning classroom instruction to focus on problems giving examples involving the immediate application ofcritical thinking and issues that link traditional subject matter with real world situations to the classroom. and tasks. vi vii Inservice Philosaphy and Inservice Possibilities Principles The Center's Inservice Philosophy , Critical thinking is presupposed by, and shapes, every academic work or Since most educat?rs have themselves been taught by didactically oriented activity. Below is a sampling of inservice emphases built upon critical thinking. educat.ors: most, wIthout necessarily intending it, focus more on rote The inservice team is experienced in working with'a wide range of audiences, memo?zation ~an o~ stu~e~t reas~ning as the primary strategy for learning. from standard academic disciplines to specific and innovative'fields. Inquiries What I~ more, smce dIdacttc mstruction primarily relies on accuracy of recall as regarding costs, presenters, session break-down, and alternative emphases are the maJor standard of "correctness", most educators do not have a clear idea how available upon request from the Center for Critical Thinking. to help students analyze and assess reasoning, nor how to teach so as, to foster student learning of explicit intellectual standards and values. The shift from • Infusing Critical Thinking into College and University didactic to critical teaching i~, therefore, a challenging long-term, not a. painless Instruction (one or two days) short-t~rm, process, one that ~volves global shifts, a basic change in orientation and ~hl1?sophy. Successful mservice, though properly focused on immediate • How to Infuse Critical Thinking Across the K-12 apphcatton, must nevertheless provide for an extended evolution not an Curriculum (one or two days) immediate revolution, in instructional practices. See the Resources and Events Section of thi.s .Progr~ ~or information on inservice videotapes. Call or write the • Critical Thinking: The Role of the Administration Center for CrItical Thinking for more information on inservice. • College Reading and Writing as Modes ofThinking (one or two days) Statement of Principles The Center Staffbelieves strongly in thefollowing principles: • Using Questioning Strategies to Teach College and University Students to Reason Persuasively, Master 1) Knowledge is acquired only 7) Speedy coverage often produces Content, and Discipline their Minds (one or two days) through thinking. mis-learning which retards deeper • Questioning Students and Teaching Students to Question, 2) Students can learn what to think understanding. K-12 (one or two days) only as they learn how to think. 8) Depth is more important than coverage. 3) To become educated is to learn • Ethics Without Indoctr.ination: Moral Reasoning Across the how to gather, analyze, synthesize, 9) Students can often pro\ride correct CollegelUniversity Curriculum (one or two days) assess, and apply information for answers, repeat definitions, and oneself. apply formulas they do not • Ethics Without Indoctrination: Moral Reasoning Across the 4) Student talk, focused on live understand. K-12 Curriculum (one or two days) issues, is a better sign of learning lO)Students learn best by working than silent students passively with other students in settings that • How to Establish Intellectual Standards Across accepting what the instructor says. generate mutually supportive CollegelUniversity Curriculum (one or two days) 5) Students gain significant debate and empathic exchange of knowledge only if they value it. ideas. • How to Establish Intellectual Standards Across K-12 Curriculum (one or two days)
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