Critical thinking: A lifelong skill for success in an ever-changing world
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While technical skills have long been recognised as the key to a successful career, soft skills such as critical thinking are increasingly becoming essential to thrive in the modern workplace.
In emerging markets such as Thailand and Vietnam, where education is evolving to align with the knowledge economy, it is more important than ever for learners to understand and pursue these soft skills, which while challenging to learn will serve them for life both professionally and personally.
Critical thinking, in particular, transcends technical skills and job types, says Anisa Zulfiqar, Business Development Manager at Pearson Asia. Regardless of the technical requirements of a job or occupation, nearly all require some form of problem solving, creativity, decision making, organisation skills and strategic thinking. And critical thinking helps with all of those.
But while this soft skill is vitally important to success for both students and professionals, the very concept can be difficult to grasp. So how do you explain it?
“Critical thinking is the ability to look at a situation logically and understand it from multiple perspectives while separating facts from opinions. It involves the ability to question assumptions so that you can make a logical decision based on all the available information and an evaluation of the facts,” Anisa says. “Put simply, critical thinking is the ability to make good decisions.”
Enhancing success in the classroom, workplace and beyond
This ability is crucial to nearly every occupation, especially those in the knowledge economy which puts a premium on human capital, and tech-intensive manufacturing, or Industry 4.0, as it has come to be known. In a survey of 1,200 different professions listed on the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net website, 900 called for critical thinking as a required skill.
Anisa gives the example of a nurse, who must use critical thinking to care for a patient whose condition may be changing rapidly. “You need to accurately assess the information that’s at hand, think in a logical manner, question any assumptions and make the right decision for the patient’s wellbeing.”
The evidence isn’t just anecdotal. Pearson has conducted a number of studies that show good critical-thinking skills are highly correlated to performance in a variety of jobs, as well as academic success, Anisa says.
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One study in 2016 showed that students who scored higher in critical-thinking assessments were more likely to finish their coursework and get higher grades. Another study in 2018, which looked at professionals in the workforce, found that those who scored higher on a critical-thinking test also tended to do well in their workplace performance evaluations.
“There is evidence that shows that good critical-thinking skills are actually what separates good performers from excellent performers,” Anisa says. Especially in the Covid-19 era, when more workers are required to operate remotely and complete tasks on their own, the ability to think critically is becoming even more indispensable.
A framework for learning critical thinking
While the first step to explaining and teaching critical thinking is to get the definition right, the next step is to have a framework, according to Anisa. “In order to enhance or teach or develop any skill, you’ve got to have a framework. And that framework has got to be consistent.”
The framework offered by Pearson emphasises reflection, both in the workplace and in the classroom, and encourages learners to be critical of their own thinking and reasoning. This can be difficult, as it involves challenging one’s ego. “It’s admitting that we don’t know it all, admitting that our thinking is flawed and biased, and engaging in behaviors to overcome that,” Anisa says.
There can often be cultural challenges to strong critical thinking, as well. “In my experience, countries in Southeast Asia tend to value hierarchy, as compared with some of the European countries or the U.S., for example,” Anisa says. And that appreciation for hierarchy can make it more difficult to question the opinion or suggestion of a senior colleague. But, she adds, the problem isn’t unique to Southeast Asia.
“Many of us worry and are scared to question someone in authority, or someone who seems credible, but the problem is that this is a hindrance to good critical thinking. Because what it does is it promotes what we call groupthink, which is the opposite of critical thinking,” Anisa says.
Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when the desire for harmony and conformity among a group of people outweighs critical thought. That can hinder rational decision-making and lead to dysfunction. “Unfortunately, groupthink is an issue in many companies globally…and it is an obstacle to good critical thinking,” Anisa says.
But with instruction and effort, groupthink can be overcome. It is especially important for countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, which are striving to modernise their workforces, to start teaching critical-thinking skills, such as listening to others’ perspectives and asking questions, at an early age.
Tools such as Pearson’s The Educator’s Playbook: Teaching critical thinking in today’s world and the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, which is a verbal ability test and regarded as the industry standard for measuring critical thinking ability, can help learners of all ages develop and hone their critical thinking, as well as other soft skills.
“If you encourage them to question in the classroom, they will also question in the boardroom,” Anisa says.