| As we engage the 21st century, insure your | | | | obsolete every few years. This means |
| children learn critical thinking skills | | | | companies and corporations must continuously |
| during the K-12 years. Otherwise, they may be | | | | change, adjust and integrate new information |
| functionally illiterate in the evolving 21st | | | | and new content into their business |
| century workplace. Just as your children must | | | | processes. Otherwise, they cannot compete in |
| learn the basic building blocks of reading, | | | | the evolving global information economy. |
| writing and math, as we engage the 21st | | | | |
| century, they must learn the basic building | | | | Employees of the future must adapt as well. |
| blocks associated with critical thinking. | | | | Employees of the future are children today. |
| Society and public educators are completely | | | | Therefore, children must have the skills |
| ignorant to this fact. In this article, I | | | | necessary to advance beyond the |
| will offer you a comprehensive overview as to | | | | tell-me-what-to-do type jobs. It is easy to |
| why this is true. Once you are informed, you | | | | say companies will simply re-train their |
| can help educate and inform others as to the | | | | employees when necessary. This may be true |
| criticality and urgency of the situation. | | | | today; however, in the future workplace, |
| | | | corporate sponsored re-training may not be an |
| Critical thinking is an essential set of | | | | option. |
| reasoning and communication skills required | | | | |
| to operate effectively in society. The basic | | | | Think about it. By the time corporations pay |
| concept of "don't believe everything you | | | | for and establish formal training programs to |
| read" comes to mind. It is an essential | | | | train employees on new processes, the |
| reasoning skill. The word "skill" is key here | | | | processes may be obsolete. So, as workers, |
| because it is more than just common sense or | | | | our children must be able to train |
| something that children learn as a natural | | | | themselves. They must know how to access raw |
| course of growing up. It is a skill that must | | | | information, process it and apply it real |
| be taught and learned. Proficiency in | | | | time on the job. There will be no books, no |
| critical thinking is essential to lifelong | | | | manuals, no teachers, no corporate training |
| learning and to dealing effectively with a | | | | programs === just a vast sea of raw |
| world of accelerating change. To get a better | | | | information. To be functional, our children |
| feel for this, consider the following: For | | | | must have critical thinking skills. They must |
| starters, compare how we think about the job | | | | have the skills necessary to access this vast |
| market today to how your children may have to | | | | sea of raw information, critically evaluated |
| think in the future. | | | | it, weed out what is not applicable and |
| | | | effectively apply information in ways that |
| For example, today we think: here is my | | | | add value to the business processes of their |
| resume; hire me; tell me what to do and | | | | employers. |
| then pay me an hourly wage for doing it. | | | | |
| This thinking evolved out of the industrial | | | | For this reason, for years, academia and |
| revolution. It assumes stable business | | | | education researchers have tried to |
| content, stable business processes and | | | | incorporate critical thinking in early K-12 |
| established companies and corporations who | | | | education. Now, as we enter and engage the |
| capitalize on the content and processes, | | | | 21st century, it is even more imperative that |
| produce products, hire people, etc. This | | | | we incorporate critical thinking in early |
| basic thinking still exists today. | | | | K-12 education. |
| | | | |
| On the other hand, in the future, companies | | | | For information regarding this article, |
| will be faced with a rapidly changing world | | | | contact Dwight Chestnut at . |
| in which much business content becomes | | | | |