alexy wrote:

Sorry. Itchy "send finger".

How would you see it being taught in, say, math class?
The very nature of mathematical proof is critical thinking. Proof by
induction or by assuming the negative and showing a contradiction are
very generalized critical thinking skills.

Reading?
Literary analysis is an example of critical thinking in practice, and
the literature itself can expose the reader to the critical thinking
of some of the great minds of history. When my kids were reading Kafka
in high school, the old man had to renew his critical thinking skills
to be able to discuss it with them.
But when schools simply teach you that you have to memorize facts, but don't
need to know how to put facts together to create new knowledge and insights,
there's no real education going on. Unfortunately, that appears to be the
norm in education of all levels.

Well like it or not, there are some things kids just have to memorize.
The alphabet, spelling rules, vowel sounds, vocabulary, addition and
multiplication tables, and so on. These are building blocks for
further education.

Bush is a great believer in accountability in schools. How does he
assess accountability? By making schools give their students
standardized tests and telling them that if their students don't show
improvement, the school will loose funding. It's very important for
the schools that their students show improvement in these tests so the
inevitable result of "No child left behind" is rote memorization of
facts...
I think that is a very great danger, and what can be scary about
testing. But testing that is not of facts, but rather of skills, is
much harder to "prep" for without actually getting educated.

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