Critical Thinking is an important life skill, because it enables one to think clearly, rationally, reflect, connect the dots & evaluate independently.

1. WHO recommended Life Skills
Critical Thinking
8th of August, 2015
Abhishek Ghosh M.Pharm, BSc Psychology
Abhishek.pharmacist@gmail.com

2. Exploring the background
WHO recommended Life skills
Life skills have been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as
“abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal
effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”.
Self awareness Empathy
Critical thinking Creative thinking
Decision making Problem solving
Effective communication Interpersonal relationship
Coping with stress Coping with emotions

3. Life skills
Critical thinking is a mental process which involves: Logical thinking & reasoning.
The essential skills required for critical thinking are:
1. Comparison
2. Classification
3. Sequencing
4. Cause/Effect
5. Patterning
6. Webbing
7. Analogies
8. Deductive & Inductive Reasoning
9. Forecasting
10. Planning
11. Hypothesizing
12. Critiquing
WHAT is Critical Thinking?

4. Critical Thinking
• Everyone thinks; however, much of our thinking is reactive, biased,
uninformed and often prejudiced. More often than not, it is also
haphazard and undisciplined.
• For the most part, critical thinking does not come naturally. It takes
effort, training and practice.
• Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed
with the ability to think clearly and logically - without learning how, or
without practicing.
• Critical thinking is self-disciplined, self-monitored and problem solving
thinking.
Natural ability or a skill developed through training?

5. Life skills
• The quality of life we experience is in direct proportion to the quality of
our thinking.
• It promotes open-mindedness, putting things in perspective, & a
positive attitude.
• By thinking critically, instead of reacting emotionally to a problem, we
employ strategies which:
1. Help us learn from an experience
2. Help prevent it from occurring again
3. Result in a reasonable, effective solution
• Critical thinking helps us balance our emotions, which in turn leads to
good judgment and making informed, good decisions.
WHY is Critical Thinking important?

6. Cognition
In the order of hierarchy

7. Bloom’s taxonomy of Cognition
• Knowledge
Eg: dates, events, places, vocabulary, key ideas, parts of diagram, 5Ws
• Comprehension
Eg: find meaning, transfer, interpret facts, infer cause & consequence, examples
• Application
Eg: use information in new situations, solve problems
• Analysis
Eg: recognize and explain patterns and meaning, see parts and wholes
• Synthesis
Eg: discuss "what if" situations, create new ideas, predict and draw conclusions
• Evaluation
Eg: make recommendations, assess value and make choices, critique ideas
Analysis, Synthesis & Evaluation are considered as HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills)
In the order of hierarchy

8. Strategies
• Redefine your views (willingness to consider alternative views).
• Focus on determining Fact from Fiction
• Question quick fixes
• Trust your intellect (however do monitor your ego & rigidity of opinions)
• Look from different points of view (perspectives)
• Stay tuned with your emotions
How to develop critical thinking skills?

9. Strategies
• Deal effectively with your ego
• Put into usage your waste time
• Keep an intellectual journal (situation, response, analysis, assessment)
• Reshape your character (e.g. intellectual perseverance, autonomy,
empathy, courage, humility, being defensive, arrogance, ignorance,
judgmental, bias)
• Avoid extreme language (e.g. never, always, impossible)
• Analyze group influences on your life (e.g. social norms, peer pressure,
conformity)
How to develop critical thinking skills? (continued)

10. Thank You