This is my last blog in the series of four C’s of 21st Century learning, the foundation skills required for professionals’ success. And the last ‘C’ that I am writing about is critical thinking.
“Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic.” – William Gladstone
The concept of critical thinking is as old as 2,500 years and has been discussed by various philosophers like Plato, Socrates, and many more. There are many definitions of critical thinking but the one given by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking is, “Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluation information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
Confused? Simply it means to work through problems, solve puzzles, and also to have an element of skepticism. To verify the information that one receives, to analyze it, and having a perspective on it is very important in today’s world. Thanks to the internet we daily see fake information floating around so, it becomes compulsory to analyze it and also have your opinion.
Critical thinking is not just limited to learning facts and formulas, it goes beyond that. One should always ask why? So they know why a certain formula is being applied for a problem, why does a fact stands true for one situation and is an exception for the other. This skill can be developed in someone from a very young age and is useful in every aspect of life.
It can be improved over time as well. One needs to keep challenging themselves. Learn something new and ask why? Read facts and create your own opinions, deep dive into challenging yourself by playing challenging games like- Sudoku.
It is very important to acquire the four skills because-
Critical Thinking skill lets you question the things you know.
Creativity helps in thinking something unique.
Related Post – https://scoreindia.org/blog/creativity-in-public-relation/
Collaboration with others helps in achieving something bigger which might get limited if done alone.
Communication helps in conveying ideas.
So, don’t limit yourself to textbook learning, while that is important but the roles and requirements of 21st Century jobs have also changed. One now needs to go beyond books and notebooks and develop these skills too.
–Kritika Khatwani
Kritika Khatwani is an Alumna of the Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. She completed her winter internship with MSL, Mumbai.
She is from Jhansi. She has done her graduation from Mass Communications and Journalism. Her varied life experiences resonate with her passion for raising awareness about social causes. This is evident from her participation in the short film- Gaokor: A Period House. Her avid inclination towards creativity and writing is what pushed her to pursue a career in public relations. Music and coffee are her meditation.
