The Reason for Teaching Reasoning

One of the new concepts that I have learned while attending college is that of critical thinking and reasoning skills. I don’t think the ideas and concepts were actually new to me but I didn’t realize the importance that they play in our every day life. Now that I have learned the importance of these skills and realize that the majority of people have to be taught these skills I believe that we should be teaching these skills to our youth and not wait until they reach high school or college level. We still seem to be restricting our kids reasoning potentials with some of the choices that we give them. And there are those who are afraid that children will lose their innocence even sooner than they are now if we teach them to ask questions.

The young school children who seem to do the best in school are the ones who ask the questions. These are the kids who ask more than “will this be on the test?’. They ask why. The Foundation for Critical Thinking explains that most teachers only generate answers for the students to remember and then regurgitate. Without questions there is no actual learning. There would be no advancements in current fields of the sciences. Our school systems now are just beginning to realize the importance of teaching students to reason and to use critical thinking skills. An article by Steven D. Schafersman tells of the importance of critical thinking and teaching the skills to our youth.

Another good reason to teach the youth of today reasoning and critical thinking skills to arm them with the basic survival tools they will need to function as an enlightened adult. Make them aware of the marketing firms that are out to part them from their money with things that they really don’t need but have been convinced it is something they can’t live without. Just getting our youth to question simple assumptions will help them become more empowered. Even for young adults the skills of critical thinking and reasoning will help them make wise choices growing up.