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Critical understanding


Critical understanding is a term used commonly in education to define a mode of thinking, described as, ‘an essential tool for participating in democratic processes, at whatever level.’ It is a defensible position reached through the examination of ideas, issues or sources. It is achieved through reflecting upon, analysing and evaluating different ideas and positions, and is demonstrated through an ability to express informed responses and independent thought. Critical understanding develops through analytical and independent thought and is considered an increasingly important element of the education process as students progress to higher and further education. However it is not an easy concept to communicate for it is not a passive thing we do; it is about active engagement.

Critical understanding is a cerebral mode of comprehension, it is a way of thinking, and thus is not dependent upon external expression. Yet it requires external manifestation in order to be communicated. The expression of critical understanding can take various forms including formal or informal speech, academic writing, creative prose or poetry or visual outcomes. It can take different forms in different cultures and this needs to be taken into consideration when assessing critical results. The term "critical" in this context is not meant in a negative sense; rather it outlines a process of thinking. Critical understanding is used to define the process of formulating and understanding a complex problem or difficult set of ideas. In a general sense, it is, ‘a consequence of men’s [sic] beginning to reflect about their own capacity for reflection, about the world, about their position in the world.’

The notion of critical understanding is closely related to the concept of Critical Thinking, described as, ‘reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.’ Critical thinking has also been described as, ‘thinking about thinking’, specifically in relation to John Dewey’s work on ‘the problem of training thought’. Critical understanding has its roots in the notion of pluralism, the idea of multiple approaches, methods and interpretations in which dialogue plays an important role. In a pedagogical sense it is closely linked to the theory of Education for Critical Consciousness, outlined by Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and critical theorist, who wrote, ‘Only dialogue, which requires critical thinking, is also capable of generating critical thinking. Without dialogue there is no communication, and without communication there can be no true education.’


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