Critical Thinking across the Curriculum: Process over Output

Critical thinking is the most valuable skill that schools can bequeath to their graduates. Teaching for critical thinking has always been a learning goal for teachers across all disciplines and levels. However, this outcome is not always accomplished. Critical thinking competence requires a philosophical shift from output to process, learning to thinking and subject isolation to subject integration. As a framework for understanding critical thinking across the curriculum, this article reviews traditional and contemporary theories that are relevant to this process, explores the nature of critical thinking and analyzes approaches to instruction and assessment that teachers may use to foster critical thinking. The analysis is supported by descriptions of pedagogical practices that have been used to motivate students to engage in the processes that characterize critical thinking.