Education

H ere I’ve begun my collection of science, critical thinking and networking resources -- feel free to scroll through! If you’re after suggested books -- head to my Suggested Reading for Skeptics.

One of the sites I contribute to and that you should check out first: Critical Thinking Education Group. There is a forum board and a growing number of resources. We’ll be presenting across nations and networking -- there’s a lot we can do to support!

There is also the Philosophers and Critical Thinkers in Senior Schools -- The online presence of the Australian Philosophy Teachers’ Network.

Here is the Critical Thinking Quiz, which helps you learn about fallacies, logic and is an excellent resource to help you learn about those vital elements. It comes from the Impact Publishing site. It has been designed by the authors of the books for Philosophy and Ethics, a high-school course in my state that I contribute to. You can even find out more about the The Centre for Applied Ethics and Philosophy at Curtin University (where the authors work).

• Children can be taught critical thinking. No, it is not something that is ‘only for teens and early twenties’.
• There are programs which do teach philosophy, from the age of pre-primary onwards.
• Yes, there are primary and secondary schools which have this as a part of their curriculum.
• Yes, teachers can be trained to teach children philosophy.
• Science teaching can be integrated into other subjects -- it’s called cross-curricular. Philosophy can be taught in any subject area, as after all, it is a field that takes on many different disciplines.
• Yes, work is being done to get skepticism into schools; there are plenty of institutions that will value the approach of educating the young in consumer protection, basic scientific method and even ‘mythbusting’ hoaxes and frauds. Sensitivity, integration and making sure you’re clearly communicating and interacting with all stakeholders is the way.
• Finally, critical thinking does not equal atheism. Nor should people take that approach, either as supporters or critics of teaching critical thinking to children.

Philosophy in WA -- Interested in philosophy, children, critical thinking and what research is being done? You might like to check out the progress in my country and how we’re testing the efficacy of P4C and teaching skepticism to kids.

The UNESCO Report on Philosophy In Schools - that members of the West Australian Association for Philosophy in Schools contributed to!

Skeptical Books for Children -- Part One; Skeptical Books for Children -- Part Two; Skeptical Books for Children -- Part Three; Skeptical Books for Children -- Part Four - An ongoing series for parents, educators, authors and those enthusiastic about outreach to the younger years.

The Merchants of Cool - a PBS documentary with teaching notes and an online component. Media literacy is a useful aspect to consider regarding credulous messages we get.

The Australian Journey Of Philosophy In Schools -- The TANK Vodcast episode on P4C in Australia. Also featured here:

Thinking About Thinking -- Philosophy And Teachers -- Account of helping facilitate day one of Level 1 training in P4C.

Back To Work With P4C! - Continuing efforts with educational outreach for school communities with P4C in Western Australia.

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General Critical Thinking Skills Links

• Michael O’Rourke’s Critical Thinking Handbook is available online. Each chapter in the handbook offers both theory and applications. Sample chapter headings are “Critical Thinking and Argument,” Analyzing Argument,” and “The Fallacies.” Particularly helpful for beginners is “Chapter Two: Characterizing Critical Thinking.”
• The Fallacy Files by Gary Curtis. You might also like the Hunting Humbug Podcast, that focuses on fallacies too.
• Butterflies and Wheels. Excellent reading -- news, articles, and much more, recommended for teachers too.
• Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts by Peter Facione -- a pdf. Overview of the nature of critical thinking.
• Chance -- great resource for helping students think critically about issues involving probability and statistics.
• Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, by Richards Heuer. A good overview of how to improve thinking in the light of insights from cognitive psychology. From the CIA!
• A Handbook on Writing Argumentative and Interpretative Essays by Ian Johnston

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If you are seeking networking opportunities, there’s a few immediate links that come to mind:

The Google Group for Critical Teaching - A mailing list for educators interested in creating skeptically-minded students.

Science and Pseudoscience in Psychology -- the Psychologists Educating Students To Think Skeptically site -- aka ‘PESTS’! Includes a mailing list for educators and links to news items and resources.

Reviews of 89 kids’ books on evolution! (Opens PDF in new window) - “To celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday, we’ve made an annotated list of all the books we could find on evolution or Darwin for kids. There are biographies, picture books, story books, pop-ups, comics, coloring books, activity books, books in Spanish, very old books, very new books, and much more, all for readers aged 3 through 15.”

Seeking Science Help? Places To Start!

• the latest science news
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• occasional competitions
• upcoming events.

Keep up with strange and amazing science news from Australia and around the world.

The 10x10 List -- Women, Science and Here’s To Begin! ‘People who work on the issue of women in science come at it from many perspectives. Information is spread all over. There are a bunch of websites devoted to the cause. There are bibliographies and databases that are done and forgotten. It takes some vigilance to track it all. When you use Google you have to decide, from a thousand hits: “Is it any good?” / “Is it worth my while?” I am going to chunk some things into short lists. One of my lists is of course a list of good libraries if you want to get deeper. There is much, much more out there. (This is about 9 pages printed.)’

Earth and Beyond

Energy and Change

Life and Living

Natural and Processed Materials

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