Ключевые слова. Критическое мышление, рассуждение, решение проблем, средняя школа
Introduction There has been a rapid growth in science and technology. An instant access to information is
possible due to the use of interactive technologies. This dramatic change has upgraded the level of
getting knowledge onto the highest place. Even the value and way of obtaining knowledge have been
modified in recent years. Thus, educational programs also require a new outlook on how the learners
perceive the knowledge, meaning that new educational approach should be based on trying to cope with
the way how students think.
There are variety of different concepts of thinking can be brought in this context including critical
thinking, reasoning, problem solving. But precisely concept of critical thinking is considered to have
gained an importance of its name and is widely-used term.
The History of Critical Thinking Critical thinking is not a new phenomenon. [1, 1 p.] Paul claims that the roots of critical thinking
can be traced back 2500 years to Socrates, who revealed through questioning that most individuals
could offer no rational justification for their strongly-held beliefs. [2, 3 p.] But the one who described
the phenomenon and defined it as ‘critical thinking’ is considered to be American philosopher John
Dewey. He defined the concept as active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed
form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it
tends and identified a habit of such consideration with a scientific attitude of mind. His lengthy
quotations of Francis Bacon, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill indicate that he was not the first person
to propose development of a scientific attitude of mind as an educational goal. [3, 24 p.]
Definitions of critical thinking emerging from the philosophical tradition include
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«the propensity and skill to engage in an activity with reflective skepticism»
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«reflective and reasonable thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do»
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«skillful, responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment because it
МЕЖДУНАРОДНАЯ КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ «МОДЕРНИЗАЦИЯ СОЗНАНИЯ:
ХАРАКТЕР ПЕРЕДАЧИ ОБРАЗА «ӘЛЕМ» В ДУХОВНОМ НАСЛЕДИИ
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1) relies upon criteria, 2) is self-correcting, and 3) is sensitive to context» [4, 39 p.]